Irene's older brother, Roy Kral, was a successful musician when Irene started singing professionally as a teenager. She sung with bands on tours led by Woody Herman and Chubby Jackson, former Herman bass player.
Irene joined Maynard Ferguson's band in the late 1950s and sang with groups led by Stan Kenton and Shelly Manne.
Irene then started a solo career until her death at 46 years of age. She was a ballad singer who stated that Carmen McRae was one of her inspirations.
Irene was made more famous posthumously when Clint Eastwood used her recordings in his 1995 movie, The Bridges of Madison County.
(from Wikipedia)
Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry
Irene Kral Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm just as blue as the sky;
Since love is gone, can't pull myself together,
Guess I'll hang my tears out to dry.
Friends ask me out, I tell them I'm busy,
Must get a new alibi!
I stay at home and ask myself, "Where is he?",
Dry little teardrops,
My little teardrops,
Hangin' on a string of dreams.
Fly little memories,
My little memories,
Remind him of our crazy schemes.
Somebody said, "Just forget about him!",
I gave that treatment a try.
Strangely enough, I got along without him,
Then one day he passed me right by;
Oh, well, I guess I'll hang my tears out to dry.
Little teardrops,
Little teardrops, filled with dreams.
The lyrics to Irene Kral's song Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry express a sense of sadness and heartbreak that comes after the end of a love affair. The opening lines allude to the singer's lack of control over the emotions that come with heartbreak, as she notes that when she wants rain, she gets sunny weather, underscoring her feelings of sadness and despair.
The lyrics reveal how the singer is struggling to hold herself together as she becomes more and more consumed by her heartache. She tells her friends that she is busy when they ask her out, and she remains at home, obsessively questioning her own thoughts and feelings. She becomes lost in her own mind, wondering where her lover has gone while feeling powerless to bring him back.
Towards the end of the song, the singer reflects that she tried to forget about her lover but found it impossible. In a particularly poignant moment, she notes how she got along without him for a time, but then he passed her by, and all of the emotions she has been trying to suppress come rushing back. The song ends on a melancholy note, with the singer resigned to the fact that she will have to hang her tears out to dry.
Line by Line Meaning
When I want rain, I get sunny weather,
Even when I want to feel sad, life seems to be going well.
I'm just as blue as the sky;
Despite the happy appearances, I feel incredibly sad.
Since love is gone, can't pull myself together,
I'm unable to cope or pick myself up after losing love.
Guess I'll hang my tears out to dry.
I need to get rid of my tears, but I can't seem to let go of the pain.
Friends ask me out, I tell them I'm busy,
I don't want to be around anyone else since I miss my lover.
Must get a new alibi!
I need a good excuse to avoid people who might make me feel worse.
I stay at home and ask myself, 'Where is he?'
I spend countless hours wondering where my lover has gone.
Guess I'll hang my tears out to dry.
I need to release my sadness and move on from my heartbreak.
Dry little teardrops, my little teardrops,
I need to let go of my tears and pain and move on.
Hangin' on a string of dreams.
I'm hanging onto memories of a better time, hoping things will get better.
Fly little memories, my little memories,
I need to let go of past memories and focus on living in the present.
Remind him of our crazy schemes.
The memories I have are focused on my past relationship, reminding me of what I've lost.
Somebody said, 'Just forget about him!',
Others think it's easy to move on from love, but it's much harder than that.
I gave that treatment a try.
I tried taking advice to forget my lover and move on with my life.
Strangely enough, I got along without him,
As much as I didn't want to admit it, I was able to live without my lover.
Then one day he passed me right by;
When I saw my lover again, all the old feelings came back.
Oh, well, I guess I'll hang my tears out to dry.
I'm reminded of my heartbreak every time I see my lover, and I need to release my tears and move on.
Little teardrops, little teardrops, filled with dreams.
My tears are filled with the dreams and memories of my past love, and I'm struggling to let them go.
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind