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 Cried For You
Anita O'Day Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Over things you said to me; I couldn't even sleep
You forgot your promises, every single vow
All you did was laugh at me, but things are different now
I cried for you; now it's your turn to cry over me
Every road has a turning
That's one thing you're learning
Now I found two eyes just a little bit bluer
I found a heart just a little bit truer
I cried for you; now it's your turn to cry over me
How can I forget the hours that I worried through
Wondering the live long day just what next thing to do?
In those days you never thought anything of me
But the slave that was all yours and now at last is free
I cried for you; now it's your turn to cry over me
Every road has a turning
That's one thing you're learning
I cried for you; what a fool I used to be
Now I found two eyes just a little bit bluer
I found a heart just a little bit truer
I cried for you; now it's your turn to cry over me
The song I Cried For You by Anita O'Day is a slow and emotional piece that speaks about the singer's past struggles in a relationship that was one-sided. She recalls moments when she would weep over hurtful things her partner said and how she couldn't even sleep. The partner, however, forgot his promises and every single vow, causing her emotional pain that he would often just laugh at. However, the situation changes, and the partner now has to face what she had gone through. The singer tells him that every road has a turning, and it's his turn to cry over her as she found someone new with a heart that is just a little bit truer.
The song's lyrics describe the intense emotional pain one can go through while in a one-sided relationship. It's relatable for anyone who has had to go through the agony of constantly feeling unappreciated and neglected. The lyrics' morose tone creates a somber and emotional experience that listeners can relate to.
Line by Line Meaning
I remember other days how I used to weep
I recall the past when I used to cry
Over things you said to me; I couldn't even sleep
Because of the things you said, I couldn't even sleep
You forgot your promises, every single vow
You neglected to keep your promises and every vow
All you did was laugh at me, but things are different now
You only laughed at me, but now things have changed
I cried for you; now it's your turn to cry over me
I shed tears for you, now you will do the same for me
Every road has a turning
Every path has a change in direction
That's one thing you're learning
It's a lesson you are now learning
I cried for you; what a fool I used to be
I wept for you; what a fool I was
Now I found two eyes just a little bit bluer
Now I have found eyes that are just a bit more blue
I found a heart just a little bit truer
I found a heart that is just a bit more sincere
I cried for you; now it's your turn to cry over me
I wept for you, and now it's your turn to weep for me
How can I forget the hours that I worried through
How can I forget the hours I spent worrying
Wondering the live long day just what next thing to do?
Contemplating what to do all day long
In those days you never thought anything of me
Back then, you didn't think much of me
But the slave that was all yours and now at last is free
But the person who belonged to you is now finally free
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: GUS ARNHEIM, ARTHUR FREED, ABE LYMAN
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)