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).
Cry Baby Cry
Judy Garland Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Just the way I did the day you broke my heart
Cry, baby, cry, you flew too high
Tables turned and now you've learned you're not so smart
You broke every promise
You couldn't be true
You gave me the go-by
For somebody new when I needed you
I'm laughin' up my sleeve to see my cry baby cry.
The lyrics to Judy Garland's song Cry Baby Cry are about a girl who is telling her former lover to cry now that he realizes his mistake in leaving her for someone else. She reflects on the day he broke her heart and now that the tables have turned, she takes pleasure in his sorrow. Garland's voice is sad and almost mournful as she sings about the promises he broke and how he could not be true to her. The lyrics are bitter, yet there is a tinge of triumph in them, showing that the girl has moved on and is no longer controlled by her emotions towards this man.
The chorus of the song is particularly poignant, as the girl tells the man to cry, just the way she did the day he broke her heart. Now it's his turn to feel the pain and understand what he has lost. The phrase "my eyes are dry" shows that the girl is no longer crying over the man and has moved on. In fact, she is now laughing at his misfortune, happy that the tables have turned.
Line by Line Meaning
Cry, baby, cry, cry, baby cry,
The singer is instructing the listener, who is referred to as 'cry baby', to cry.
Just the way I did the day you broke my heart
The singer is suggesting that the listener cry in the same way that she did on the day when the listener broke her heart.
Cry, baby, cry, you flew too high
The singer is mocking the listener for having become overconfident and subsequently failing.
Tables turned and now you've learned you're not so smart
The singer is saying that the listener's circumstances have changed and they have now learned that they are not as smart or capable as they thought they were.
You broke every promise
The singer is accusing the listener of breaking every promise they made.
You couldn't be true
The singer is saying that the listener was not able to be loyal or faithful.
You gave me the go-by
The singer is saying that the listener abandoned or disregarded her.
For somebody new when I needed you
The singer is saying that the listener left her for someone else at a time when she really needed their support.
Cry, baby, cry. My eyes are dry.
The singer is saying that despite her harsh words, she does not feel any sympathy for the listener's tears and her own eyes are dry.
I'm laughin' up my sleeve to see my cry baby cry.
The singer is admitting to finding some amusement in seeing the listener cry, despite the fact that the situation is not really funny.
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: JIMMY HARRY, KARA DIOGUARDI, LESTER A MENDEZ, SEAN PAUL HENRIQUES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind