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!.
Like Someone In Love
Anita O'Day Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's strange, a real mystery.
Maybe you see it.
If you do see it
What on earth can it be?
Lately I find myself out gazing at stars,
Hearing guitars like someone in love.
Mostly whenever you're around me.
Lately I seem to walk as though I had wings,
Bump into things like someone in love.
Each time I look at you I'm limp as a glove
And feeling like someone in love.
Lately I find myself out gazing at stars,
Hearing guitars like someone in love.
Sometimes the things I do astound me,
Mostly whenever you're around me.
Lately I seem to walk as though I had wings,
Bump into things like someone in love.
Each time I look at you I'm limp as a glove
And feeling like someone in love.
The lyrics to Anita O'Day's song "Like Someone in Love" appear to be about falling in love and the effects it can have on a person's behavior and mood. The first few lines of the song suggest that the singer has experienced a change, but they are uncertain and confused about what it may be. This could represent the initial confusion and uncertainty that often comes with falling in love, as well as the mystery and unpredictability of emotions.
The subsequent verses describe the physical and emotional sensations that come with being in love. The singer finds themselves "out gazing at stars, hearing guitars" and feeling like they have wings. These sensory experiences are often associated with a sense of euphoria and heightened emotions, which is consistent with the idea of falling in love.
The final lines of the song underscore the impact that being in love has on the singer's life. They feel "limp as a glove" and are constantly surprised by their own behavior when they are around the object of their affection. Overall, the song presents a picture of someone who is deeply enamored with another person, but who is still trying to understand the full extent of their feelings and the changes they have experienced as a result.
Line by Line Meaning
This change I feel puzzles me.
I am confused by the change in me.
It's strange, a real mystery.
This change is very mysterious and unusual.
Maybe you see it.
Perhaps you have noticed it as well.
If you do see it
Assuming you see the same thing
What on earth can it be?
What is causing this change?
Lately I find myself out gazing at stars,
Recently, I have been spending time looking at the stars
Hearing guitars like someone in love.
I feel as if I am in love, as if romantic music is playing.
Sometimes the things I do astound me,
Some of my actions surprise me greatly,
Mostly whenever you're around me.
This mostly happens when you are near me.
Lately I seem to walk as though I had wings,
My walk has become light, like I am flying.
Bump into things like someone in love.
I am so focused on the feeling of love that I am not paying attention to my surroundings, like bumping into things.
Each time I look at you I'm limp as a glove
When I see you, I feel weak and vulnerable
And feeling like someone in love.
I have a strong sense of being in love.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: J. BURKE, J. VAN HEUSEN
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)