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!.
I Could Write A Book
Anita O'Day Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I never learned to spell
At least not well.
1-2-3-4-5-6-7
I never learned to count
A great amount.
To use what learning I've got.
I won't waste any time,
I'll strike while the iron is hot.
If they asked me, I could write a book
About the way you walk and whisper and look.
I could write a preface on how we met
So the world would never forget.
And the simple secret of the plot
Is just to tell them that I love you a lot.
Then the world discovers as my book ends
How to make two lovers a friend.
Use to hate to go to school
I never cracked a book;
I played the hook.
Never answered any mail;
To write I used to think was wasting ink.
It was never my endeavor
To be too clever and smart.
Now I suddenly feel
A longing to write in my heart.
If they asked me, I could write a book
About the way you walk and whisper and look.
I could write a preface on how we met
So the world would never forget.
And the simple secret of the plot
Is just to tell them that I love you a lot.
Then the world discovers as my book ends
How to make two lovers a friend.
In Anita O'Day's song "I Could Write A Book," the artist muses on her lack of conventional education and her newfound desire to express herself creatively through writing. The first two verses describe O’Day’s struggles with spelling and mathematics, but her passion for self-expression and learning through observation is palpable. The chorus then takes center stage, with the artist proclaiming her love for an unnamed subject and her confidence that she could chronicle their romance in great depth. The song ends on a hopeful note, with the suggestion that the couple's story could serve as a guide to turning love into lifelong friendship.
The song highlights the tension between traditional, formal education and intuitive, creative learning. O'Day's lyrics suggest that self-expression and observation are just as valuable as rote memorization, and that the latter is often a poor substitute for the former. She also touches on the power of love to inspire and drive creative endeavors, both personal and public. By framing her own experiences in the context of a larger cultural narrative (the "book" she could write), O'Day elevates her own emotions and experiences to the level of literature.
Line by Line Meaning
A-B-C-D-E-G
I never learned to spell, at least not well.
1-2-3-4-5-6-7
I never learned to count a great amount.
But my busy mind is burning
My mind is active and eager.
To use what learning I've got.
To make the most of what I know.
I won't waste any time,
I won't procrastinate.
I'll strike while the iron is hot.
I'll take advantage of the opportunity now.
If they asked me, I could write a book
I have so much to say.
About the way you walk and whisper and look.
About your charming traits.
I could write a preface on how we met
I could share the story of us.
So the world would never forget.
So our love will never be lost in time.
And the simple secret of the plot
The core idea of the story.
Is just to tell them that I love you a lot.
Is simply how much I love you.
Then the world discovers as my book ends
The ultimate realization at the conclusion.
How to make two lovers a friend.
How to convert lovers into eternal friends.
Use to hate to go to school
Used to dislike attending school.
I never cracked a book;
Never opened a book.
I played the hook.
I avoided my studies.
Never answered any mail;
Never replied to any letters.
To write I used to think was wasting ink.
I viewed writing as an unproductive activity.
It was never my endeavor
It was never my aim.
To be too clever and smart.
To be considered highly intelligent or witty.
Now I suddenly feel
Now I have a sudden urge.
A longing to write in my heart.
A desire to express myself through writing.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers
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)