After appearing in Vaudeville theater with her sisters, Judy was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a teenager. There she made more than two dozen films, including nine with Mickey Rooney, and the film with which she would be most identified, "The Wizard of Oz" (1939). After 15 years, Judy was released from the studio but gained renewed success through record-breaking concert appearances, including a critically acclaimed Carnegie Hall concert, a well-regarded but short-lived television series, and a return to film acting beginning with "A Star Is Born" (1954).
Despite her professional triumphs, Judy battled personal problems throughout her life. Insecure about her appearance, her feelings were compounded by film executives who told her she was unattractive and overweight. Plied with drugs to control her weight and increase her productivity, Garland endured a decades-long struggle with addiction. Garland was plagued by financial instability, often owing hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes, and her first four of five marriages ended in divorce. She attempted suicide on a number of occasions. Garland died of an accidental drug overdose at the age of 47, leaving children Liza Minnelli, Lorna Luft, and Joey Luft.
Legacy
Judy Garland's legacy as a performer and a personality has endured long after her death. The American Film Institute named Garland eighth among the "Greatest Female Stars of All Time". She has been the subject of over two dozen biographies since her death, including the well-received "Me and My Shadows: A Family Memoir" by her daughter, Lorna Luft. Luft's memoir was later adapted into the multiple award-winning television mini-series, "Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows", which won Emmy Awards for two actresses portraying Garland (Tammy Blanchard and Judy Davis).
Garland was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. Several of her recordings have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. These include "Over the Rainbow," which was ranked as the number one movie song of all time in the American Film Institute's "100 Years...100 Songs" list. Four more Garland songs are featured on the list: "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (#76), "Get Happy" (#61), "The Trolley Song" (#26), and "The Man That Got Away" (#11).
Judy Garland has twice been honored on U.S. postage stamps, in 1989 (as Dorothy) and again in 2006 (as Vicki Lester from A Star Is Born).
But Not For Me
Judy Garland Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Never tell me dreams come true
Just try it, and I'll start a riot
Beatrice Fairfax, don't you dare
Ever tell me he will care
I'm certain, It's the final curtain
I never want to hear from any cheerful Pollyannas
They're writing songs of love, but not for me
A lucky star's above, but not for me
With love to lead the way
I found more skies of gray
Than any Russian play could guarantee
I was a fool to fall, and get that way
Hi-ho, alas, and also lack-a-day
Although I can't dismiss
The memory of his kiss
I guess he's not for me
Although I can't dismiss
The memory of his kiss
I guess he's not for me
The song "But Not For Me" by Judy Garland is a powerful depiction of a person in deep longing and pain, who has given up hope of ever finding true love. The lyrics convey a sense of loss and disappointment, as the singer reflects on her own experiences and the social expectations that surround her.
The song begins with the lines "Old Man Sunshine, listen, you / Never tell me dreams come true / Just try it, and I'll start a riot." These lines express the singer's resentment towards the cheerful, optimistic attitudes of others who claim that things will work out in the end. She has lost faith in the idea of fate or destiny and sees such beliefs as foolishness.
As the song continues, the singer expresses her frustration with those who write songs of love and speak of a lucky star shining above, but she feels that these things are not meant for her. She has experienced more disappointment than joy, and has fallen victim to love that led only to heartbreak. Even though she remembers the feeling of his kiss, she knows in her heart that he is not meant for her. The last line of the song, "I guess he's not for me," conveys an acceptance of this reality, but also a sense of sadness and regret.
Overall, the song is a poignant reflection on the pain of unfulfilled dreams of love and the difficulty of accepting one's own limitations, and is a tribute to Judy Garland's ability to convey such depth of emotion in her singing.
Line by Line Meaning
Old Man Sunshine, listen, you
Hey, Mr. Sun, I'm talking to you
Never tell me dreams come true
Don't feed me optimism, it's not my thing
Just try it, and I'll start a riot
If you insist, I'll go crazy
Beatrice Fairfax, don't you dare
Ms. Fairfax, I warn you
Ever tell me he will care
Don't give me false hope
I'm certain, It's the final curtain
I'm pretty sure it's over
I never want to hear from any cheerful Pollyannas
I don't want to listen to any optimistic people
Who tell you fate supplies a mate, it's all bananas
Those who believe in destiny finding them a partner are foolish
They're writing songs of love, but not for me
Love songs exist, but they're not meant for me
A lucky star's above, but not for me
Some people have good luck, but not me
With love to lead the way
If love could guide me
I found more skies of gray
It only brought me more sadness
Than any Russian play could guarantee
Even more depressing than a Russian drama
I was a fool to fall, and get that way
I admit I was foolish to let myself fall for him
Hi-ho, alas, and also lack-a-day
I feel sad about it
Although I can't dismiss
Even though
The memory of his kiss
I still remember how he kissed me
I guess he's not for me
I suppose he's not meant to be with me
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Downtown Music Publishing, Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@jonathankieranwriter
@Jorg Hannakh … eh, whether or not there was any connection resulting in some sort of direct instigation or retaliatory activity is almost irrelevant. Those riots did indeed occur six days after Garland’s actual death in London, but they commenced the very day after her public New York City funeral, which was indeed an enormous media and cultural “event” in the city, with some 25,000+ people lined behind police barricades to mourn publicly and view the body. That’s to say nothing of the millions in the city (and elsewhere) affected in different ways—sorrowful, regretful, angry, indifferent—by the major news of the troubled Garland’s demise.
