Jeri Southern (real name: Genevieve Lillian Hering; August 5, 1926 - August… Read Full Bio ↴Jeri Southern (real name: Genevieve Lillian Hering; August 5, 1926 - August 4, 1991) was a jazz pianist and singer.

Born in Royal, Nebraska, Hering began playing piano at age three, and at age six started formal study in classical piano. She studied classical piano and voice at Sacred Heart in Omaha, Nebraska where she became interested in jazz.

After beginning her career at the Blackstone Hotel in Omaha she joined a United States Navy recruiting tour during World War II. In the late 1940s, she worked in Chicago clubs where she once was a supporting vocalist for Anita O'Day. She became known for what might be deemed torch songs.

She signed with Decca Records in 1951 and became known both for pop and jazz. The 1950s saw her at the height of her importance. In that decade she sang in a few films and in 1957 she had a top 30 hit with "Fire Down Below". After her switch to Capitol Records she had success doing interpretations of Cole Porter with Billy May arranging some of the more humorous examples.

In the 1960s she gave up music to teach and later moved to Hollywood to work on film composing with Hugo Friedhofer. She also wrote Interpreting Popular Music At The Keyboard during her final years. She died in Los Angeles of pneumonia in 1991.

After You
Jeri Southern Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Though with joy I should be reeling
That at last you came my way,
There's no further use concealing
That I'm feeling far from gay,
For the rare allure about you
Makes me all the plainer see
How inane, how vain, how empty life without you would be.

After you, who
Could supply my sky of blue?
After you, who
Could I love?
After you, why
Should I take the time to try,
For who else could qualify
After you, who?
Hold my hand and swear
You'll never cease to care,
For without you there what could I do?
I could search years

But who else could change my tears
Into laughter after you?

Overall Meaning

In Jeri Southern's song After You, she sings about the complex emotions associated with the arrival of someone special in her life. Although she is happy that this person is finally in her life, she is also aware that life without them would be empty and meaningless. The lyrics "Though with joy I should be reeling, That at last you came my way, There's no further use concealing, That I'm feeling far from gay" suggest that even though she should be ecstatic about this person's arrival, she is still feeling down and melancholic. She is aware of how important this person is to her and how much they mean to her, which makes it hard for her to imagine life without them.

The chorus of the song, "After you, who, Could supply my sky of blue? After you, who, Could I love? After you, why Should I take the time to try, For who else could qualify, After you, who?" reinforces this idea. She knows that no one else could ever replace this person in her life or bring her the same happiness and joy that they do. She is so convinced of this that she is not even willing to try to find anyone else.

Overall, the song captures the bittersweet emotions that come with falling in love and the fear of losing that person. It is a reminder that sometimes the people we meet have such a profound impact on our lives that we cannot imagine life without them.

Line by Line Meaning

Though with joy I should be reeling
Although I should be extremely happy

That at last you came my way,
That I finally have met you

There's no further use concealing
I cannot hide any longer

That I'm feeling far from gay,
That I am unhappy

For the rare allure about you
Your uncommon attraction to me

Makes me all the plainer see
Helps me to realize

How inane, how vain, how empty life without you would be.
That my life would be meaningless without you

After you, who
Who else can compare to you?

Could supply my sky of blue?
Who else could make me happy like you have?

After you, who
Who else can I love like I love you?

Could I love?
Who else can fulfill my love like you have?