Few female jazz singers matched the hard-swinging and equally hard-living Anita O'Day for sheer exuberance and talent in all areas of jazz vocals. Her improvising, wide dynamic tone, and innate sense of rhythm made her more than just another big-band canary. At a time when most female vocals tended to emphasize the sweet timbres of their voice, she chose to emphasize a path blazed by the one major jazz singer who emphasized message over medium - Billie Holiday. Like Holiday, O'Day combined the soaring freedom of jazz instrumentalist with the storytelling lyricism of a poet.
After making her solo debut in the mid-'40s she incorporated bop modernism into her vocals and recorded over a dozen of the best vocal LPs of the era.
During the late Forties, she recorded two dozen sides, mostly for small labels. The quality of these singles varies: O'Day was trying to achieve popular success without sacrificing her identity as a jazz singer. Among the more notable recordings from this period are "Hi Ho Trailus Boot Whip", "Key Largo", "How High the Moon", and "Malaguena". O'Day's drug problems began to surface late in 1947, when she and husband Carl Hoff were arrested for possession of marijuana and sentenced to 90 days in jail. Her career was back on the upswing in September of 1948, when she sang with Count Basie at the Royal Roost in New York City, resulting in five airchecks. What secured O'Day's place in the jazz pantheon, however, are the seventeen albums she recorded for Verve between 1956 and 1962.
Her first album, Anita O'Day Sings Jazz (reissued as The Lady Is a Tramp), was recorded in 1956 for the newly established Verve Records (it was also the label's first LP). The album was a critical success and further boosted her popularity. In October of 1952 O'Day was again arrested for possession of marijuana, but found not guilty. The following March, she was arrested for possession of heroin. The case dragged on for most of 1953; O'Day was finally sentenced to six months in jail. Not long after her release from jail on February 25, 1954, she began work on her second album, Songs by Anita O'Day (reissued as An Evening with Anita O'Day). She recorded steadily throughout the Fifties, accompanied by small combos and big bands. In person, O'Day was generally backed by a trio which included the drummer with whom she would work for the next 40 years, John Poole.
As a live performer O'Day also began performing in festivals and concerts with such musicians as Louis Armstrong, Oscar Peterson, Dinah Washington, George Shearing, Cal Tjader, and Thelonious Monk. She appeared in the documentary Jazz on a Summer's Day, filmed at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival which increased her popularity. The following year O'Day made a cameo appearance in The Gene Krupa Story , singing "Memories of You". Late in 1959 she toured Europe with Benny Goodman; according to her autobiography, when Goodman's attempts to upstage her failed to diminish the audience's enthusiasm, he cut all but two of her numbers from the show.
After the Goodman fiasco, O'Day went back to touring as a solo artist. She recorded infrequently after the expiration of her Verve contract in 1962 and her career seemed over when she nearly died of a heroin overdose in 1968. After kicking the habit, she made a comeback at the 1970 Berlin Jazz Festival. She also appeared in the films Zig Zag (1970) and The Outfit (1974). She resumed making live and studio albums, many recorded in Japan, and several were released on her own label, Emily Records.
O'Day spoke candidly about her drug addiction in her 1981 memoir, High Times, Hard Times.
Her version of the standard, "Sing, Sing, Sing" was remixed by RSL and was included in the compilation album Verve Remixed 3 in 2005.
2006 saw her first album release in 13 years, entitled Indestructible!.
Fool Am I
Anita O'Day Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Waiting on the weary shore
I'm just a woman who's only human
One you should feel sorry for
It was a morning, long before dawn
Without a warning I found he was gone
How could he do it, why should he do it
Am I blue, am I blue
Aint these tears in these eyes telling you
How can you ask me am I blue
Why, wouldn't you be too
If each plan with your man
Done fell through
There was a time
When I was his only one
But now I'm the sad and lonely one...lonely
Was I gay, until today
Now he's gone, and we're through
Am I blue
The lyrics to Anita O'Day's song "Am I Blue" describe a woman who is heartbroken and feeling dejected after her partner suddenly leaves her. The opening lines paint a picture of a woman waiting on the shore, perhaps metaphorically waiting for her partner to return. The repetition of the phrase "I'm just a woman" emphasizes the singer's vulnerability and helplessness.
As the song continues, we learn that the singer's partner left her without warning, and she is struggling to understand why he would do such a thing. She questions whether she is at fault, but ultimately concludes that she is simply "a woman who's only human" and deserving of sympathy.
The chorus is where the title of the song comes into play. The singer asks, "Am I blue?" while also seemingly answering her own question by stating that her tears indicate that she is indeed feeling blue. She chastises the listener for even asking such a question and points out that anyone in her position would feel the same way. The final lines of the song highlight the contrast between her past happiness and her present misery.
Overall, the lyrics to "Am I Blue" are an honest and poignant portrayal of heartbreak and vulnerability. They capture the experience of feeling deserted, questioning oneself, and struggling to come to terms with loss.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm just a woman, a lonely woman
I am a female who is alone and does not have any companionship.
Waiting on the weary shore
I am on the beach, waiting for someone who is tired.
I'm just a woman who's only human
I am a female who is flawed and imperfect.
One you should feel sorry for
I am a person that deserves pity and compassion.
It was a morning, long before dawn
It was a very early time of day, before sunrise.
Without a warning I found he was gone
Suddenly, I discovered that he had left me without telling me.
How could he do it, why should he do it
I am confused about why he would leave me and how he could do something like that.
He never done it before
This is the first time he has left me unexpectedly.
Am I blue, am I blue
Am I feeling sad and depressed?
Aint these tears in these eyes telling you
Can't you see the tears in my eyes which shows that I am sad?
How can you ask me am I blue
How can you even ask if I am feeling sad and depressed?
Why, wouldn't you be too
Wouldn't you also be feeling sad if you were in my situation?
If each plan with your man
If every plan that you have made with your man does not come to fruition.
Done fell through
None of them are going as planned, and you are feeling sad.
There was a time
In the past,
When I was his only one
When I was the only person he was involved with.
But now I'm the sad and lonely one...lonely
Now I am the one who is feeling sad and lonely.
Was I gay, until today
Was I happy and carefree, until today.
Now he's gone, and we're through
Now that he has left me, our relationship is over.
Am I blue
Am I feeling sad and depressed?
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: GRANT CLARKE, HARRY AKST
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Aceiseverywhere
on Who Cares?
Let it rain and thunder
Let a million firms go under
I am not concerned with, stocks and bombs that I've been burned with
I love you and you love me
And that's how it will always be
And nothing else can ever mean a thing
Who cares what the public chatters?
Love's the only thing that matters
Who cares if the sky, cares to fall
in the sea
Who cares how history rates me?
As long as your kiss intoxicates me
Oh why should I care?
Life is one long jubilee
As long as I care for you
And you care for me!
Who cares if the sky, cares to fall
in the sea
Who cares what banks fail in Yonkers?
As long as you've got a kiss that conquers!
Oh why should I care?
Life is one long jubilee
So long as I care for you
and you care for me!
(These lyrics might be wrong, sorry)