One would have to admit that a significant membership of the city’s gay community, for whom Garland was, for whatever psychological reason, a towering icon, were probably quite deeply affected by the sheer proximity of her “circus maximus” funeral in their own town, the immense coverage, crowd experiences, the passing of a key icon, the tragic ending of a unique entertainment era represented specifically by Garland, etc.
People were probably feeling rather “moody about Judy” in the bars and hideaways. Again, it was the day after the immense impact of the funeral on the entire city. It’s obviously way too much to assert that members of the gay community took-up pitchforks, bricks, and torches and explicitly rioted with the words, “This is for Judy!” on their lips. No way. But it’s equally naive to think that the events surrounding her death and high-profile funeral the day before the riots began played no role whatsoever in the mood and volatility of a victimized, struggling group of people who identified closely with a perception of Garland as a victimized, struggling iconic individual.
Her death and funeral most likely played a strong socio-cultural, personal role in reactionary emotions that helped fuel the riots, among other persecutory factors—the timing and impact of her death/funeral are simply too big to ignore and Garland’s importance to the gay community in particular was too prominent to dismiss. It certainly would not be the first time in human history that the public funeral of a major figure (beloved or not) stirred up emotions that led to reactionary and even violent encounters and repercussions.
It’s probably best to admit that her demise/funeral played a part in prevailing emotional moods and tides that spurred such combustible reactions … but the role of her death/funeral in this matter is not quantifiable in any way. Almost certainly correlative, but not quantifiable.
It also bears mentioning that Garland certainly never “belonged” to the minority gay community alone. Gay citizens were often torchbearers for her legacy at a low point in her last years, but her final fate affected many, many more millions of people worldwide in mainstream society for whom she was equally beloved or fondly remembered.
In these times of YouTube and cinematic streaming, one is nowadays just as likely (or even more likely) to see Garland being rediscovered and appreciated in comments sections by little girls, young women, and people of all evident backgrounds rather than by one or several minority subsets of society. Which makes sense, because for the majority of her career, Garland was a huge star appreciated and celebrated by the masses. She was certainly no fringe or “cult” figure, even though certain subgroups of fans approached her work in cultic ways that would ebb and flow over the years. But that happens with any major entertainment or media figure, and, for some reason, especially with melodramatic, larger-than-life female entertainers. There you have it.
@lbrtl614
Old man sunshine, listen you
Never tell me dreams come true
Just try it, and I'll start a riot
Beatrice Fairfax don't you dare
Ever tell me he will care
I'm certain, it's the final curtain
I never want to hear from any cheerful Pollyannas
Who tells you fate supplies a mate
It's all bananas
They're writing songs of love - but not for me
A lucky star's above - but not for me
With love to lead the way I've found more skies of gray
Than any Russian play - could guarantee
I was a fool to fall - and get that way
Hi ho alas and also lackaday
Although I can't dismiss
The memory of his kiss
I guess he's not for me
(bridge)
Although I can't dismiss
The memory of his kiss
I guess he's not for me
@billnmike
I hate to sound like my dad, the music that is put out now can't hold a candle to the classics. I am so glad there are sites like this. Hopefully young people will stumble across these gems and fall in love with them too.
@markhenry637
we can hope.
@alicegray9216
trust me, there are some of us. I’m a teen and I love Judy and all the other classic stars! I’m so grateful I discovered them. I agree nothing today can compare to the classics
@Chesterton7
The saddest song sung by the most beautiful singer. Tears fill her eyes near the end. Kills me every time.
@mikecathy3875
Martin Olson She sang a song that only she understood.
@davidwitt5347
I can't help hearing this song through the lens of her tragic personal life.
@jobob47
one of the greats from the Great American Song book
@vHumboldt77
Lovely song, not a sad one, though.
@lucyfoster4082
Her eyes. Her endlessly expressive eyes.
@andrewh1737
Hi Lucy