Austin was born as Lemeul Eugene Lucas in Gainesville, Texas (north of Dallas), to Nova Lucas (died 1943) and the former Serena Belle Harrell (died 1956). He took the name "Gene Austin" from his stepfather, Jim Austin, a blacksmith. Austin grew up in Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, located east of Shreveport. There he learned to play piano and guitar. He ran away from home at fifteen and attended a vaudeville act in Houston, where the audience was allowed to come to the stage and sing. On a dare from his friends, Austin took the stage and sang for the first time since singing as a Southern Baptist choir boy. The audience response was overwhelming, and the vaudeville company immediately offered him a billed spot on their ticket.
Austin joined the U.S. Army at the age of 17 in hopes of being dispatched to Europe to fight in World War I. He was first stationed in New Orleans, where he played the piano at night in the city's notorious vice district. His familiarity with horses from helping his stepfather in his blacksmithing business also prompted the Army to assign Austin to the cavalry and send him to Mexico with General John Pershing's Pancho Villa expedition, for which he was awarded the Mexican Service Medal. Thereafter, he served in France in the Great War.
On returning to the United States in 1919, Austin settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where he intended to study dentistry. Soon, however, he was playing piano and singing in local taverns. He started writing songs and formed a vaudeville act with Roy Bergere, with whom he wrote "How Come You Do Me Like You Do." The act ended when Bergere married. Austin worked briefly in a club owned by Lou Clayton, who later was a part of the famous vaudeville team Clayton, Jackson and Durante. RCA Victor bought his popular song "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street." In the next decade with RCA, Austin sold over 80 million records -- a total unmatched by a single artist for 40 years. Best sellers included "The Lonesome Road," "Riding Around in the Rain," and "Ramona."
Arriving with the advent of electrical recording technologies (earlier, acoustical technologies had been used) Austin soon gave birth to the "crooner" form (a clear light tenor) of singing of the 20's and 30's, taking over from the more sentimental style of tenor vocals popularized by such singers as Henry Burr and Billy Murray. Such later crooners as Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Russ Columbo all credited Austin with creating the musical genre that began their careers. Gene Austin became enormously popular in the late 1920s. His recording of "My Blue Heaven" sold over 12 million records and until Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" replaced it as the largest selling record of all time.
Offered to work in Hollywood at the height of his career as the "Voice of the Southland", Austin appeared in three films, "Belle of the Nineties" (1934), "Klondike Annie" (1936) and "My Little Chickadee" (1940), at the request of his personal friend, Mae West.
Gene Austin married his first wife, Kathryn Arnold, a dancer, in 1924 and divorced her in 1929. They had a child, Ann, born in 1928. Austin married his second wife, Agnes Antelline, in 1933, and their daughter Charlotte was born that same year. He and Agnes divorced in 1940. Austin then married actress Doris Sherrell in 1940, and divorced her in 1946. He married wife number four, LouCeil Hudson, a singer, in 1949, and the marriage lasted until 1966. Austin married Gigi Theodorea in 1967; this was his fifth and final marriage.
In 1956, CBS made a television drama about Austin's life.
In 1962, Austin campaigned unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for governor of Nevada. He polled only 5,017 votes (10.21 percent) to his opponent, Grant Sawyer, who received 40,168 ballots (81.4 percent) Sawyer then won the governorship by a nearly 2-1 margin over weak Republican opposition in the fall campaign.
Austin had retired to Palm Springs, California, in the late 1950s and had been active in civic boards there until 1970. Income from his record sales allowed him to live comfortably the rest of his life. He died in Palm Springs of lung cancer and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.
In 1978, Gene Austin was posthumously awarded a Grammy Hall of Fame Award for his 1928 recording of Bye, Bye, Blackbird, which has long been considered recorded music's definitive rendition of that song.
In 2005, Gene Austin was nominated and admitted to the Grammy Hall of Fame.
You're Driving Me Crazy
Gene Austin Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What did I do?
What did I do?
My tears for you make everything hazy
Clouding the skies of blue
How true
Were the friends who were near me to cheer me
Believe, me they knew
Were the kind who would hurt me, desert me
When I needed you
Yes you, you're driving me crazy!
What did I do to you?
The song "You're Driving Me Crazy" by Gene Austin is a classic example of a love ballad. The lyrics speak of a person's pain and confusion when they are left hurt and betrayed by someone they loved. The opening lines, "You, you're driving me crazy! What did I do? What did I do?" suggest that the singer is at a loss to understand why their partner has treated them badly. The repeated use of the phrase "What did I do?" reinforces this sense of bewilderment.
The next line, "My tears for you make everything hazy, clouding the skies of blue," paints a vivid picture of the singer's emotional turmoil. The sky, which is usually a symbol of limitless possibility and hope, has become clouded and obscured by their tears. The repetition of the phrase "How true" suggests that the singer is trying to convince themselves – and perhaps others – that they had been right to trust their partner. The line "Believe, me they knew" references the friends who had been there for the singer in the past, suggesting that their support may not be enough to help them through this difficult time.
The lines "But you were the kind who would hurt me, desert me, when I needed you" underscore the sense of betrayal that the singer feels. They are perplexed and hurt by their partner's actions, which seem to have come out of nowhere. The final line, "Yes you, you're driving me crazy! What did I do to you?" is a plea for an explanation or apology from their partner, but it also suggests that the answer may never come.
Line by Line Meaning
You, you′re driving me crazy!
Your actions and behavior towards me are causing me to become extremely agitated and overwhelmed.
What did I do?
I am genuinely confused and unsure about what I have done to deserve this treatment from you.
What did I do?
I am genuinely confused and unsure about what I have done to deserve this treatment from you.
My tears for you make everything hazy
My strong emotions towards you are causing me to become mentally and emotionally clouded and unable to think clearly.
Clouding the skies of blue
My emotional turmoil is affecting my perception of the world and everything around me.
How true
The friends who were there to support me in this difficult time knew the truth about how you have been treating me.
Were the friends who were near me to cheer me
My supportive friends were always there for me, trying to lift me up and make me feel better.
Believe, me they knew
Those who were closest to me understood the extent of my suffering and the effect it was having on me.
But you
However, you were the one causing me all this pain and heartache.
Were the kind who would hurt me, desert me
You were the kind of person who would intentionally hurt me and abandon me when I needed you most.
When I needed you
During times of distress and vulnerability, you were not there for me as a supportive partner or friend.
Yes you, you're driving me crazy!
You are the sole reason why I am feeling anxious, overwhelmed, and mentally unstable.
What did I do to you?
I am still trying to understand what I have done to make you treat me this way and cause me so much pain.
Writer(s): Walter Donaldson
Contributed by Emily M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Daniel Arick
Guy Lombardo had one of his earliest successes with this song recorded in 1930 featuring Carmen on vocal later versions had Kenny Gardner on vocal, proving that once a hit always a hit
Thomas .Hennessey
Gene Austin recorded a very large collection of standard tunes when they were brand new.
Walter Gray
Wonderful version of a great song.
Nicky Meow
I love it!
phredl
Victors vocal release of this great song Rudy Vallee did the dance band version. It was a common practice back then to release two versions of a popular song.
Jean Arvers
Beautiful
Thomas .Hennessey
Okeh releases Louis Armstrong's version of the tune that same month for Okeh with the band he is fronting at Frank Sebastian's Cotton Club in the Los Angeles area.
doloresmytube
@gfks11 Grazie Judie per questa bellissima condivisione!!!
Arun Kumar
wwe st valentine massacarce theme song
SunriseLAW
Gasp. I clicked incorrectly. I honestly TRIED to 'get this' but could NOT, perhaps because I am straight. Anyway, back to Rammstein, which is rather opposite but not entirely. Sorry for intruding, carry on. Thank you.