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!.
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Anita O'Day Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I've told ya I love ya, now get out!
Everything's rosy and everything's Jake,
But just how much can a good girl take?
I told ya I love ya, now get out!
There may be times I need ya, there's no doubt;
Baby, now you're something' I can do without!
The doorway was there, which is by the phone!
I've told ya I love ya, now get out!
Baby, please leave me be,
You want a puppet and there's no strings on me!
Get hep, you can leave on the five eighteen,
Now don't go 'way sayin' I've been mean;
Like any gal I can change my ways,
A round trip ticket good for sixty days!
I've told ya I love ya, now get out!
Baby, please leave me be,
You want a puppet and there's no strings on me!
Get hep, you can leave on the five eighteen,
Now don't go 'way sayin' I've been mean;
Like any gal I can change my ways,
A round trip ticket good for sixty days!
I've told ya I love ya, now get out!
Man, get lost, for now!
Anita O'Day's song "I Told Ya I Love Ya Now Get Out!" presents the perspective of a woman who is having a lover that she has grown tired of. The lyrics of the song open and close with the same line "I've told ya I love ya, now get out!" which shows her growing frustration with her lover. Despite the romantic feelings that she might have once felt, the woman has reached her limit and is not interested in continuing their relationship.
The lyrics that follow the opening line highlight the singer's annoyance with her lover's behavior. She comments on how everything seemed to be going great between them, but also admits that there is a limit to how much a "good girl" can tolerate. She then implores her lover to "leave your number and go on home" and to take the hint that she is no longer interested. However, she does leave the possibility of needing him in the future - she's not burning all the bridges, just the romantic one.
O'Day's performance is light-hearted and playful, which contrasts with the somewhat bitter lyrics. The use of jazz and swing elements in the music adds a level of fun to the song and makes it easier to dance and sing along to. Overall, the song showcases Anita O'Day's skill as a performer and brings attention to her unique blend of jazz and swing music.
Line by Line Meaning
I've told ya I love ya, now get out!
I already told you how I feel, now it's time to leave.
I've told ya I love ya, now get out!
Yes, I said it and I meant it, but it doesn't mean I want you to stick around.
Everything's rosy and everything's Jake,
Things may seem great, but they're not as perfect as they appear.
But just how much can a good girl take?
Even though I'm a good girl, there's a limit to what I can tolerate.
I told ya I love ya, now get out!
I repeat, it's time for you to leave.
There may be times I need ya, there's no doubt;
I may have needed you in the past, but not anymore.
Baby, now you're something' I can do without!
I don't need you now and I won't need you in the future either.
Leave your number and go on home,
Here's some false hope for you, take your number and leave.
The doorway was there, which is by the phone!
Don't get lost, the exit is right by the phone.
Baby, please leave me be,
Can you just leave me alone?
You want a puppet and there's no strings on me!
You expect me to obey and follow your every command, but that won't happen.
Get hep, you can leave on the five eighteen,
Get smart and leave on the next train at five eighteen.
Now don't go 'way sayin' I've been mean;
I'm not trying to be mean, I just want you to go.
Like any gal I can change my ways,
I can make changes to improve, but it still doesn't mean I want you around.
A round trip ticket good for sixty days!
Here's a ticket to leave and don't come back for sixty days.
I've told ya I love ya, now get out!
One final reminder to leave right now.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: HERB ELLIS, JOHN FRIGO, LOU CARTER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
NauticalNix
Thank you for putting these up! I truly love the 1940's music.
flan453
Thanks a million for posting these Soundies...I never heard of them and they are amazing ! Thanks very much.
Franco
Absolutely in love with this!
Chris Adams
Absolutely wonderful time machine! Thanks so much for posting these!
Antonio Campagnefilho
parabens sao lindos videos
Jagd Tiger
Love it the music back in the 1940s had class and unlike todays music the had real instruments
callmeBe
This is a very interesting instrumentation setup. Note six ww's (full sax section + clar), then 3 trpt + 2 bones with F Horns sandwiched between. (A nice touch, but at 7:20 where did the strings come from?!!). Somewhat interesting, the voicing that appears once every while where the tenor sax doubles with the F Horns. Why not just trust the F Horns on their own to do the job for a cleaner voicing--not sure on that one. Also, unfortunately but obviously by design, in brass tutti you never hear the mid Horn tamber. In later years Henry Mancini would make great use of that . . Roy, thanks for the post!!
Honda
Same, I'm 15 and I love this type of music!
johnny john
im only 28 here...and i love this music..they honestly dont make music like this anymore..can someone send me some artists and songs i would be able to find ?
Robert Ayer
Note Conrad Gozzo in the Thornhill brass section!