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.
The Very Thought Of You
Barbara Lea Lyrics
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The little ordinary things that everyone ought to do
I'm living in a kind of daydream
I'm happy as a king
And foolish though it may seem
To me that's everything
The mere idea of you, the longing here for you
I see your face in every flower
Your eyes in stars above
It's just the thought of you
The very thought of you, my love
The mere idea of you, the longing here for you
You'll never know how slow the moments go till I'm near to you
I see your face in every flower
Your eyes in stars above
It's just the thought of you
The very thought of you, my love
Barbara Lea's "The Very Thought Of You" is a romantic song about the power of someone's presence in one's life. The lyrics reflect how the mere thought of being with someone can consume one's mind and cause them to forget about everyday tasks. The opening lines, "The very thought of you and I forget to do/The little ordinary things that everyone ought to do," suggests that the singer is so in love with the person they are thinking about that they become distracted and forget to do even the simplest tasks.
The song goes on to describe the feeling of being in a daydream, "I'm living in a kind of daydream/I'm happy as a king," which implies that the singer is lost in their own thoughts about the person they love. Despite the foolishness of their daydream, it is everything to them. The next verse describes the idea of the person they love and the intense longing they feel for that person. The line "You'll never know how slow the moments go till I'm near to you" speaks to the sense of timelessness that can happen when someone is deeply infatuated with someone else.
Overall, "The Very Thought of You" is a sweet and romantic song about the power of love and how it can overtake one's thoughts, leaving them lost in a daydream of the person they love.
Line by Line Meaning
The very thought of you and I forget to do
The mere thought of your presence induces such joy and elation in me that I often forget to carry out even the most mundane of daily duties.
The little ordinary things that everyone ought to do
Tasks that are considered mundane and routine but are still necessary to conduct daily life.
I'm living in a kind of daydream
I am consumed with the idea and notions of you, almost as if in a trance-like state, and am completely immersed in thoughts of you.
I'm happy as a king
I am greatly content and satisfied with this feeling of love I have for you, equated to a king's joy and pleasure in ruling his kingdom.
And foolish though it may seem
Although this level of happiness and adoration I hold for you may be considered foolish in the eyes of others, it is everything to me.
To me that's everything
This love I have for you overrides all other concerns and is the most significant thing in my life.
The mere idea of you, the longing here for you
The very concept of you and my yearning for your presence are powerful and profound emotions in my life.
You'll never know how slow the moments go till I'm near to you
Time seems to slow down and become insignificant when I am away from you, and only quickens when I am in your presence.
I see your face in every flower
You are so deeply ingrained in my thoughts that I see reminders of you in every aspect of life, even in something as simple as a flower.
Your eyes in stars above
Your presence and impression on me is so great that I even see you reflected in the stars above in the heavens.
It's just the thought of you
The simple idea and recollection of you are enough to bring me immense happiness and contentment.
The very thought of you, my love
Just the mere idea of you fills me with immense love and joy, bringing me to a state of utter bliss and satisfaction.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, CARLIN AMERICA INC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Ray Noble
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind