… Read Full Bio ↴Connie Stevens (born August 8, 1938) is an American actress and singer.
She was born Concetta Rosalie Anna Ingoglia in Brooklyn, New York, a daughter of Peter Ingoglia (known as musician Teddy Stevens) and singer Eleanor McGinley.
Connie adopted her father's stage name of Stevens as her own. Her parents were divorced and she lived with grandparents. Coming from a musical family, she formed a singing group called The Fourmost, the other three vocalists went on to fame as The Lettermen. In 1953, Stevens moved to Los Angeles with her father. When she was sixteen, she started another singing group, The Three Debs. She enrolled at a professional school (Georgia Massey's School of Song and Dance in Los Angeles), sang professionally and appeared in local repertory theater.
Stevens then started working as a movie extra. After appearing in four B movies, Jerry Lewis saw her in Dragstrip Riot and cast her in Rock-A-Bye Baby. Soon after that, she signed a contract with Warner Brothers.
She played 'Cricket Blake' in the popular Television detective series Hawaiian Eye from 1959 to 1962, a role that made her famous. In a televised interview on August 26, 2003, on CNN's Larry King Live, Stevens recounted that while on the set of Hawaiian Eye she was told she had a telephone call from Elvis Presley. She didn't believe it, but in fact it was Elvis, inviting her to a party, saying he would come to her house and pick her up personally. They dated for a time and she says they remained lifelong friends.
Her first album was titled Concetta (1958). She had minor hits with the songs Blame It On My Youth, Looking For A Boy, and Spring Is Here. She appeared opposite James Garner in a comedy episode of the TV western series Maverick entitled "Two Tickets to Ten Strike," and after making several appearances on the Warner Bros. hit TV series 77 Sunset Strip, she recorded the hit novelty song Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb, a duet with one of the shows stars, Edward Byrnes. She also recorded the hit single Sixteen Reasons (1960). It hit the top five in both Billboard and Cashbox.
Why'd You Wanna Make Me Cry
Connie Stevens Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What you wanna make me cry for
Why'd you wanna make me blue
Why'd you wanna go and break my heart
When I never done nothing to you
Why'd you wanna go and kiss me
Show me what a thrill can be
When you weren't gonna give it to me
I never wanted to love you
But you destroyed my resistance
I never wanted to love you
But when I heard the sound of your sighs
Then the look in my eyes was for you
What you wanna make me cry for
Why'd you wanna make me blue
Why'd you make me fall in love with you
When you know you didn't love me too
Oh, what you wanna make me cry for
Hey, why'd you wanna make me blue
Why'd you make me fall in love with you
When you know you didn't love me too
No, you never did
You never did love me
What you wanna make me cry for
You never did love me
Why'd you wanna make me cry for
You never did love me
In the song "Why'd You Wanna Make Me Cry," Connie Stevens sings about the pain of being rejected by someone who she thought loved her back. She asks why her lover made her cry and why he made her blue. She wonders why he would go as far as to break her heart even though she never did anything wrong to him. She is confused by his actions and laments the fact that she fell in love with him when he was never going to reciprocate. The lyrics suggest that despite the pain, she cannot help but still have feelings for him.
The second verse reveals that the lover had shown her what it feels like to experience romance, to be kissed and to be thrilled. He had created paradise for her, but then he took it away. Stevens sings about how she never intended to love him, but he destroyed her resistance by seducing her with his sighs and looks. She says that her look was for him, and despite her unwillingness to fall for him, he managed to make her fall in love with him.
The chorus then repeats the same questions, asking why he made her cry and why he made her fall in love with him when he never loved her in return. The song ends with Stevens acknowledging the fact that he never loved her and wondering why he made her cry when he never cared for her at all.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh, baby
Addressing the person she sings the song to
What you wanna make me cry for
Asking why this person wants to make her cry
Why'd you wanna make me blue
Asking why this person wants to make her sad
Why'd you wanna go and break my heart
Asking why this person wants to hurt her emotionally
When I never done nothing to you
Expressing confusion as to why this person would do this to her when she's done nothing to deserve it
Why'd you wanna go and kiss me
Questioning why this person would give her affection when they don't truly mean it
Show me what a thrill can be
Describing the rush of emotions she felt when this person kissed her
Why'd you wanna show me paradise
Questioning why this person would make her feel so happy and content if they weren't going to follow through with it
When you weren't gonna give it to me
Expressing disappointment that this person wasn't going to fulfill the promise of a blissful relationship
I never wanted to love you
Admitting that she didn't want to fall for this person
But you destroyed my resistance
Explaining how this person's actions broke down her defenses and made her vulnerable to falling in love
But when I heard the sound of your sighs
Explaining what triggered her to start developing feelings for this person
Then the look in my eyes was for you
Describing how her gaze showed her growing affection for this person
Why'd you make me fall in love with you
Questioning why this person would make her fall in love if they weren't going to reciprocate her feelings
When you know you didn't love me too
Expressing anger that this person led her on despite not loving her back
No, you never did
Asserting that this person never truly loved her
You never did love me
Reiterating that this person never truly loved her
Why'd you wanna make me cry for
Asking again why this person would want to make her cry
You never did love me
Affirming that this person never loved her, despite leading her on
Why'd you wanna make me cry for
Asking one more time why this person would want to make her cry
Contributed by Emily T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Robert Bullock
Love Connie...she always put her all into everything. Glad she came out okay financially. She deserves it. Reminds me of my mother's era.
Robert Bullock
Arrangement is great...typical of early '60's. Love it!
Jim Hilliker
It's back to back Connie Stevens songs tonight, folks. I guess everything that Carole King and Gerry Goffin didn't turn into a gold record or #1 hit. Too bad, it's a cute song, and Connie puts her heart into this tune. I like it.