Bobby Troup was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He graduated from The Hill School, a preparatory school in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, in 1937. He went on to graduate Phi Beta Kappa from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in economics. He was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (ΣΑΕ) fraternity and the Mask and Wig Club.
His earliest musical success came with the song "Daddy" which was a regional hit in 1941. Sammy Kaye and His Orchestra recorded "Daddy", which was number one for 8 weeks on the Billboard Best Seller chart and the number five record of 1941. Glenn Miller and His Orchestra performed "Daddy" on their radio broadcasts, and The Andrews Sisters also recorded the song. In the same year, Troup's song "Snootie Little Cutie" was recorded by Frank Sinatra and Connie Haines with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and the Pied Pipers.
Upon graduating from college in 1941 he enlisted in the US Marines, but did not receive orders until January 1942. After completing officer training, he was assigned as one of two dozen white officers to direct recruit training at Montford Point, recruit depot for the first African-American Marines. By spring of 1943 he became recreation officer, in which capacity he was able to spearhead improvements to the facilities at Montford, including building a recreation hall, basketball court, and outdoor boxing ring. He was even able to get a friend to install a miniature golf course. During this time he composed the song "Take Me Away From Jacksonville" which was to become an anthem of sorts for the Marines at Montford Point, even extending to other areas of Camp Lejeune. By numerous accounts Troup was the most popular officer among the Montford recruits. In October 1944 he was promoted to Captain, given command of a depot company, and eventually deployed to Saipan where he served to the end of the war.
Bobby Troup's first marriage was to Cynthia Hare. They were married in May 1942 and had two daughters, Cynnie Troup (b. 1943) and Ronne Troup (b. 1945), both of whom had careers in the entertainment industry.
In 1946, Nat King Cole had a hit with Troup's best known song "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66". It became a popular standard recorded by many artists, including Chuck Berry (1961) and The Rolling Stones (1964). In 1987, Depeche Mode combined the tune with their own composition, "Behind the Wheel", released it as the B-side of "Behind the Wheel" and it became a radio hit on KROQ 106.7 FM in Los Angeles. In 2006, "Route 66" was featured in the animated movie Cars, and the movie RV with Robin Williams.
Troup met his second wife, torch singer Julie London, at the Celebrity Room, where he was singing. It was Troup who encouraged London to pursue her singing career, and in 1955 he produced her million selling hit record "Cry Me a River". London, previously married to actor Jack Webb (1947 to 1953), married Troup in 1959. They remained married until Troup's death in 1999.
Troup's own recordings in the 1950s and 1960s were not commercially successful. He made recordings for Liberty Records and Capitol Records, many with musicians from the West Coast jazz scene.
Troup also wrote the title song (sung by Little Richard) in the classic 1950s rock and roll movie The Girl Can't Help It. An instrumental rendition of his song "The Meaning of the Blues" appeared on the landmark Miles Davis album, Miles Ahead. Troup's hipster interpretation of the fairy tale "The Three Bears" is often erroneously credited to "anonymous" and re-titled "Three Bears Rap", "Three Bears with a Beat", etc. This song was first recorded by the Page Cavanaugh Trio and later by Western Swing bandleader Leon McAuliffe.
Circa 1969 Troup collaborated with entertainer Tommy Leonetti, penning the lyrics for Leonetti's song "My City of Sydney". Leonetti's original recording was used for many years in the close-down sequence for TV station ATN-7 in Sydney, and was also covered by Sydney punk band XL Capris.
In February 1999, Troup died at UCLA Medical Center of a massive heart attack; he was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills. His wife, Julie London died the following year, and her cremated remains were placed in the columbarium (Columbarium of Providence) niche, next to his.
In the mid-1950s, Troup was one of three regular panelists (along with Mel Blanc and Johnny Mercer) in the game show Musical Chairs, a Bill Leyden-hosted quiz program that aired locally on Los Angeles television for two years before NBC broadcast it in the summer of 1955. On the program, the viewing audience was encouraged to submit questions about music in an effort to stump the panel. The Troup Group provided much of the music in the game show. He also served as host of the ABC show Stars of Jazz featuring various jazz luminaries, particularly those working in Hollywood.
While he relied on songwriting royalties, Troup also worked as an actor, playing musician Tommy Dorsey in the film The Gene Krupa Story (1959). He played himself in the short-lived NBC television series Acapulco. Troup made three guest appearances on Perry Mason, and on two appearances, "The Case of the Jaded Joker" in 1959 and "The Case of the Missing Melody" in 1961, he showed his musical talents. In 1969 and 1970, he appeared as "Bobby" in two episodes of Mannix, where he was a lounge piano player who helped Mannix unravel cases. He again appeared as a piano player in a cameo on The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries in 1978.
In Robert Altman's 1970 film M*A*S*H he had a memorable cameo as a disgruntled staff sergeant assigned to driving Hawkeye and Trapper John around in Japan. (His only line of dialogue is a repeated exasperation, "Goddamn army!") In 1972, Jack Webb, who had previously used Troup in a 1967 episode of the television series Dragnet, cast him opposite Julie London in the US TV series Emergency!. Emergency! was created by Webb, who had recently starred in a revival of Dragnet and was producing NBC's popular Adam-12. London and Troup had remained on cordial terms with Webb, who had used Troup (and his daughter Ronne) in episodes of Adam-12 as well as the revived Dragnet. On Emergency! Troup played Dr. Joe Early, one of the two emergency room doctors featured on the series, while London played head nurse Dixie McCall.
Lullaby of Birdland
Bobby Troup Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Always hear when you sigh
Never in my wordland
Could there be ways to reveal
In a phrase how I feel
Have you ever heard two turtle doves
Bill and coo when they love?
Music we make with our lips when we kiss
And there's a weepy old willow
He really knows how to cry
That's how I'd cry in my pillow
If you should tell me farewell and goodbye
Lullaby of Birdland whisper low
Kiss me sweet and we'll go
Flyin' high in Birdland
High in the sky up above
All because we're in love
The Bobby Troup song, "Lullaby of Birdland," is a love song that employs metaphors and similes to describe the passion and intensity of the singer's feelings. The Song describes the singer's intense love for their partner, and how the music they make together feels magical, like the sound of two turtle doves singing sweetly to each other. The Song further compares the singer's love to the sound of a weepy old willow tree that seems to cry whenever it is hurt.
The singer describes the overwhelming force of their love, saying that they always hear the lullaby of birdland when their partner sighs, and that they could never find the words to fully reveal how they feel. However, they find expression through their music, which takes them "flyin' high in Birdland, high in the sky up above." The Song suggests that the singer's love for their partner is the source of the transcendental, magical feeling they get when they are together, and that this connection takes them to a higher place.
Line by Line Meaning
Lullaby of Birdland, that's what I
The song 'Lullaby of Birdland' represents the essence of my romantic emotions
Always hear when you sigh
Whenever you sigh, the tune of 'Lullaby of Birdland' echoes through my heart
Never in my wordland
I have never been able to express my emotions adequately
Could there be ways to reveal
There is no better way to articulate how I feel
In a phrase how I feel
Words alone are insufficient to describe the depth of my emotions
Have you ever heard two turtle doves
Have you ever observed two birds cherishing each other?
Bill and coo when they love?
Having affectionate and comforting sounds while they adore one another
That's the kind of magic
This enchanting sound of romantic birds inspired me
Music we make with our lips when we kiss
The music produced when our lips meet during a kiss is the epitome of romantic magic
And there's a weepy old willow
The willow tree is a sad manifestation of sorrow and loneliness
He really knows how to cry
The willow embodies the pain I would feel if I lose you
That's how I'd cry in my pillow
I would cry myself to sleep just like the willow tree if you left me
If you should tell me farewell and goodbye
If you decided to leave me, my world would be unsettled
Lullaby of Birdland whisper low
Our love has the power to sing this romantic song in whispers
Kiss me sweet and we'll go
Give me a sweet kiss, and we'll fly away in our love as high as the sky
Flyin' high in Birdland
In the love of Birdland, we will feel weightless and happy
High in the sky up above
Our love will take us to heights we've never reached before
All because we're in love
We can experience the spectacular Birdland and its magnificent skies because of the depth of our love for each other
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: GEORGE SHEARING, GEORGE DAVID WEISS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind