Early life
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of Carrie McDonald. Her father is identified as vaudeville drummer Eddie Carson by the official biography of her estate. She was of mixed ethnic background: Native American/African American. She descended from Apalachee Indians and Black slaves in South Carolina.[4] She started her career as a busker, dancing in the street as a child. She entered vaudeville joining the St. Louis Chorus at 15. She then headed toward New York City during the Harlem Renaissance, performing at the Plantation Club and in the chorus of the popular Broadway revues Shuffle Along (1921) and The Chocolate Dandies (1924). She performed as the last dancer in a chorus line, a position in which the dancer traditionally performed in a comic manner, as if they were unable to remember the dance, until the encore, at which point they would not only perform it correctly, but with additional complexity. Although she was later to claim that she went unnoticed in America, she was billed as "the highest-paid chorus girl in vaudeville."
On October 2, 1925, she opened in Paris at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, where she became an instant success for her erotic dancing and for appearing practically nude on stage. After a successful tour of Europe, she reneged on her contract and returned to France to star at the Folies Bergère, setting the standard for her future acts. She performed wearing only high heels and a skirt made of bananas; she was often accompanied by her pet leopard, Chiquita, who was adorned with a diamond collar. The leopard frequently escaped into the orchestra pit, where it terrorized the musicians, adding yet another element of excitement to the show.
Rise to fame
After a short while she was the most successful American entertainer working in France—whereas in the U.S., she would have suffered from the racial prejudices common to the era. Ernest Hemingway called her "the most sensational woman anyone ever saw." In addition to being a musical star, Baker also starred in several successful films, among them Zouzou (1934) and Princesse Tamtam (1935).
Upon marrying her manager Giuseppe Pepito Abatino—a Sicilian stonemason who passed himself off successfully as a Sicilian count—Baker transformed her stage and public persona into a sophisticated cultural figure. (The marriage was reportedly a publicity stunt and not legally binding.)
At this time she also scored her greatest song hit "J'ai deux amours" (1931) and became a muse for contemporary authors, painters, and sculptors including Langston Hughes, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Pablo Picasso.
She was so well-known and popular that even the Nazis, who occupied France during World War II were hesitant to cause her harm. In turn, this allowed Baker to show her loyalty to her adopted country by participating in the Underground. After the war, Baker was awarded the Croix de Guerre for her underground activity.
Yet despite her popularity in France, she was never really able to obtain the same reputation at home. Upon a visit to the United States in 1936, she starred in a failed version of the Ziegfeld Follies (being replaced by Gypsy Rose Lee later in the run); her personal life similarly suffered, and she went through six marriages, some legal, some not. During this time, when Baker returned to the United States, she was allegedly at a dinner party and began to speak in French as well as English with a French accent. An African-American maid was reputed to tell her, "Honey, you is full of shit. Speak the way yo' mouth was born". She had the woman fired.[citation needed]
In 1973, Josephine Baker opened at Carnegie Hall to a standing ovation. She wept openly onstage in response to the warm welcome.
Civil rights involvement
Though based in France, she supported the American Civil Rights Movement during the 1950s, and protested racism in her own unique way, adopting twelve multi-ethnic orphans, whom she called her "Rainbow Tribe." She also integrated several places in the United States and worked with the NAACP.[citation needed] For some time she lived with all of her children and an enormous staff in a castle (Les Milandes in the Dordogne) in France. (Baker had only one child of her own, stillborn in 1941, an incident that precipitated an emergency hysterectomy.)
On tours of the United States, she refused to perform in segregated nightclubs, and her insistence on mixed audiences helped to integrate shows in Las Vegas, Nevada. Nevertheless, her career was on a downturn and she was near bankruptcy until she was bailed out and given an apartment by her close friend, Princess Grace of Monaco, another expatriate American living in Europe.
During her life, she was also a great figure of the French freemasonry,[citation needed] fighting for freedom, civil rights, equality and against racism in France and other countries.
Death
On April 8, 1975, her fortunes seemed to be turning to the better when she was the star of a retrospective show at Club Bobino in Paris, Joséphine, celebrating her fifty years in the theater. The show opened to rave reviews. She died of a cerebral hemorrhage less than a week later at the age of 68 and was cremated. She was found lying peacefully in her bed surrounded by newspapers with glowing reviews of her performance.
She became the first American-born woman to receive French military honors at her funeral, which was held at L'Église de la Madeleine. Paris came to a standstill on the day of her funeral and 20,000 filled the streets to watch her procession. She was interred at the Cimetière de Monaco. "Place Josephine Baker" in the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris was named in her honor. She has also been inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.
Marriages and relationships
Josephine Baker went through six marriages:
* Foundry worker Willie Wells (1919, divorced)
* Pullman porter William Howard Baker (1921, divorced)
* Giuseppe Pepito Abatino (1926, publicity stunt, not legally binding)
* French sugar magnate Jean Lion (1937-1940, divorced)
* French orchestra leader Jo Bouillon (1947, separated 1957, eventually divorced)
* American artist Robert Brady (1928-1986, married 1973, also not legally binding, separated 1974).
There is also some speculation that Josephine Baker was bisexual. Most notably Josephine was linked with Mexican cultural surrealist Frida Kahlo, who was married to Communist revolutionary artist Diego Rivera. Some believe that one of the lesbian lovers depicted in the film Frida, a simple yet provocative shot of a beautiful black lounge songstress in France, is a portrayal of Baker.
Baker wrote several autobiographies, each containing a different story about her family and career.
Blue Skies
Josephine Baker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ev'ry day was a cloudy day for me
Then good luck came a-knocking at my door
Skies were gray but they're not gray anymore
Blue skies
Smiling at me
Nothing but blue skies
Bluebirds
Singing a song
Nothing but bluebirds
All day long
Never saw the sun shining so bright
Never saw things going so right
Noticing the days hurrying by
When you're in love, my how they fly
Blue days
All of them gone
Nothing but blue skies
From now on
[2]
I should care if the wind blows east or west
I should fret if the worst looks like the best
I should mind if they say it can't be true
I should smile, that's exactly what I do
Josephine Baker's song Blue Skies conveys a message of hope and happiness, following a period of gloom and despair. The lyrics describe the singer's transformation from feeling blue to experiencing moments of pure joy and contentment. Initially, life felt like a constant grey and cloudy state, without any sign of improvement. But then, good luck arrived, knocking on her door, bringing with it a change in perspective. Suddenly, even though the skies remained grey, the singer's outlook on life became brighter, and nothing but blue skies was in sight.
In the second verse, the lyrics suggest that this newfound joy and contentment is the result of the singer's newfound love. The sun is shining brighter, things are going right, and time seems to fly by. The singer's previous blue days have vanished, and the future holds nothing but blue skies. The message is clear - even when life seems grey and dreary, good things can and do happen.
Line by Line Meaning
I was blue, just as blue as I could be
I was feeling deeply gloomy and depressed
Ev'ry day was a cloudy day for me
I was wallowing in sadness and despair every single day
Then good luck came a-knocking at my door
Fortune favored me and brought good luck my way
Skies were gray but they're not gray anymore
Despite feeling hopeless and bleak earlier, I can now see light and hope in my life
Blue skies
Being free from all the misery and darkness, now I can cherish these blue skies
Smiling at me
They appear so warm and welcoming
Nothing but blue skies
There's nothing but positivity and optimism around me
Do I see
I only see this newly found optimism around
Bluebirds
These birds signify hope, renewal, and freedom
Singing a song
They too are expressing happiness through their singing
Nothing but bluebirds
This world suddenly seems overtaken by bluebirds, and all that they represent
All day long
Their happiness knows no bounds, and it continues throughout the day
Never saw the sun shining so bright
I never saw the sun convey so much radiance and positivity
Never saw things going so right
Everything is fitting into place, and everything appears perfect
Noticing the days hurrying by
I'm now aware of how quickly time passes, especially when you're content and at peace
When you're in love, my how they fly
Time flies when you're in love and cherishing life
Blue days
The days previously shrouded in adversity
All of them gone
All those days of misery and gloom are now long gone
From now on
Henceforth, only blue skies, positivity, and happiness shall fill my life
I should care if the wind blows east or west
I should be concerned regardless of circumstances
I should fret if the worst looks like the best
I should feel worrisome even if things appear great on the surface
I should mind if they say it can't be true
I should be affected if someone tells me it's not possible
I should smile, that's exactly what I do
Despite all of these things, all that I can do is put on a smile and keep going with an optimistic outlook
Lyrics © Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Irving Berlin
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind