She began as a Broadway musical actress, starring in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in 1949, and Hello, Dolly! in 1964, when she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. She revived both roles several times throughout her career, most recently playing Dolly in 1995. Channing was nominated for her first Tony Award in 1956 for The Vamp followed by a nomination in 1961 for Show Girl. She received her fourth Tony Award nomination for the musical Lorelei in 1974.
As a film actress, she won the Golden Globe Award and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Muzzy in Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967). Her other film appearances include The First Traveling Saleslady (1956) and Skidoo (1968). On television, she appeared as an entertainer on variety shows, from The Ed Sullivan Show in the 1950s to Hollywood Squares. She had a standout performance as The White Queen in the TV production of Alice in Wonderland (1985), and had the first of many TV specials in 1966, An Evening with Carol Channing.
Channing was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981 and received a Lifetime Achievement Tony Award in 1995. She continued to perform and make appearances well into her 90s, singing songs from her repertoire and sharing stories with fans, cabaret style. She released an autobiography, titled Just Lucky I Guess, in 2002, and Larger Than Life, a documentary film about her career, was released in 2012.
Discography
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Columbia Records, 1950
Show Girl, 1961
Hello, Dolly!, RCA Records, 1964
Lorelei, Decca Records, 1974
Hello, Dolly!, 1994
Additional albums:
Archy And Mehitabel - A Back-Alley Opera (with Eddie Bracken), 1954
Carol Channing, Vanguard Records, 1961
Carol Channing Reads Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Caedmon Records, 1962
Carol Channing Entertains, Command Records, 1965
Carol Channing Reads Madeleine, Caedmon Records, 1970s
C and W (with Webb Pierce), Plantation Records, 1976
Carol Channing and Her Country Friends (guest appearances by Jimmy C. Newman, Hank Locklin, and others), Plantation Records, 1977
Carol Channing on Tour, 51 West Records, 1980
Jazz Baby, DRG Records. 1994
Just Lucky, I Guess: A Memoir of Sorts, Audiobook, 2003
For Heaven's Sake, New Day Records, 2010
True To The Red, White, and Blue, Homesick Entertainment, 2012
Bye Bye Baby
Carol Channing Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh, what hard luck stories they all hand me
Pack up all my cares and woe, here I go, winging low
Bye, bye, blackbird
Where somebody waits for me
Sugar's sweet, so is she
Bye, bye, blackbird
No one here can love or understand me
Oh, what hard luck stories they all hand me
Make my bed and light the light, I'll arrive late tonight
Blackbird, bye, bye
Bye, bye, blackbird
Where somebody waits for me
Sugar's sweet, so is she
Bye, bye, blackbird
No one here can love or understand me
Oh what hard luck stories they all hand me
Make my bed and light the light, I'll arrive late tonight
Blackbird, bye, bye
The lyrics to Carol Channing's "Bye Bye Baby" express the singer's feeling of disconnection and disappointment with the people around her. She feels misunderstood and unloved by those in her current environment, and the continuous onslaught of hard luck stories she hears only reinforces her desire to leave. So she packs up her "cares and woe" and sets out on her own, "winging low" in search of a place where someone will love and understand her.
The second half of the song offers a glimmer of hope. Channing sings of a person and a sweet "sugar" who wait for her somewhere else. She is determined to leave her troubles behind and join this waiting individual, in the hope of finding a place where she will be understood and loved. The repetition of the phrase "bye bye blackbird" reinforces the idea of leaving and moving on from the pain and struggles of the past.
Overall, the lyrics to "Bye Bye Baby" represent the universal desire to find a place where we feel understood and loved - a place where we don't have to listen to hard luck stories and can truly be ourselves.
Line by Line Meaning
No one here can love or understand me
I feel like I'm not understood or cared for by anyone around me.
Oh, what hard luck stories they all hand me
Everyone keeps telling me sad stories which just adds to my problems.
Pack up all my cares and woe, here I go, winging low
I need to let go of my worries and just move on.
Bye, bye, blackbird
I'm leaving my troubles behind and starting anew.
Where somebody waits for me
There's someone out there who's waiting for me and who loves and understands me.
Sugar's sweet, so is she
This person who's waiting for me is sweet, kind and understanding just like sugar.
Make my bed and light the light, I'll arrive late tonight
I'll be arriving late tonight after I take care of my things at home.
Blackbird, bye, bye
I'm saying goodbye to my problems and moving on to something new and better.
Bye, bye, blackbird
I'm leaving my troubles behind and starting anew.
Where somebody waits for me
There's someone out there who's waiting for me and who loves and understands me.
Sugar's sweet, so is she
This person who's waiting for me is sweet, kind and understanding just like sugar.
No one here can love or understand me
I feel like I'm not understood or cared for by anyone around me.
Oh what hard luck stories they all hand me
Everyone keeps telling me sad stories which just adds to my problems.
Make my bed and light the light, I'll arrive late tonight
I'll be arriving late tonight after I take care of my things at home.
Blackbird, bye, bye
I'm saying goodbye to my problems and moving on to something new and better.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Mort Dixon, Ray Henderson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind