Giuseppe (Joe) Venuti (September 16, 1903 – August 14, 1978) was a U.S. jaz… Read Full Bio ↴Giuseppe (Joe) Venuti (September 16, 1903 – August 14, 1978) was a U.S. jazz musician and violinist. Venuti claimed to have been born aboard a ship as his parents emigrated from Italy, though many believe he was simply born in Philadelphia. Considered the father of jazz violin, he pioneered the use of string instruments in jazz along with the guitarist Eddie Lang, a childhood friend of his. Through the 1920s and early 1930s, Venuti produced many recordings. He worked with Benny Goodman, the Dorsey Brothers, Bing Crosby, the Boswell Sisters and most of the other important white jazz and semi-jazz figures of the late 1920s and early 1930s. However, following Lang's early death in 1933, he began to slip off the radar. After a period of relative obscurity in the 1940s and 1950s, he was 'rediscovered' in the late 1960s and established a musical relationship with tenor saxophonist Zoot Sims, that was almost as fruitful as his previous collaboration with Lang. Venuti and Sims produced a number of very exciting recordings in 1974/75: an appropriate coda to the great violinist's career.

In the mid-1970s, Venuti performed and recorded, again in the limelight: good examples of his latter-day recordings are the Chiaroscuro CD's Joe Venuti and Zoot Sims (CR(D) 142) and Joe & Zoot & More (CR(D)126). He died in Seattle, Washington.

Venuti was also a legendary practical joker.

Oh Lady Be Good
Joe Venuti Lyrics

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Listen to my tale of woe,
it's terribly sad but true,
All dressed up, no place to go
Each ev'ning I'm awf'ly blue.
I must win some handsome guy
Can't go on like this,
I could blossom out I know,
With somebody just like you.

So

Oh, sweet and lovely lady, be good
Oh, lady, be good to me
I am so awf'ly misunderstood
So lady, be good to me

Oh, please have some pity
I'm all alone in this big city

I tell you I'm just a lonesome babe in the wood,
So lady be good to me.

Oh, please have some pity
I'm all alone in this big city

I tell you I'm just a lonesome babe in the wood,
So lady be good to me.

Oh lady be good to me.

Published lyric furnished by a visitor.
Validated Transcribed by Todd Peach
Published Version,
Listen to my tale of woe, it's terribly sad but true,
All dressed up, no place to go
Each ev'ning I'm awf'ly blue.
I must win some winsome miss
Can't go on like this,
I could blossom out I know,
Which somebody just like you.
So

Oh sweet and lovely,
Lady be good,
Oh lady be good to me.
I am so awf'lly misunderstood,
So lady be good, to me.
Oh, please have some pity
I'm all alone in this big city.
I tell you I'm just a lonesome babe in the wood,
So lady be good, to me.

Auburn and brunette and blonde,
I love 'em all, tall or small
But somehow they don't grow fond,
They stagger but never fall.
Winte'rs gone, and now it's spring!
Love! where is thy sting?
If somebody won't respond,
I'm going to end it all.
So

Oh sweet and lovely lady, be good.
Oh lady, be

Overall Meaning

good to me.
I am so awfully misunderstood,
So lady, be good to me.

The lyrics of "Oh Lady Be Good" tell a story of a lonesome babe in the woods who is all dressed up but has no place to go. The singer of the song is feeling misunderstood and is looking for a winsome miss to win over to end their loneliness. The singer expresses their love for different hair colors and sizes, but says that they do not succeed in winning anyone over. The song ends with a plea for a lady to be good to them before they "end it all."

Interpreting the lyrics of "Oh Lady Be Good," we can understand that the singer is feeling desperate and lonely in a big city where they cannot seem to find love. They feel misunderstood and are looking for someone to appreciate and understand them. The song ends with a cry for help or a plea for someone to be kind to them before they resort to drastic measures.

Lyrics © Kanjian Music, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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