Carter was born Lillie Mae Jones on 16th May 1929 in Flint, Michigan and grew up in Detroit, where her father led a church choir. She studied piano at the Detroit Conservatory. She won a talent contest and became a regular on the local club circuit, singing and playing piano. When she was sixteen, she sang with Charlie Parker. She later performed with Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis and toured with Lionel Hampton (from whom she received the nickname "Betty Bebop"), when she perfected her scat singing of bebop.
Her career was eclipsed somewhat during the 1960s and 1970s, though a series of duets with Ray Charles in 1961, including the R&B-chart-topping "Baby, It's Cold Outside", brought her a measure of popular recognition. She recorded for various labels during this period, including Peacock, ABC-Paramount, and Atco, but was rarely satisfied with the resulting product. An episode in which a record company A&R man tried to abscond with a set of her master recordings led her to establish her own record label, Bet-Car, in 1970. Some of her most outstanding recordings were first issued on Bet-Car, including the double album The Audience with Betty Carter (1980). She was well-received at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1977 and 1978. In 1987 Carter signed with Verve Records. She won a Grammy in 1988 for her album Look What I Got! and sang in a guest appearance on The Cosby Show in that year.
She died on 26th September 1998.
Call Me Darling
Betty Carter Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Thrill me, darlin', with words I want to hear
In your dark eyes so smilin' a promise I see
But your two lips won't say you care for me
Oh my darlin', if my daydreams would come true
You would meet me at a secret rendezvous
And I'd find the paradise that lies deep in your eyes
The lyrics to Betty Carter's "Call Me Darling" capture the desire for love and attention from another person. The first line, "Call me darlin', call me sweetheart, call me dear," is a plea for affection and endearment. The singer wants to feel special and cherished, and is asking the other person to use words that make her feel loved. This is further emphasized in the second line, where the singer asks to be thrilled with words that she wants to hear. She is not satisfied with just any words; she wants to hear words of love and passion.
The third line, "In your dark eyes so smilin' a promise I see," speaks to the hope that the other person does indeed care for her. The singer sees a promise in the other person's smile, but is frustrated that the promise is not being backed up by actions - as stated in the next line, "But your two lips won't say you care for me." Essentially, the singer is saying that actions speak louder than words, and that while the other person may be putting on a smile and making promises, without concrete actions to back them up, they are empty words.
Line by Line Meaning
Call me darlin', call me sweetheart, call me dear
Address me with affectionate names such as darlin', sweetheart, or dear.
Thrill me, darlin', with words I want to hear
Speak words that would excite me, my dear.
In your dark eyes so smilin' a promise I see
I perceive a pledge or commitment in your smiling, dark eyes.
But your two lips won't say you care for me
You do not confess your love verbally to me, though.
Oh my darlin', if my daydreams would come true
If my fanciful thoughts manifested, my dear.
You would meet me at a secret rendezvous
You would arrive at a clandestine meeting place with me.
And I'd find the paradise that lies deep in your eyes
I would uncover the haven buried in your profound eyes.
Call me darlin', call me sweetheart, call me dear
Address me with affectionate names such as darlin', sweetheart, or dear.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: BERT REISFELD, DOROTHY DICK, MARTIN FRYBERG, ROLF MARBOT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind