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.
The Way You Look Tonight
Betty Carter 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.
Yes you're lovely, with your smile so warm
And your cheeks so soft,
There is nothing for me but to love you,
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 Betty Carter's song "The Way You Look Tonight" speaks of a love that gives the singer a sense of comfort and joy, even in moments of sadness and loneliness. The first verse talks about how the singer will feel a warm "glow" just by thinking of their loved one, even when they are feeling low and negative emotions surrounds them. The second verse praises the loved one's physical attributes such as their warm smile and soft cheeks, but it also expresses how much the singer has fallen in love with the person and how it feels like there is nothing else for them other than to love the person. The third verse describes how the tenderness in the loved one’s words tears apart the singer's fears and how their laughter that wrinkles their nose touches the singer's heart. The last verse is a request for the loved one to never change and keep their breathless charm as the singer loves them just the way they look.
The lyrics of the song capture the idea of a lasting romance, one in which the singer accepts and loves the person just the way they are. The song speaks of the beauty of unconditional love that looks beyond physical appearances and embraces a person's unique qualities. The song's message is that true love does not require any changing or shaping of someone to fit into another's idea of perfection.
Line by Line Meaning
Some day, when I'm awfully low,
One day, when I am feeling very down,
When the world is cold,
When it seems like everyone and everything is against me,
I will feel a glow just thinking of you...
I will feel warmth and happiness just by thinking of the one I love,
And the way you look tonight.
Especially the way they look at that moment.
Yes you're lovely, with your smile so warm
You are stunningly beautiful, with a smile so welcoming,
And your cheeks so soft,
Your cheeks are so soft and tender,
There is nothing for me but to love you,
I am completely and hopelessly in love with you,
And the way you look tonight.
Particularly, the way you look at this very moment.
With each word your tenderness grows,
The more you speak, the more kind and gentle you become,
Tearing my fear apart...
Your words and actions are dissolving my anxiety and reservations,
And that laugh that wrinkles your nose,
When you laugh and your nose crinkles, it brings me immense joy,
It touches my foolish heart.
It has a profound impact on my emotions and thoughts,
Lovely ... Never, ever change.
You are perfect just the way you are, please never change,
Keep that breathless charm.
Continue to be effortlessly charming,
Won't you please arrange it ?
Can you make an effort to maintain this lovely persona?
'Cause I love you ... Just the way you look tonight.
Because I love you so much, particularly at this moment in time.
Mm, Mm, Mm, Mm,
An expression of adoration and appreciation.
Just the way you look to-night.
At this moment, you are everything to me.
Lyrics © RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Dorothy Fields, Jerome Kern
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind