Day's film career began during the latter part of the Classical Hollywood Film era with the 1948 film Romance on the High Seas, and its success sparked her twenty-year career as a motion picture actress. She starred in a series of successful films, including musicals, comedies, and dramas. She played the title role in Calamity Jane (1953), and starred in Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) with James Stewart. Her most successful films were the bedroom comedies she made co-starring Rock Hudson and James Garner, such as Pillow Talk (1959) and Move Over, Darling (1963), respectively. She also co-starred in films with such leading men as Clark Gable, Cary Grant, David Niven, and Rod Taylor. After her final film in 1968, she went on to star in the CBS sitcom The Doris Day Show (1968–1973).
Day was usually one of the top ten singers between 1951 and 1966. As an actress, she became the biggest female film star in the early 1960s, and ranked sixth among the box office performers by 2012. In 2011, she released her 29th studio album, My Heart, which became a UK Top 10 album featuring new material. Among her awards, Day has received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a Legend Award from the Society of Singers. In 1960, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, and in 1989 was given the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in motion pictures. In 2004, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush followed in 2011 by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association's Career Achievement Award. She was one of the last surviving stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Her death was announced by her charity, the Doris Day Animal Foundation, on Monday 13th May 2019.
Discography
chart hits
Year Title Chart Positions
US CB UK
1945 "Sentimental Journey" (w/ Les Brown) 1 — —
"My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time" (w/ Les Brown) 1 — —
"'Tain't Me" (w/ Les Brown) 10 — —
"Till the End of Time" (w/ Les Brown) 3 — —
"Aren't You Glad You're You?" (w/ Les Brown) 11 — —
"Come to Baby Do" (w/ Les Brown) / 13 — —
1946 "You Won't Be Satisfied (Until You Break My Heart)" (w/ Les Brown) 4 — —
"Day by Day" (w/ Les Brown) 15 — —
"I Got the Sun in the Mornin' (and the Moon at Night)" (w/ Les Brown) 10 — —
"The Whole World Is Singing My Song" (w/ Les Brown) 6 — —
1947 "The Christmas Song" (w/ Les Brown) 12 — —
"Sooner or Later" (w/ Les Brown) 13 — —
"Papa, Won't You Dance With Me" 21 — —
1948 "Thoughtless" (w/ Modernaires) 24 — —
"Love Somebody" (w/ Buddy Clark) / 1 — —
"Confess" (w/ Buddy Clark) 16 — —
"Put 'em in a Box, Tie 'em with a Ribbon, and Throw 'em in the Deep Blue Sea" / 27 — —
"It's Magic" 2 — —
"My Darling, My Darling" (w/ Buddy Clark) 7 — —
1949 "Powder Your Face with Sunshine" (w/ Buddy Clark) 16 — —
"Again" 2 — —
"Everywhere You Go" 22 — —
"Let's Take an Old-Fashioned Walk" (w/ Frank Sinatra) 17 — —
"Now That I Need You" 20 — —
"Canadian Capers" 15 — —
"Bluebird on Your Windowsill" 19 — —
1950 "Quicksilver" 20 — —
"I Said My Pajamas (and Put on My Prayers)" 21 — —
"Enjoy Yourself (It's Later than You Think)" 24 — —
"Hoop-Dee-Doo" 17 — —
"Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" 9 — —
"I Didn't Slip, I Wasn't Pushed, I Fell" 19 — —
"A Bushel and a Peck" 16 — —
1951 "It's a Lovely Day Today" 30 — —
"Would I Love You (Love You, Love You)" 10 — —
"Shanghai" 7 — —
"Domino" 21 — —
1952 "A Guy Is a Guy" 1 — —
"Sugarbush" (w/ Frankie Laine) 7 12 8
"When I Fall in Love" 20 — —
"No Two People" (w/ Donald O'Connor) 25 — —
"My Love and Devotion" — 31 10
"The Cherries" — 39 —
"A Full Time Job" (w/ Johnnie Ray) / 20 21 11
"Ma Says, Pa Says" (w/ Johnnie Ray) 23 28 12
1953 "Mister Tap Toe" 10 11 —
"When the Red, Red Robin (Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along)" 29 — —
"Candy Lips" (w/ Johnnie Ray) / 17 18 —
"Let's Walk That-a-Way" (w/ Johnnie Ray) — 31 4
"Kiss Me Again, Stranger" / 30 — —
"A Purple Cow" 25 — —
"Choo Choo Train (Ch-Ch-Foo) 20 — —
1954 "Secret Love" 1 1 1
"The Black Hills of Dakota" — — 7
"Lost in Loveliness" — 25 —
"I Speak to the Stars" 16 17 —
"Someone Else's Roses" — 32 —
"If I Give My Heart to You" / 3 2 4
"Anyone Can Fall in Love" 27 41 —
"Ready, Willing, and Able" / — 31 7
"Hold Me in Your Arms" — 39 —
1955 "Foolishly Yours" — 25 —
"Love Me Or Leave Me" — — 20
"I'll Never Stop Loving You" 13 14 17
"Ooh Bang Jiggily Jang" 83 — —
1956 "Let It Ring" 51 — —
"Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" 2 3 1
"Julie" / 64 40 —
"Love in a Home" 79 — —
"The Party's Over" 63 47 —
1957 "Twelve O'Clock Tonight" 68 — —
1958 "Teacher's Pet" 56 36 —
"A Very Precious Love" — — 16
"Everybody Loves a Lover" 6 6 25
"Tunnel of Love" 43 53 —
1959 "Love Me in the Daytime" 100 51 —
1960 "Any Way the Wind Blows" 50 109 —
"Please Don't Eat the Daisies" 102 102 —
"A Perfect Understanding" 111 — —
1962 "Lover Come Back" 98 — —
1964 "Move Over Darling" — — 8
"Send Me No Flowers" 135 — —
1967 "Sorry" * — — —
* "Sorry" made the US AC charts at #19.
Albums
10" LP
You're My Thrill (1949)
Young Man with a Horn (1950, soundtrack with Harry James)
Tea for Two (1950, soundtrack)
Lullaby of Broadway (1951, soundtrack)
On Moonlight Bay (1951, soundtrack)
I'll See You in My Dreams (1951, soundtrack)
By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953, soundtrack)
Calamity Jane (1953, soundtrack)
Young at Heart (1954, soundtrack with Frank Sinatra)
12" LPs
Love Me or Leave Me (1955, soundtrack)
Day Dreams (1955, expanded re-issue of You're My Thrill)
Day By Day (1956)
The Pajama Game (1957, soundtrack)
Day by Night (1957)
Hooray for Hollywood (2 volumes, 1958)
Cuttin' Capers (1959)
What Every Girl Should Know (1960)
Show Time (1960)
Listen to Day (1960)
Bright and Shiny (1961)
I Have Dreamed (1961)
Duet (with André Previn, 1962)
You'll Never Walk Alone (1962)
Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962, soundtrack with film cast)
Annie Get Your Gun (1963, with Robert Goulet)
Love Him (1963)
The Doris Day Christmas Album (1964)
With a Smile and a Song (1964)
Latin for Lovers (1965)
Doris Day's Sentimental Journey (1965)
The Love Album (recorded in 1967, released in 1994)
My Heart (2011)
Singles
Hit records:
(with Les Brown's Band of Renown)
"Sentimental Journey"
5,000,000+ sales
"My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time"
1,000,000+ sales
(As a solo performer)
"It's Magic"
1,000,000+ sales
"Again"
"Love Somebody" (duet with Buddy Clark)
1,000,000+ sales
"Confess" (duet with Buddy Clark) (also done by Patti Page)
"Bewitched"
1,000,000+ sales
"Shanghai"
"Sugarbush" (duet with Frankie Laine)
1,000,000+ sales
"Mister Tap Toe"
"Secret Love"
1,000,000+ sales
"If I Give My Heart to You" (also done by Denise Lor)
"I'll Never Stop Loving You"
1,000,000+ sales
"Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)" ("Que Sera, Sera")
1,000,000+ sales
"Everybody Loves a Lover"
"Move Over Darling"
Once a Year Day!
Doris Day Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Once-a-year day
Felt the morning sun and knew that
This was my once-a-year day
Once-a-year day
Even got a kiss from you,
I feel like hoppin' up and down
Like a kangaroo
What pleases me is what I'll do, 'cause
[Chorus]
This is our once-a-year day
Once-a-year day
Everyone's entitle to be wild,
Be a child, be a goof, raise the roof
Once a year!
This is our once-a-year day
Once-a-year day
Once a year we're jumping fences
This is our once-a-year day
Once-a-year day
Once a year we lose our senses!
Look at Charlie up a tree
Kissin' Katie's ear,
Charlie's wife is mad as hell!
[Chorus]
Oh well it happens once a year
And this is that once-a-year day
Once-a-year day
Everyone's entitle to be wild,
Be a child, be a goof, raise the roof
Once a year!
Look at Papa Halterbush,
92 today
Running off with Sadie Lee
[Chorus]
He's heading for that pile of hay
'Cause this is his once-a-year day
Once-a-year day
Everyone's entitle to be wild,
Be a child, be a goof, raise the roof
Once a year!
The song "Once-A-Year Day" by Doris Day is a lighthearted and playful tune about a day to let loose and have fun. The lyrics celebrate the joys of a once-a-year day where everyone is entitled to be wild, be a child, and be a goof. The singer of the song, Sid, feels the excitement of the day and even gets a kiss from someone special. He wants to hop up and down like a kangaroo and do whatever pleases him, whether that's jumping fences, climbing trees or anything else.
The chorus of the song expresses the sentiment of the day, that once a year, everyone is entitled to let their hair down and enjoy themselves. Even when the characters in the song get themselves into trouble, such as Charlie up a tree kissing Katie's ear or Papa Halterbush running off with Sadie Lee, it's all seen as harmless fun. The song paints a picture of a community coming together for a day of frivolity, where rules can be broken and everyone can let loose.
Overall, "Once-A-Year Day" is a joyful song that celebrates the simple pleasures of life. The message is clear: take advantage of those special moments when you can let your hair down and forget your troubles.
Line by Line Meaning
Sid: This is my once-a-year day
Sid is excited because today only comes once a year for him.
Once-a-year day
Today is special because it only happens once a year.
Felt the morning sun and knew that
Sid felt the warmth of the sun and knew it would be a good day.
This was my once-a-year day
Sid realizes that this is his special day.
Once-a-year day
Today is unique and special.
Even got a kiss from you,
Sid is excited because he received a kiss.
I feel like hoppin' up and down
He's so happy, he wants to jump.
Like a kangaroo
He compares his excitement to that of a kangaroo's.
Jumpin' fences, climbin' trees,
Sid feels free to do whatever he wants.
What pleases me is what I'll do, 'cause
Sid is going to do whatever makes him happy today.
[Chorus]
It's a day to be wild and let loose.
Everyone's entitle to be wild,
Everyone can be crazy today.
Be a child, be a goof, raise the roof
Sid can act silly and cause a ruckus.
Once a year!
This is a day that only happens once every year.
Once a year we're jumping fences
It's a day to be free.
This is our once-a-year day
Everyone shares this special day today.
Once-a-year day
It's a creative day that doesn't come around often.
Once a year we lose our senses!
It's okay to let loose and be crazy.
Look at Charlie up a tree
Charlie is up high and having fun.
Kissin' Katie's ear,
Charlie is being flirty with Katie.
Charlie's wife is mad as hell!
Charlie's wife is extremely angry with him.
Oh well it happens once a year
People are excused for their crazy behavior because it only happens once a year.
And this is that once-a-year day
This is the day they've been waiting for all year.
Everyone's entitle to be wild,
People can act as silly and wild as they want.
Be a child, be a goof, raise the roof
People are encouraged to let out all their energy today.
Look at Papa Halterbush,
Papa is here and enjoying himself.
92 today
He's an old man but still having fun.
Running off with Sadie Lee
He's being adventurous and spontaneous.
He's heading for that pile of hay
Papa is making his way to have some fun with the hay.
'Cause this is his once-a-year day
Papa is allowed to have fun and let loose like everyone else.
Once-a-year day
This day only comes once a year.
Everyone's entitle to be wild,
It's a day where everyone can act as crazy as they want.
Be a child, be a goof, raise the roof
People are encouraged to let out all their energy and be silly.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JERRY J. ROSS, RICHARD ADLER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Daylin Skye
Good. I was thinking you might! I don't have a favorite Doris Day movie, I'm in love with all of them. She is simply divine.
Daylin Skye
No problem. I'll let you know when it is up. Thank you for watching.
Daylin Skye
That sounds like fun!
Daylin Skye
Well congratulations. Try not to compare your Catherine to Doris Day! Thanks for watching.