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!.
Just in Time
Anita O'Day Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Life was serene, I knew where I was at
"There's no hope for him," my dearest friends would mutter
I was something dragged in by the cat. Then
Just in time, I found you just in time
Before you came my time was running low
I was lost, the losing dice were tossed
Now you're here and now I know just where I'm going
No more doubt or fear, I found my way
For love came just in time, you found me just in time
And changed my lonely life that lovely day
The lyrics to Anita O'Day's "Just in Time" are a testament to the transformative power of love. The first few lines describe the singer's life before they found love as humdrum and hopeless, with their friends giving up on them. However, as the refrain suggests, just as things were at their lowest ebb, love arrived in the nick of time to save the day.
The chorus is particularly evocative, with the word "time" appearing in each line. The singer describes how "before you came, my time was running low," implying that their life was on a downward trajectory before love intervened. With their life in a state of disarray, the singer had nowhere to go and their bridges were all crossed. However, just as all hope seemed lost, love arrived in the form of the person who would change their life forever. The final line of the chorus, "I found my way," is particularly significant, as it signals that the arrival of love has given the singer direction and purpose.
Overall, "Just in Time" is a moving ode to the restorative power of love. The lyrics show how even in the darkest of times, love can arrive just in time to turn things around and give our lives new purpose and meaning.
Line by Line Meaning
I was resting comfortably, face down in the gutter
I was in a very bad place in my life, completely lost and hopeless.
Life was serene, I knew where I was at
I was completely deluded and in denial about the reality of my situation.
"There's no hope for him," my dearest friends would mutter
My friends had given up hope for me, which made me feel even more hopeless.
I was something dragged in by the cat
I was like something that the cat had dragged in, completely unwanted and unloved.
Just in time, I found you just in time
You came into my life at just the right moment, when I needed you the most.
Before you came my time was running low
Before you came, I felt like my time was running out and I had no hope left.
I was lost, the losing dice were tossed
I was completely lost in life, and my future seemed bleak and uncertain.
My bridges all were crossed, nowhere to go
I had burned all my bridges and had nowhere left to turn.
Now you're here and now I know just where I'm going
Now that you're here, I finally have direction and purpose in my life.
No more doubt or fear, I found my way
With you by my side, I am no longer filled with doubt or fear, and I have found my path.
For love came just in time, you found me just in time
Your love came into my life just in time to save me from my self-destructive ways.
And changed my lonely life that lovely day
You changed my life for the better that day, and I will forever be grateful to you.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Jule Styne, Adolph Green, Betty Comden
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)