Barbara Lea (April 10, 1929 – December 28, 2011) was an American actress an… Read Full Bio ↴Barbara Lea (April 10, 1929 – December 28, 2011) was an American actress and singer.

Born into a musical family in Detroit, she worked with small dance bands there before attending Wellesley College on scholarship and majoring in music theory. Boston was a hotbed of jazz in the late 40s and early 50s, allowing Barbara to sing with major instrumentalists such as Marian McPartland, Bobby Hackett, Vic Dickenson, Frankie Newton, Johnny Windhurst, and George Wein.

Her early recordings for Riverside and Prestige met with immediate critical acclaim and led to her winning the DownBeat International Critics' Poll as the Best New Singer of 1956. She appeared in small clubs in New York, including the renowned Village Vanguard, and throughout the eastern U.S. and Canada, as well as on radio and TV.

She studied acting to improve her stage presence and, with the near-demise of classic pop in the early 60s, turned to the legitimate theatre, performing in everything from Shakespeare to Sondheim. She moved to the West Coast and received her M.A. in drama at Cal. State-Northridge, then returned to New York and taught speech at the American Academy of Dramatic Art and acting at Hofstra College. In the 1970s, with the resurgence of interest in show tunes and popular standards, Barbara Lea was sought out to appear in the Peabody Award-winning National Public Radio series "American Popular Song with Alec Wilder and Friends". This led to two lengthy feature articles in The New Yorker and a renewed singing career.

She has over a dozen CDs currently available on the Audiophile label, plus reissues of two early LPs on Fantasy/Original Jazz Classics, and two recent releases on the European-based label Challenge.

Barbara Lea died at the age of eighty-two on December 28, 2011.

I've Got My Eyes on You
Barbara Lea Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I've got my eyes on you,
So best beware where you roam.
I've got my eyes on you,
So don't stray too far from home.

Incidentally,
I've set my spies on you,
I'm checking all you do

From A to Z,
So, darling, just be wise,
Keep your eyes on me.

Incidentally,
I've set my spies on you,
I'm checking all you do
From A to Z,
So, darling, just be wise,

If you're wise,
Keep your eyes on me.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Barbara Lea's song "I've Got My Eyes On You" speak to the feeling of possessiveness and caution in a romantic context. The singer is warning their partner to stay close and be careful of their actions because they are monitoring them closely. The repetition of "I've got my eyes on you" and "keep your eyes on me" reinforces the idea of constant surveillance and control. The line, "So don't stray too far from home" adds a sense of confinement and restriction to the relationship.

The use of the phrase "set my spies on you" furthers the sense of paranoia and surveillance in the song. It implies that the singer has gone to great lengths to monitor their partner, and is perhaps even monitoring them without their knowledge. The tone of the song is somewhat ominous and suggests a lack of trust in the relationship.

Overall, the lyrics to "I've Got My Eyes On You" paint a picture of a possessive and somewhat mistrustful relationship. The constant surveillance and control implied in the lyrics make it clear that the singer is not comfortable with the idea of their partner being out of their sight.

Line by Line Meaning

I've got my eyes on you,
I'm watching your every move and paying attention to you.

So best beware where you roam.
Be cautious in your travels because I'm keeping tabs on your whereabouts.

I've got my eyes on you,
I'm still watching you and aware of your actions.

So don't stray too far from home.
Don't go too far away because I'm keeping close tabs on you.

Incidentally,
By the way, I'm also doing something else.

I've set my spies on you,
I've arranged for people to monitor your every move without your knowledge.

I'm checking all you do
I'm thoroughly examining everything you do and say, trying to find out all about you.

From A to Z,
I'm scrutinizing every detail of your life from the beginning to the end.

So, darling, just be wise,
Therefore, it would be intelligent to be wise, considering the circumstances.

Keep your eyes on me.
You should also keep an eye on me because I'm the one who knows everything about you.

If you're wise,
If you are sensible and intelligent,

Keep your eyes on me.
You'll keep an eye on me, recognizing my power and influence over you.

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: COLE PORTER

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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