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!.
The Lady Is a Tramp
Anita O'Day Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She likes the theatre and never comes late
She never bothers with people she'd hate
That's why the lady is a tramp
Doesn't like crap games with barons or earls
Won't go to Harlem in ermine and pearls
Won't dish the dirt with the rest of the girls
She likes the free, fresh wind in her hair
Life without care
She's broke, and it's "ok"
Hates California, it's cold and it's damp
That's why the lady is a tramp
She gets too hungry to wait for dinner at eight
She loves the theatre but never comes late
She'd never bother with people she'd hate
That's why the lady is a tramp
She'll have no crap games with sharpies and frauds
And she won't go to Harlem in Lincolns or Fords
And she won't dish the dirt with the rest of the broads
That's why the lady is a tramp
She'd love the free, fresh wind in her hair
Life without care
She's broke, but it's "ok"
Hates California, it's so cold and so damp
That's why the lady
That's why the lady is a tramp
"The Lady Is a Tramp" is a song that is a celebration of being independent and carefree, refusing to conform to societal expectations of what it means to be a woman. Anita O'Day sings about a woman who doesn't fit in with high society and doesn't want to. She would rather have a good time on her own terms than be stuck with people she dislikes. The opening lines of the song highlight her impatience and appetite, which are considered unbecoming traits for a woman, but the lady doesn't care. She loves the theatre but never shows up late, which shows her appreciation for the arts and punctuality.
The next few lines of the song reveal more about what the lady doesn't like. She doesn't like pretentious people who look down on others, and she certainly doesn't like playing rigged games with the rich and powerful. She won't go to Harlem all dressed up, aware of the unfair treatment that would come with being a white woman in a black community. She won't stoop to gossiping and spreading rumors either. She'd rather be free, have fun, and not have a care in the world, even if it means being broke. Finally, she dislikes California because of its weather, which doesn't fit the stereotype of a woman's love of sunshine.
Overall, the song's message is that the lady is not a conventional woman, but that's what makes her so appealing. She's a tramp in the sense that she isn't bound by the rules of high society, but she's her own woman.
Line by Line Meaning
She gets too hungry for dinner at eight
She has a hearty appetite that cannot be contained till late dinner-time.
She likes the theatre and never comes late
She's an ardent lover of theatre and makes sure to be on time.
She never bothers with people she'd hate
She avoids conversations with people she genuinely dislikes.
That's why the lady is a tramp
Being free-spirited and not conforming to society's expectations defines her as a tramp.
Doesn't like crap games with barons or earls
She's not into gambling with wealthy people.
Won't go to Harlem in ermine and pearls
She doesn't want to show off her wealth in poverty-stricken places like Harlem.
Won't dish the dirt with the rest of the girls
She refuses to indulge in gossip along with other women.
She likes the free, fresh wind in her hair
She enjoys the feeling of wind blowing through her hair, signifying her love for the outdoors.
Life without care
She lives life without worrying about consequences.
She's broke, and it's "ok"
She's financially struggling but is okay with it because she doesn't value money as much.
Hates California, it's cold and it's damp
She dislikes California due to the prevalent cold and damp weather.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Downtown Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers
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)