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 Cover the Waterfront
Anita O'Day Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm watching the sea,,
Will the one I love,
Be coming back to me?
I cover the waterfront,
In search of my love,
And I'm covered by,
Here am I,
Patiently waiting,
Hoping and longing,
Oh! How I yearn!
Where are you?
Are you forgetting?
Do you remember?
Will you return?
I cover the waterfront,
I'm watching the sea,
For the one I love,
Must come back to me.
The song, "I Cover the Waterfront," performed by Anita O'Day, is a sentimental ballad in which the singer sings about watching the waterfront while searching for their lost love. In the first verse, she speaks of staring at the sea while questioning if her lover will ever return to her. The singer is portrayed as being heartbroken and lost without her partner, and she finds solace in the ocean and the memories of their love.
Throughout the rest of the song, she continues to express her sentiments of longing and asks if her lover remembers their time together. She also mentions how the sky is "starless" without her beloved, indicating that her life feels empty and lonely without them. One can feel the depth of emotion in the lyrics as the singer describes how she waits patiently and hopes for her lover's return, emphasizing her unwavering devotion to them.
In summary, "I Cover the Waterfront" is a poignant love song that portrays the singer's ardent desire for her lover's return. It is a testament to the power of love and how it can fill a person with hope and patience even in the darkest of times.
Line by Line Meaning
I cover the waterfront,
I am exploring every corner of the waterfront in search of my lost love.
I'm watching the sea,
I am constantly gazing at the vast ocean, hoping to catch a glimpse of my love returning.
Will the one I love,
I am speculating if my beloved will come back to me or not.
Be coming back to me?
I am desperately waiting for my lover's return with a hope that they will come back to me.
And I'm covered by,
I am emotionally swathed by
A starless sky above.
A dark void above me which is indicative of the darkness looming in my heart and soul.
Here am I,
I am present, committed to my love and eagerly waiting for their return.
Patiently waiting,
I am exhibiting immense patience while waiting for my lost love to return.
Hoping and longing,
I pray and yearn every moment of every day for my love to return to me.
Oh! How I yearn!
I yearn for my lover's return with a deep longing and intense desire.
Where are you?
I am wondering where my loved one could possibly be and why they haven't returned to me yet.
Are you forgetting?
I am afraid that my beloved has forgotten me and our love.
Do you remember?
I am hoping that my lover remembers me and our love and will come back to me.
Will you return?
I am desperately hoping that my lover will return to me soon.
For the one I love,
My love, the one who holds my heart, is who I am patiently waiting for.
Must come back to me.
It's not a choice, my love must return to me because I am waiting for them with all my heart.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Capitol CMG Publishing, Songtrust Ave, Peermusic Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Edward Heyman, John W. Green
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)