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 Get a Kick Out of You
Anita O'Day Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But practically everything leaves me totally cold
The only exception I know is the case
When I'm out on a quiet spree
Fighting vainly the old ennui
And I suddenly turn and see
Your fabulous face
Mere alcohol doesn't thrill me at all
So tell me why should it be true
That I get a kick out of you
Some get a kick from cocaine
I'm sure that if I took even one sniff
That would bore me terrifically too
Yet I get a kick out of you
I get a kick every time I see
You're standing there before me
I get a kick though it's clear to see
You obviously do not adore me
I get no kick in a plane
Flying too high with some gal/guy in the sky
Is my idea of nothing to do
But I get a kick out of you
The lyrics to Anita O'Day's "I Get a Kick Out of You" capture the fleeting moments of joy and happiness that the singer experiences in an otherwise melancholic existence. The first two lines, "My story is much too sad to be told / But practically everything leaves me totally cold," set the tone for the song. The singer seems to be jaded and cynical towards life and the world around them. The only time they experience any sort of thrill is when they are out and about, fighting the ennui that plagues them. This feeling is conveyed in the lines "Fighting vainly the old ennui / And I suddenly turn and see / Your fabulous face."
The second verse highlights the singer's apathy towards material pleasures like champagne and alcohol. They acknowledge that some people find enjoyment in cocaine, but the idea bores them. This disinterest in material pleasures is juxtaposed with the singer's fixation on the person they are singing to. Every time they see this person, they experience a kick of happiness, even though it's clear that the feeling is not mutual. This is evident in the lines "I get a kick though it's clear to see / You obviously do not adore me."
The last verse talks about how the singer has no interest in flying and would rather be on the ground, but even in this situation, they find excitement in the presence of the person they are singing to. Overall, the song is a bittersweet reflection on life, happiness, and the power of human connection.
Line by Line Meaning
My story is much too sad to be told
I have had a difficult and complicated life full of pain and sorrow.
But practically everything leaves me totally cold
I find most things uninteresting and unexciting.
The only exception I know is the case
There is only one thing that moves me.
When I'm out on a quiet spree
When I am by myself, enjoying a peaceful moment.
Fighting vainly the old ennui
Struggling to overcome the feeling of boredom and emptiness.
And I suddenly turn and see
Then unexpectedly, I notice something or someone that catches my attention.
Your fabulous face
The beauty of your face takes my breath away.
I get no kick from champagne
I don't get any pleasure from drinking champagne.
Mere alcohol doesn't thrill me at all
Drinking is not interesting or exciting for me.
So tell me why should it be true
I wonder why I feel differently about you.
That I get a kick out of you
But when I am with you, I feel happy and exhilarated.
Some get a kick from cocaine
Some people find pleasure in using drugs like cocaine.
I'm sure that if I took even one sniff
If I tried using cocaine, even once, I am confident it would not excite me.
That would bore me terrifically too
I think using cocaine would be dull and uninteresting to me.
Yet I get a kick out of you
Despite not being interested in alcohol or drugs, being with you still causes me to feel happy and excited.
I get a kick every time I see
Whenever I lay my eyes on you,
You're standing there before me
And I see you standing so elegantly before me.
I get a kick though it's clear to see
I feel happy and excited even though it's obvious that you don't love me in return.
You obviously do not adore me
It is clear that you don't feel the same way about me.
I get no kick in a plane
Flying in an airplane does not excite or interest me.
Flying too high with some gal/guy in the sky
Being in a plane with someone else and flying high in the sky would not be a thrilling experience for me.
Is my idea of nothing to do
I consider it to be a boring and uneventful way to pass the time.
But I get a kick out of you
But being with you is different, and it makes me feel happy and alive.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Cole Porter
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Volker K
Great !! Thx for the upload