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.
While You Danced Danced Danced
Georgia Gibbs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
While you danced danced danced
At the place where we two had our first rendezvous
Where we danced danced danced
I came uninvited and I found you
So thrilled and delighted with someone new
I walked in with a smile I walked out with a tear
I came uninvited and I found you
So thrilled and delighted with someone new
I walked in with a smile I walked out with a tear
And you danced danced danced
These lyrics tell the story of a heartbreak that occurs when the singer walks into a place where they and their former lover had their first rendezvous. The singer walks in with a smile, but also with a tear, showcasing the mixed emotions they feel in the moment. The scene is set with the repetition of "danced, danced, danced", which emphasizes the dancing that is happening around the singer but also symbolizes the memory of their past dancing with their previous lover at that very location.
The singer is uninvited, indicating a sense of intrusion, yet they still find their former lover there, dancing with someone new. The lyrics capture the singer's disappointment and pain, exemplified by the repetition of "walked in with a smile I walked out with a tear," showing that their emotions have flipped entirely by the end of the night. The final repetition of "and you danced, danced, danced" illustrates how the singer is left heartbroken at the sight of their former lover moving on and enjoying themselves with someone else.
Overall, these lyrics paint a vivid picture of heartbreak and the pain experienced when seeing a former lover with someone new.
Line by Line Meaning
I walked in with a smile
I entered the venue in a cheerful mood
I walked with a tear
I felt sad and was on the verge of crying
While you danced danced danced
You were busy dancing without noticing my presence
At the place where we two had our first rendezvous
We had our first romantic meeting at this location
Where we danced danced danced
We previously danced together at this very place
I came uninvited and I found you
I attended the event without an invitation and ran into you
So thrilled and delighted with someone new
You seemed happy and excited with your new dance partner
And you danced danced danced
You continued to dance happily with your new partner
I walked in with a smile I walked out with a tear
I arrived with joy and left feeling sad
And you danced danced danced
Throughout our encounter, you only focused on dancing with someone else
Writer(s): Stephan J Weiss
Contributed by Dominic C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
eloy guevara
una pasada de interpretacion............bellisima voz.............y tesitura.......espectacular.........................los sentimientos...........son abrumadores...................en todos los tonos.......................rico.........rico......rico................bellisimo.......................la orquestatacion.................al unisono................precioso..................
Anthony Calbillo
It's been too long since I last heard this song, thanks for uploading it.
the78prof
You're very welcome!