Gibbs was the youngest of four children of Russian Jewish immigrant parents.Her father died when she was six months old, and she spent her first seven years in an orphanage in Worcester, separated from her other siblings.
She revealed a natural talent for singing at a very young age, and was given the lead in the orphanage's yearly variety show. She was reunited with her mother (who had visited her once every other month) when the latter found employment as a midwife. However, her job often forced her to leave her daughter alone for weeks at a time with only a Philco radio for company.
Gibbs began her professional career at the age of thirteen, and was singing in Boston's Raymor Ballroom the following year. She cut her first record with the Hudson-DeLange Orchestra in 1936 (aged 16 or 17). "You don't really know loneliness unless you do a year or two with a one-night band, Gibbs said of her life on the big band circuit. sing until about 2 a.m. Get in a bus and drive 400 miles. Stop in the night for the greasy hamburger. Arrive in a town. Try to sleep. Get up and eat." (Worcester Telegram & Gazette, May 12, 1994.)
She soon found steady work on popular radio shows including Your Hit Parade, Melody Puzzles and The Tim And Irene Show. Gibbs freelanced in the late 1930s and 1940s singing with the bands of Frankie Trumbauer, Hal Kemp, Tommy Dorsey and Artie Shaw. It was with Shaw's band (then billed as Fredda Gibson) that she scored her first hit, Absent Minded Moon (1942).
In 1943, she changed her name to Georgia Gibbs and began appearing on the popular Camel Caravan radio program, hosted by Jimmy Durante and Garry Moore (it was Moore who bestowed the famous nickname "Her Nibs, Miss Georgia Gibbs" upon her). The nickname is a playful reference to her diminutive stature of barely over 5 feet. She was a regular performer on this show until 1947.
Gibbs signed with Majestic Records in 1946, and while she recorded many great records she would have to wait until 1950 for her first hit single, If I Knew You Were Coming, I'd Have Baked A Cake (on the Coral label). During this period she also was the featured singer on tours with comedians Danny Kaye and Sid Caesar. Miss Gibbs had a natural talent for comedy as well, and worked well in support of the immensely popular Kaye. But success as a singer continued to elude her. As noted in a 1952 Time article:
"Georgia," they kept telling her, "you gotta get a sound." Musical soothsayers were trying to get Songstress Georgia Gibbs into line with the latest fashion. Perhaps, they thought, she should sing mechanized duets with herself (like Patti Page), or she might try an echo chamber background (like Peggy Lee). But gimmicks were not Georgia Gibbs's cup of tea. She had a big, old-fashioned voice, a good ear, a vivacious personality, and she knew how to sing from the shoulder. She would stick with plain Georgia Gibbs.
And she eventually had success "sticking with plain Georgia Gibbs". Possessed of a versatile voice, she cut a long list of great records in every category from torch songs to rock-and-roll, to jazz, swing, old fashioned ballads and cha-chas. Her most successful record was Kiss Of Fire which reached the #1 position on the pop music charts in 1952. Kiss of Fire was adapted from the Argentinian tango El Choclo and the lyrics, arrangement and delivery communicate passion on a Wagnerian scale. It immediately became one of the defining songs of the era.
Sultry and throbbing, with a touch of vibrato, Georgia Gibbs' voice is best showcased on romantic ballads and torch songs like Melancholy Baby, I'll Be Seeing You, Autumn Leaves and You Keep Coming Back Like A Song. Yet she could be equally thrilling belting out a red hot jazz numbers like Red Hot Mama and A-Razz-A-Ma-Tazz, or jiving with tunes like Ol Man Mose and Shoo Shoo Baby. Her Swingin' With Her Nibbs album (1956) demonstrated her natural affinity for improvisation as well.
Gibbs continued to be a frequent visitor to the charts throughout the first half of the decade (with over 40 charted songs), and was briefly successful doing rock 'n' roll songs as well. She appeared on many television shows throughout the decade, including the legendary Ed Sullivan show, and hosted one of her own, Georgia Gibbs And Her Million Record Show. She cut her final album, Call Me (1966) and rarely performed after that.
She spent many years being best known for her cover versions of Etta James' The Wallflower (recorded by Gibbs with modified lyrics under the title Dance With Me Henry) and of LaVern Baker's Tweedle Dee (which created some ado due to Ms. Baker's vociferous complaints) and for her novelty number The Hula Hoop Song, which was her last hit, in 1958.
Georgia Gibbs died of leukemia on December 9, 2006, aged 87, at New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Kiss Of Fire
Georgia Gibbs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Those devil lips that know so well the art of lying
And though I see the danger, still the flame grows higher
I know I must surrender to your kiss of fire
Just like a torch, you set the soul within me burning
I must go on, I'm on this road of no returning
And though it burns me and it turns me into ashes
I can't resist you, what good is there in trying
What good is there denying you're all that I desire
Since first I kissed you my heart was yours completely
If I'm a slave, then it's a slave I want to be
Don't pity me, don't pity me
Give me your lips, the lips you only let me borrow
Love me tonight and let the devil take tomorrow
I know that I must have your kiss although it dooms me
Though it consumes me, your kiss of fire
Since first I kissed you my heart was yours completely
If I'm a slave, then it's a slave I want to be
Don't pity me, don't pity me
Give me your lips, the lips you only let me borrow
Love me tonight and let the devil take tomorrow
I know that I must have your kiss although it dooms me
Though it consumes me
Your kiss of fire
The lyrics of Georgia Gibbs's song Kiss of Fire revolve around the passionate, yet dangerous, love between two individuals. The singer describes how she cannot resist the temptation of her lover's lips, despite knowing the risk involved. The opening lines "I touch your lips and all at once the sparks go flying, Those devil lips that know so well the art of lying" indicate that these lips have a power over her that is both alluring and deceitful. She confesses her surrender to the flame that grows higher with each kiss.
The song also conveys a sense of desperation as the singer acknowledges that her world would crash without the 'kiss of fire.' She wants her lover to give her his lips and love her tonight with the knowledge that tomorrow may take it all away. She constantly repeats the line "If I'm a slave, then it's a slave I want to be" revealing how she is willing to give up everything for this love that burns so brightly.
Overall, Kiss of Fire encapsulates the intense desire and passion that comes with a love that is both thrilling and dangerous. It conveys how one can be willing to embrace such love, despite knowing the potential consequences.
Line by Line Meaning
I touch your lips and all at once the sparks go flying
As soon as I touch your lips, there is an electric connection between us.
Those devil lips that know so well the art of lying
Your lips are cunning and deceitful, they have mastered the ability to manipulate others.
And though I see the danger, still the flame grows higher
Although I am aware of the risk involved, my attraction towards you only intensifies.
I know I must surrender to your kiss of fire
I am aware that I am weak towards you, and I cannot resist succumbing to your fiery kiss.
Just like a torch, you set the soul within me burning
You ignite a passion within me, like a torch that sets a fire ablaze.
I must go on, I'm on this road of no returning
I am aware that there is no turning back from this consuming path that I have embarked upon.
And though it burns me and it turns me into ashes
This feeling of desire is like a burning fire that is slowly reducing me to dust.
My whole world crashes without your kiss of fire
You are my world, and without you and your fierce kiss, everything falls apart.
I can't resist you, what good is there in trying
I am helpless in front of the strength of my desire for you. Resisting it is pointless.
What good is there denying you're all that I desire
It is useless to deny that you are the sole object of my desire.
Since first I kissed you my heart was yours completely
Ever since the first time we kissed, my heart has belonged entirely to you.
If I'm a slave, then it's a slave I want to be
I am willing to be under your control and influence if it ultimately means being with you.
Don't pity me, don't pity me
I do not desire anyone's sympathy in regards to my feelings for you.
Give me your lips, the lips you only let me borrow
I crave your lips, the ones that you only let me kiss every once in a while.
Love me tonight and let the devil take tomorrow
Let us live for the moment and love each other with all we have, not worrying about the consequences that will follow tomorrow.
I know that I must have your kiss although it dooms me
I cannot help but desire your lips, even though I know that it will eventually destroy me.
Though it consumes me, your kiss of fire
Your passionate kiss devours me entirely, leaving me in a state of fiery desire.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: RICHARD GUY BAILEY, TOM GALLEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@specializedchemicals6669
Lyrics
copy and pastedI touch your lips and all at once the sparks go flying
Those devil lips that know so well the art of lying
And though I see the danger, still the flame grows higher
I know I must surrender to your kiss of fire
Just like a torch, you set the soul within me burning
I must go on, I'm on this road of no returning
And though it burns me and it turns me into ashes
My whole world crashes without your kiss of fire
I can't resist you, what good is there in trying
What good is there denying you're all that I desire
Since first I kissed you my heart was yours completely
If I'm a slave, then it's a slave I want to be
Don't pity me, don't pity me
Give me your lips, the lips you only let me borrow
Love me tonight and let the devil take tomorrow
I know that I must have your kiss although it dooms me
Though it consumes me, your kiss of fire
Since first I kissed you my heart was yours completely
If I'm a slave, then it's a slave I want to be
Don't pity me, don't pity me
Give me your lips, the lips you only let me borrow
Love me tonight and let the devil take tomorrow
I know that I must have your kiss although it dooms me
Though it consumes me
Your kiss of fire
@ahmedlucban9731
Fellow Travelers Episode 2 brought me here. ❤
@mthegazemolaoa4259
Yesss❤❤
@katyaalbescu3913
Me too
@btsarmy-jx3hx
Yes bro ❤️❤️
@brklnondabed
that scene obsessed me
@abdalaez
American horror story always gives me great songs to search for.
@diegobauzil4563
this is el choclo , an old argentinian tango song .
@sarahcruz2103
Me too!
@ethanmiller7823
Same here
@henryhorner3182
What are you babbling about?