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 Way You Look Tonight
Anita O'Day Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When the world is cold,
I will feel a glow just thinking of you
And the way you look tonight.
Lovely, with your smile so warm
And your cheeks so soft,
There is nothing for me but to love you,
And the way you look tonight.
With each word your tenderness grows,
Tearing my fear apart
And that laugh that wrinkles your nose,
It touches my foolish heart.
Lovely,never, ever change.
Keep that breathless charm.
Won't you please arrange it?
'Cause I love you, just the way you look tonight.
Mm, mm, mm, mm,
Just the way you look to-night.
The lyrics of "The Way You Look Tonight" by Anita O'Day convey the singer's unconditional love for the person they are addressing, expressing that even when they are feeling low or the world seems cold, just the thought of them brings a sense of warmth and happiness. The singer goes on to describe the physical attributes of the person in question, such as their warm smile and soft cheeks, and states that there is nothing for them but to love this person. The tenderness in their voice grows with each word they speak, and they recognize how this person is able to tear apart their fears and make them feel more secure. The laugh that wrinkles this person's nose touches the singer's heart, and they express a desire for this person to never change and to keep their breathless charm. The song ends with a final plea for this person to arrange their love, as the singer loves them just the way they look tonight.
Line by Line Meaning
Some day, when I'm awfully low,
At some point in the future, when I'm feeling extremely down,
When the world is cold,
When everything around me seems cold,
I will feel a glow just thinking of you
Remembering you will make me feel a warm, happy feeling
And the way you look tonight.
I really like the way you look tonight
Lovely, with your smile so warm
You look beautiful, especially with your warm smile
And your cheeks so soft,
Your cheeks are very soft
There is nothing for me but to love you,
I can't help but love you
And the way you look tonight.
I really like the way you look tonight
With each word your tenderness grows,
Every time you speak, your love and kindness grows
Tearing my fear apart
It's making me feel better and removing my fear
And that laugh that wrinkles your nose,
When you laugh and wrinkles appear on your nose,
It touches my foolish heart.
It really touches my heart, despite the fact that I might not always act very intelligent
Lovely, never, ever change.
You're lovely just the way you are, please never change
Keep that breathless charm.
Continue maintaining that charisma and charm that leaves me speechless
Won't you please arrange it?
Won't you please do what I ask?
'Cause I love you, just the way you look tonight.
It's because I love you just the way you are tonight
Mm, mm, mm, mm,
Sound of humming
Just the way you look to-night.
You look amazing tonight
Lyrics © RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Dorothy Fields, Jerome Kern
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)