Eva Cassidy was the third of four children born to Hugh and Barbara Cassidy. From an early age, she displayed artistic and musical talent. When she was nine years old, her father taught her to play the guitar, and she began to play and sing at family gatherings.
While a student at Bowie High School, she did sing with a local band, called Stonehenge, and received considerable praise.
At the age of eighteen, Cassidy began her professional career, singing and playing guitar in a Washington, D.C., area band, called Easy Street. This band performed in a variety of styles, at weddings, corporate parties, and pubs.
During the summer of 1983, Cassidy sang and played guitar, six days per week, at Wild World, in Maryland. Her brother Dan was also a member of this working band.
Throughout the 1980s, Cassidy worked with a number of other bands, including the soul and Motown-oriented band The Honeybees, and the techno-pop band Characters Without Names, later called Method Actor.
During this period, Cassidy also worked as a propagator at a plant nursery and as a furniture painter in Annapolis, Maryland. In 1986, she met (bassist and recording engineer) Chris Biondo, who encouraged her and helped her find work as a backup singer for various acts. In 1990, Biondo and Cassidy hired the so-called "Eva Cassidy Band", composed of Chris Biondo, Lenny Williams, Keith Grimes and Raice McLeod, and she began to perform frequently in the Washington area.
In 1992, Biondo played a tape of Cassidy's voice for Chuck Brown. Best known as the "Godfather of Go-go", Brown is also a jazz and blues vocalist. This led to the first commercial recording of Cassidy, the duet album with Chuck Brown, The Other Side; which featured performances of classic songs such as "Fever", Billie Holiday's "God Bless the Child" and Cassidy's signature tune "Over the Rainbow". The album was released and distributed by Liaison Records, the label that also released Brown's Go-go albums. The duet CD attracted the attention of various record companies, but the offers all required Cassidy to pigeonhole herself within a single style (e.g., pop or jazz), something she adamantly refused to do.[citation needed]
In 1993 Eva Cassidy was first honored by the Washington area music community when she was awarded two Wammie awards for "Female Vocalist Roots/Traditional R&B" and "Vocalist Jazz/Traditional." The next year she was chosen to perform for the awards ceremony.
In January 1996, Cassidy recorded the album Live at Blues Alley, about which The Washington Post later commented that "she could sing anything and make it sound like the only music that mattered". [1] Cassidy was unhappy with her singing on the album, because she had a bad cold on the night of the recording; she began recording a studio album which was eventually released as Eva by Heart posthumously in 1997.
During a promotional event for the Live at Blues Alley CD in July 1996, Cassidy noticed an ache in her hips, which she attributed to stiffness from painting murals. The pain persisted, and, a few weeks later, Cassidy was diagnosed with melanoma. By the time of her diagnosis, the cancer had spread throughout her body. Cassidy's health rapidly deteriorated, and her final performance was in September 1996. At the performance, she had used a walker to reach the stage, sang "What a Wonderful World" in front of an audience of friends, and was subsequently admitted to Johns Hopkins Hospital.[citation needed]
Eva Cassidy died on November 2, 1996, at the age of 33. She was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Washington Area Music Association.
I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again
Eva Cassidy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I went dressed up so fine
Now I am married Lord
And I go ragged all the time
Oh Lord don't I wish I was a single girl again
I got dishes to wash
When you are married Lord
You know you got it all to do
Oh Lord don't I wish I was a single girl again yeah
Oh Lord don't I wish I was a single girl again
Oh Lord don't I wish I was a single girl again
Eva Cassidy's song "I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again" depicts the author reminiscing about her time as a single woman, dressed up so fine that she catches the attention of all the men in town. However, now that she's married, she's expected to fulfill domestic duties such as washing dishes and attending social events with her husband. The song's message is clear: the author longs for the carefree days of her youth, unencumbered by the responsibilities and expectations of marriage.
The repetition of "Oh Lord don't I wish I was a single girl again" showcases the author's desperation to return to a simpler time. The contrast between her life as a single woman and her current life as a married woman underscores the challenges that women faced during this time period when marriage was the expected outcome for all women.
"I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again" is a powerful feminist message that empowers women to take ownership of their lives and prioritize their own happiness. The song highlights the societal pressure placed on women to conform to specific gender roles, a pressure that is still relevant in today's society.
Line by Line Meaning
When I was single
Back when I was still unmarried
I went dressed up so fine
I put on my best clothes and looked my best
Now I am married Lord
But now that I'm wedded, oh Lord
And I go ragged all the time
I look run-down and unkempt most of the time
Oh Lord don't I wish I was a single girl again
I really do wish I could go back to being an unmarried woman
I got dishes to wash
I have a sink full of dirty dishes to clean
And springs to go to
And I have appointments to keep with medical professionals
When you are married Lord
As a married woman, oh Lord
You know you got it all to do
I have so many obligations to fulfill
Oh Lord don't I wish I was a single girl again yeah
Oh Lord, my deepest desires are to be an unmarried woman
Oh Lord don't I wish I was a single girl again
I really, really wish I could go back to being single
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: HARLAN HOWARD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Àlainn Caileag
When I was single
I went dressed up so fine
Now I am married Lord
And I go ragged all the time
Oh Lord don't I wish I was a single girl again
I got dishes to wash
And springs to go to
When you are married Lord
You know you got it all to do
Oh Lord don't I wish I was a single girl again yeah
Oh Lord don't I wish I was a single girl again
Oh Lord don't I wish I was a single girl again
Maurice Belanger
I am a 76 year old man and I weep at each and every songs that this beautiful Angel voice sings . She is as beautiful as her voice . God bless you Eva you are probably singing with God’s Angels 👼💕❤️💕👍👼🇺🇾
James Murphy-Walsh
Stunning . The female voice is just beautiful .
Àlainn Caileag
When I was single
I went dressed up so fine
Now I am married Lord
And I go ragged all the time
Oh Lord don't I wish I was a single girl again
I got dishes to wash
And springs to go to
When you are married Lord
You know you got it all to do
Oh Lord don't I wish I was a single girl again yeah
Oh Lord don't I wish I was a single girl again
Oh Lord don't I wish I was a single girl again
Eugene Clasby
Amazing. As always.
mr. jinks
She had soul, a lot of it.
Mark Conlan
I stumbled on this researching the history of the song, which apparently was first recorded by a man — Vernon Dalhart, who had the first million-selling country record, "The Wreck of the Old 97." I still think Rose Maddox's version, fast and hillbilly-ish but brimming with anger and feisty independence, is the best, but this slowed-down version by a singer I'd never heard before is very beautiful and worth hearing. It's too bad we lost her so early; she reminds me of Phoebe Snow, and from me that's very high praise.
Mavarla
Love this version...
Ryan Bruns
Truly amazing voice and pretty good lookin
Horsey Horselips 🐎
She is or at Least Was Fricken Gorgeous
G Hall
This goes to show, it's not what you know. It's who you know , and who you blow, because she definitely has all the attributes of a gorgeous country singer..I really like this ,it's much better than the,way to fast ," country hillbilly hick version.