Born Joan Drost in Buffalo, New York, as a child growing up Sommers would often sing to herself as a way of dealing with her difficult upbringing. Though having not received any musical training, Sommers began her career as a jazz singer in Los Angeles, California. In 1960, she recorded a demo with composer/arranger Tommy Oliver, earning her a recording contract with Warner Bros. Sommers. Her debut single, "One Boy" from the musical Bye Bye Birdie, reached #54 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Throughout the 60s, she also maintained a byline as a singer of jingles for Pepsi-Cola (specifically, "It's Pepsi, for Those Who Think Young" and "Come Alive! You're in the Pepsi Generation"), earning her the nickname of "The Pepsi Girl." Years later, she also recorded a jingle for Diet Pepsi, though her work was uncredited. Fittingly, two of her albums -- For Those Who Think Young and Come Alive! -- were named after her classic jingles.
Despite being a hit single,"One Boy" was passed over for inclusion on her debut album, Positively the Most!, whose cover touted the teenaged Sommers as "the greatest discovery in singing talent in the last fifteen years." This marked the beginning of a continuing trend for Sommers: alternating between commercial pop singles and more artistically challenging and varied albums, more often than not keeping the two completely disparate.
In 1962, "Johnny Get Angry" (co-written by legendary songwriter and lyricist Hal David) became Sommers' biggest hit, driven by an anachronistic dark bass line and unusual instrumentation such as kazoos. However, the song drew noted criticism aimed at its lyrical content, perceived by some as having sexist or masochistic overtones. The follow-up single was "When the Boys Get Together", which reached #94 on the charts, becoming her final Hot 100 single, though she would later have two songs on the Adult Contemporary charts.
In 1970, Sommers temporarily retired as a singer to focus on raising a family, making only one recording during the following decade, a soundtrack single for scrapped animation film The Peppermint Choo Choo. She resumed her career at the turn of the decade, recording the album Dream in 1980. She has maintained a sporadic career of recording and performing ever since, continuing to experiment with a variety of musical styles.
Out of This World
Joanie Sommers Lyrics
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When I'm looking at you,
I hear out of this world
The music that no mortal ever knew.
You're right out of a book,
The fairy tale I read when I was so high;
No armored knight out of a book
After waiting so long for the right time,
After reaching so long for a star,
All at once from the long and lonely night time,
And despite time, here you are!
I'd fly out of this world
If you said we were through,
So let me fly out of this world
And spend the next eternity or two with you;
I'll spend the next eternity or two with you.
The lyrics to Joanie Sommer’s song “Out of This World” describe the overwhelming feeling of love and admiration felt by the singer towards the object of her affections. The first verse describes how this person is so special and unique that they seem to come from another world entirely, and when the singer looks at them, she feels like she is experiencing something out of the ordinary. The second verse uses a fairy tale metaphor to describe how the singer feels enchanted by this person, just like the enchanted Lorelei from the mythological tales.
The chorus describes how the singer feels like she’s been waiting so long to find someone like the object of her affections. She talks about reaching for a star and waiting in the long and lonely nighttime before finally finding this person. The singer also talks about how she’s willing to do anything for this person and that she would fly “out of this world” if they were to ever leave her. The song ends with the singer expressing her desire to spend eternity with this person.
Overall, the lyrics paint a picture of an intense love that is almost otherworldly. The object of the singer’s affections is someone who is so special that they seem to be in a league of their own, and the singer is completely enamored by them. The song expresses the idea that love can make us feel like we are in a fairytale, and that it can be a transformative experience that makes everything else seem less important.
Line by Line Meaning
You're clear out of this world
You are beyond phenomenal,
When I'm looking at you,
I hear out of this world
The music that no mortal ever knew.
When I look at you, I feel like I’m hearing an otherworldly music that humans have not yet heard before.
You're right out of a book,
The fairy tale I read when I was so high;
No armored knight out of a book
Could find a more enchanted Lorelei than I.
You are like a character in a fairy tale book that I read when I was young, and no fictional character is as enchanted as you are.
After waiting so long for the right time,
After reaching so long for a star,
All at once from the long and lonely night time,
And despite time, here you are!
I've waited for a long time for this moment, I've put in a lot of effort to reach this point, and now, despite the long and lonely times, you are finally here with me.
I'd fly out of this world
If you said we were through,
So let me fly out of this world
And spend the next eternity or two with you;
I'll spend the next eternity or two with you.
If you ever leave me, I’d feel like I was transported to another world, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you even if it means leaving this one.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: COLE PORTER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind