Ann-Margret started recording for RCA in 1961, but her recording career was not as successful as her concurrent movie career. She had a sexy, throaty singing voice comparable to Eartha Kitt or Nancy Sinatra, and RCA attempted to capitalize on her "Female Elvis" comparison by her recording a version of Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" and other songs stylistically similar to Presley. She scored one minor hit, "I Just Don't Understand" (which entered the Billboard Top 40 in the third week of August 1961 and stayed 6 weeks, peaking at #17.) Her only charting album is The Beauty and the Beard (1964), on which she was accompanied by trumpeter Al Hirt. The contract with RCA ended in 1966.
Years later, she returned to music at the end of Disco era. Her 1980 album, "Ann-Margret" became a success with both singles, "Midnight Message" and "Love Rush" reaching the Top 10 of the Hot Dance Club Songs chart. In the early 1980s, the album was followed up with the single, "Everybody Needs Somebody Sometimes" and the B-Side "Hold Me/Squeeze Me." Ann Margret has continued to record music sporatically since then.
[edit]Film career
In 1961 she also made her film début for in Pocketful of Miracles, starring Bette Davis, Glenn Ford, and Hope Lange, a remake of the Oscar-winning 1933 film Lady for a Day; both versions were directed by the great Frank Capra. She followed that role with the successful remake of Rodgers' and Hammerstein's musical State Fair in 1962. Her next starring role, as the all-American teenager in Bye Bye Birdie, made her a major star. When she filmed Viva Las Vegas with Elvis Presley the two began an affair that received considerable attention from the gossip columnists in various media. The reports led to a showdown with a very worried Priscilla Beaulieu, which she recounts in her 1985 book, Elvis and Me, including Ann-Margret's attempt to "cut her off at the pass" with a press announcement that Ann-Margret and Elvis were engaged to be married. Although he ended the affair, Presley remained a friend and continued to send her flowers at the opening of each of her stage appearances until he died. Of all the Hollywood starlets he had worked with or had a relationship with, Ann-Margret was the only one to attend his funeral.
In 1963, Ann-Margret was featured and guest-starred, in animated form, in an episode of Hanna-Barbera's The Flintstones as "Ann-Margrock." Decades later, she recorded the theme song to the live-action film The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas in character as Ann-Margrock. The song she recorded was a modified version of the "Viva Las Vegas" theme.\
In March 1966, Ann-Margret and entertainers Chuck Day and Mickey Jones teamed up for a USO tour to entertain U.S. servicemen in remote parts of Vietnam and other parts of Southeast Asia. She still has great affection for the veterans and refers to them as "my gentlemen". [1] Ann-Margret, Day and Jones reunited for an encore of this tour for veterans and troops at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada in November 2005. [2]
In 1971, she starred in Mike Nichols's Carnal Knowledge, marking a change from her sex-kitten musical roles, garnering a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The following year, while performing at Lake Tahoe, Nevada, she fell 22 feet from the stage and suffered injuries that put her out of commission for several months. Throughout the 1970s, Ann-Margret balanced her live performances with a string of critically acclaimed dramatic film performances that played against her glamorous image, including Tommy in 1975, for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. In addition, she has been nominated for ten Golden Globe Awards, winning five times including Best Actress for Tommy. She also did a string of successful TV specials, starting with The Ann-Margret Show for NBC in 1968. Now in her mid-60s, she continues to act in movies.
In 1994, she published an autobiography titled Ann Margret: My Story (ISBN 0-399-13891-9). She has been married to actor Roger Smith since 1967. Smith suffers from myasthenia gravis, and Ann-Margret has devoted much of her life to caring for him.
In 2001 Ann-Margret made her first appearance in a stage musical, playing the character of Mona Stangley in a new touring production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
She has also filmed the movie "Mem-o-re", where she stars with Billy Zane and Dennis Hopper.
Blame It on My Youth
Ann-Margret Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Then you became the bored one
I was like a toy
That brought you joy one day
A broken toy
That you preferred to throw away
If I expected love
Blame it on my youth
If only just for you I did exist
Blame it on my youth
I believed in everything
Like a child of three
You meant more than anything
All the world to me
If you were on my mind
All night and day
Blame it on my youth
If I forgot to eat and sleep and pray
Blame it on my youth
If I cried a little bit
When first I learned the truth
Don't blame it on the stars
Don't blame it on your smile
Don't blame it on my eyes
Blame it on my youth
Ann-Margret's song "Blame It on My Youth" is a poignant tune about a past relationship that didn't live up to expectations. The lyrics tell the story of a person who was once adored by their partner, only to be tossed aside like a broken toy that no longer brings joy. The song reflects on the singer's youth and naivete in believing in the relationship, even as it fell apart.
The opening lyrics set the stage for the song's narrative: "You were my adored one / Then you became the bored one / I was like a toy / That brought you joy one day / A broken toy / That you preferred to throw away." The metaphor of the toy emphasizes the singer's objectification in the relationship, being used only for the partner's pleasure and then discarded when they no longer serve a purpose. The singer's pain at being treated this way is evident in the mournful tone of the song.
The chorus of the song serves as a refrain, repeating the phrase "Blame it on my youth" throughout. This phrase is used as a way for the singer to acknowledge their own naivete in believing in the relationship, even as it was doomed. "If I expected love / When we first kissed / Blame it on my youth / If only just for you I did exist / Blame it on my youth / I believed in everything / Like a child of three / You meant more than anything / All the world to me." These lyrics convey the innocence and vulnerability that the singer brought to the relationship, and the regret they feel for investing so much in something that ultimately wasn't worth it.
Overall, "Blame It on My Youth" is a beautiful and emotional song that captures the pain of disappointment in love, and the bittersweet nostalgia for the naivete of youth.
Line by Line Meaning
You were my adored one
You were once someone I adored and valued deeply
Then you became the bored one
At some point, you lost interest and became uninterested
I was like a toy
I was like an object that could be used for amusement or entertainment
That brought you joy one day
At some point in time, I brought you happiness
A broken toy
I am now a toy that no longer functions properly
That you preferred to throw away
You preferred to discard me instead of trying to fix or repair me
If I expected love
If I hoped to receive love and affection from you
When we first kissed
During our first kiss together
Blame it on my youth
If my naivety and lack of experience caused me to expect love from you
If only just for you I did exist
If my sole purpose for existing was to be with you
I believed in everything
I was trusting and believed in things without skepticism
Like a child of three
I was innocent and naive, like a young child
You meant more than anything
You were the most important thing to me
All the world to me
You meant everything to me, more than anything else in the world
If you were on my mind
If I couldn't stop thinking about you
All night and day
Continuously, without interruption
If I forgot to eat and sleep and pray
If you were so constantly on my mind that I neglected basic necessities like food, sleep, and religious devotion
If I cried a little bit
If I shed tears of sadness or disappointment
When first I learned the truth
When I discovered something that shattered my previous illusions or hopes
Don't blame it on the stars
Don't attribute it to fate or things beyond our control
Don't blame it on your smile
Don't attribute it to your charming or attractive demeanor
Don't blame it on my eyes
Don't attribute it to my own perception or vision
Blame it on my youth
Blame it on my lack of experience and maturity
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Edward Heyman, Oscar Levant
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind