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!.
No Soap No Hope Blues
Anita O'Day Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I′ve got a hope chest but I ain't got no hope
I've got a moustrap - no mouse
I′ve got a household a - no house
I′ve got a the no soap, no hope, no mouse, no house blues
I've got a floor mat but i aint′ got no floor
I've got a doorknob but I ain′t got no door
I′ve got a keyhole - no key
I've got the no floor, no door, no tea, no key blues
Oh I've got a right to cry and do I cry, why yes indeed
′Cause I haven′t got a lot at home, I've got I sure don′t need
I've got a soap dish but ain′t got no soap
I've got a hope chest but I ain′t got no hope
I've got a moustrap - no mouse
I've got a household a - no house
I′ve got a the no soap, no hope, no mouse, no house Blues
I′ve got the blues
Oh I've got a right to cry and do I cry, why yes indeed
′Cause I haven't got a lot at home, I′ve got I sure don't need
I′ve got a soap dish but ain't got no soap
I've got a hope chest but I ain′t got no hope
I′ve got a moustrap - no mouse
I've got a household a - no house
I′ve got a the no soap, no hope, no mouse, no house,
No floor, no door, no tea, no key blues
The song "No Soap, No Hope Blues" by Anita O'Day is a classic example of a blues song, where the artist is lamenting their difficult circumstances. The lyrics depict a character who has certain household items, but they are incomplete and useless without other necessary things. The first set of lyrics describes a soap dish, a hope chest, a mousetrap, and a household without a house. The second set of lyrics describes a floor mat, a doorknob, a teapot, and a keyhole without the essential things that they are used for.
The repetition of the phrase "No soap, no hope, no mouse, no house blues" and "no floor, no door, no tea, no key blues" throughout the song not only creates the structure of the song but also captures the feeling of hopelessness and despair that the singer is experiencing. The broken and incomplete items in the lyrics symbolize the broken dreams and shattered aspirations of the character. The singer has a right to cry and expresses it with soulful delivery.
Line by Line Meaning
I've got a soap dish but ain't got no soap
I have a holder for soap, but I lack the soap itself
I've got a hope chest but I ain't got no hope
I possess a container for optimism, but am without any hopeful outlook
I've got a moustrap - no mouse
I have a mechanism for trapping mice, but there are no mice to catch
I've got a household a - no house
I am equipped with the essentials for a home, but I lack the physical structure
I've got the no soap, no hope, no mouse, no house blues
I am feeling dejected and disheartened due to my lack of basic possessions
I've got a floor mat but i ain't got no floor
I have a covering for the floor, but no actual floor to place it on
I've got a doorknob but I ain't got no door
I have a handle for a door, but no door through which to enter or exit
I've got a teapot - no tea
I own a container for brewing tea, but do not have any tea leaves to prepare a beverage
I've got a keyhole - no key
I have an opening for inserting a key, but do not possess the key itself
I've got the no floor, no door, no tea, no key blues
I am downhearted due to a lack of essential everyday items
Oh I've got a right to cry and do I cry, why yes indeed
I have a legitimate reason to feel sadness, and indeed I am overcome with tears
'Cause I haven't got a lot at home, I've got I sure don't need
Because I lack many basic possessions, I have a newfound appreciation for what little I do have
I've got a the no soap, no hope, no mouse, no house blues
Once again, I am despondent due to a lack of basic necessities
Writer(s): Adler, Ross
Contributed by Jacob K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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)