Merrill's recording career has spanned six decades and she is popular with fans of jazz in Japan and Italy (where she lived for many years) as well as in her native United States. She has recorded and performed with some of the most notable figures in the American jazz scene.
Youth and early career in the states
Merrill was born in 1930 to Croatian immigrant parents. She began singing in jazz clubs in the Bronx at the age of fourteen. By the time she was sixteen, Merrill had taken up music full time. In 1952, Merrill made her recording debut when she was asked to sing "A Cigarette For Company" with the Earl Hines Band; the song was released on their Xanadu album. Etta Jones made her debut on the same album.
At this time she was married to musician Aaron Sachs. They divorced in 1956.
As a result of the exposure she received from "A Cigarette for Company" and two subsequent singles recorded for the Roost record label, Merrill was signed by Mercury Records for their new EmArcy label.
In 1954, Merrill recorded her first (and to date most acclaimed) LP, an eponymous record featuring legendary jazz trumpet player Clifford Brown and bassist/cellist Oscar Pettiford, among others. It was to be one of Brown's last recordings, as he was killed in a car accident just two years later. The album was produced and arranged by Quincy Jones, who was then just twenty-one years old. The success of Helen Merrill prompted Mercury to sign her for an additional four-album contract.
Merrill's follow-up to Helen Merrill was the 1956 LP, Dream of You, which was produced and arranged by bebop arranger and pianist Gil Evans. Evans' work on Dream of You was his first in many years. His arrangements on Merrill's laid the musical foundations for his work in following years with Miles Davis.
Success abroad
After recording sporadically through the late 1950s and 1960s, Merrill spent much of her time touring Europe, where she enjoyed more commercial success than she had in the United States. She settled for a time in Italy recording an album there, and doing live concerts with jazz notables Chet Baker, Romano Mussolini, and Stan Getz. Merrill returned to the U.S. in the 1960s, but moved to Japan in 1967 after touring there. Merrill developed a following in Japan that remains strong to this day. In addition to recording while in Japan, Merrill became involved in other aspects of the music industry, producing albums for Trio Records and hosting a show on a Tokyo radio station.
Later career
Merrill returned to the US in 1972 and has continued recording and regular touring since then. Her later career has seen her experiment in different music genres. She has recorded a bossa nova album, a Christmas album and a record's worth of Rodgers and Hammerstein, among many others.
Two albums from Merrill's later career have been tributes to past musical partners. In 1987, Merrill and Gil Evans recorded fresh arrangements of their classic Dream of You; the new recordings were released under the title Collaboration and became the most critically acclaimed of Merrill's albums in the 1980s.
In 1987 she co-produced a CD "Billy Eckstine sing with Benny Carter" and sing in duet with Mr.B two ballads.
In 1995 she recorded Brownie: Homage to Clifford Brown as a tribute to the late trumpeter.
One of Merrill's millennium released recordings draws from her Croatian heritage as well as her American upbringing. Jelena Ana Milcetic, a.k.a. Helen Merrill (2000), combines jazz, pop and blues songs with several traditional Croatian songs sung in Croatian.
Helen Merrill has been married three times, first to musician Aaron Sachs, second time to UPI vice president the late Donald J Brydon, and third to arranger-conductor the late Torrie Zito. She has one child, a son, Allan P Sachs, also a singer, who is professionally known as Alan Merrill.
By Myself
Helen Merrill Lyrics
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the dreams I dreamed went up in smoke.
They didn't pan out as I had intended;
I should know how to take a joke.
I'll go my way by myself, this is the end of romance.
I'll go my way by myself, love is only a dance.
I'll try to apply myself and teach my heart to sing.
I'll face the unknown, I'll build a world of my own;
No one knows better than I, myself, I'm by myself alone.
I'll go my way by myself, here's how the comedy ends.
I'll have to deny myself love and laughter and friends.
Grey clouds in sky above have put a blot on my fun.
I'll try to fly high above for a place in the sun.
I'll face the unknown, I'll build a world of my own;
No one knows better than I, myself, I'm by myself alone
The lyrics to Helen Merrill's song, "By Myself," is a poignant reflection on the end of romance and the challenges of moving on alone. The opening line, "The party's over, the game is ended," sets a melancholic tone, indicating that something significant has come to an end. The next few lines lament the failure of the singer's dreams, which have gone up in smoke, and she acknowledges that they didn't pan out as she intended. However, she also recognizes that she should know how to take a joke, indicating her resilience and determination to move forward.
The chorus, "I'll go my way by myself, this is the end of romance," reinforces the idea that the singer is moving on alone. She sees love as nothing more than a dance, and she's ready to focus on more practical things. The following lines, "I'll try to apply myself and teach my heart to sing. I'll go my way by myself like a bird on the wing," show that she's ready to embrace the unknown and build a world of her own. However, the lyrics also reveal the singer's struggle with the decision to forego love and laughter for a life of solitude. She acknowledges that there are no guarantees, and she may face loneliness and disappointment along the way, but she's still determined to take that path.
Overall, "By Myself" is a bittersweet reflection on the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. The lyrics are a poignant reminder that life is unpredictable and that sometimes we have to face uncertainty and hardship on our own.
Line by Line Meaning
The party's over, the game is ended,
The happy times have passed and the excitement is over.
the dreams I dreamed went up in smoke.
The things which I hoped to achieve didn't succeed and vanished like smoke.
They didn't pan out as I had intended;
The things I planned didn't turn out as I expected.
I should know how to take a joke.
I should be able to handle failures with ease and learn to take them lightly humorously.
I'll go my way by myself, this is the end of romance.
I have decided to move alone and put an end to the romantic phase of my life.
I'll go my way by myself, love is only a dance.
Love is for amusement and entertainment purposes only, it does not have a deeper meaning in my life.
I'll try to apply myself and teach my heart to sing.
I'll devote my efforts to improving myself and to make my heart optimistic again.
I'll go my way by myself like a bird on the wing,
I'll move on my path solo, with the confidence of flying away and exploring like a bird.
I'll face the unknown, I'll build a world of my own;
I'll take on challenges and carve out a new path for myself, completely unique and original.
No one knows better than I, myself, I'm by myself alone.
No one knows me better than myself, and I'm going to conquer the world on my own terms.
I'll go my way by myself, here's how the comedy ends.
I'm going to face the world alone, with all its comedic and tragic moments, and make the best of it.
I'll have to deny myself love and laughter and friends.
I must separate myself from the old ways of seeking love and friendship so that I can discover new ones on my own.
Grey clouds in the sky above have put a blot on my fun.
My enjoyment is stifled by the overcast skies and the clouds represent a roadblock in my journey.
I'll try to fly high above for a place in the sun.
I'll attempt to rise above the clouds, to find a place in the sun, and see beyond the present gloom.
I'll face the unknown and build a world of my own.
I'm going to take control of my journey and build something unique and solely my own in this world.
No one knows better than I, myself, I'm by myself alone.
No one but me knows what I want for myself and I'm ready to take on the challenges of life alone.
Lyrics © TuneCore Inc., BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Royalty Network, O/B/O DistroKid, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Arthur Schwartz, Howard Dietz
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind