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).
I Could Go On Singin'
Judy Garland Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
With a doll of a dove,
He is out all night coo-cooin'!
When an owls on the prowl
For a feminine fowl,
He goes out all night woo-wooin!
Every bird and bee
Has his lunacy
But when I feel high,
Here's the way that I
Like to let my kind of steam off!
Owls woo-woo,
Others sigh,
Doves coo-coo,
Ah, but I;
I could go on singing till the cows come home,
Then the rooster starts to crow, crow, crow!
When I see your eyes, I go all out;
I must vocalise till you shout,
"Enough already!".
I could go on singing till the moon turns pink,
Anything from "Faust" to "Inka dinka dink"!
Love does funny things when it hits you this way,
I must keep on singing like a lark going strong
With my heart on the wings of a sigh-singing day.
I could go on singing till the cows come home,
Then the rooster starts to crow, crow, crow!
When I see your eyes, I go all out;
I must vocalise till you shout,
"Enough already!".
I could go on singing till the moon turns pink,
Anything from "Faust" to "Inka dinka dink"!
Love does funny things when it hits you this way,
I must keep on singing like a lark going strong
With my heart on the wings of a sigh-singing day.
In "I Could Go On Singing," Judy Garland sings about the power of love to drive one to express themselves through song. The opening verses compare various birds and their mating rituals to how Garland expresses herself. The central theme is that the feeling of being in love is so overwhelming that it causes people to act in strange and unpredictable ways. For Garland, this means singing and expressing herself through music.
The chorus repeats the idea that Garland's love is so strong that she could go on singing indefinitely, even until the cows come home or the moon turns pink. She is unable to contain her passion for her lover and must express it vocally. The song is nostalgic and melancholic, reflecting the feeling of longing for a lost love.
One interesting aspect of this song is that it was written specifically for the film of the same name, which was Garland's last feature film before her death. The lyrics were written by E.Y. Harburg, who also wrote the lyrics for "Over the Rainbow," one of Garland's most famous songs. The music was composed by Harold Arlen, who also worked on many of Garland's other films, including "The Wizard of Oz."
Another interesting fact about the song is that it was not originally intended to be a duet, but was later adapted to include a male voice singing the lines "Anything from 'Faust' to 'Inka Dinka Dink'!" The addition of a male voice adds another layer of emotion to the song, as it suggests a deeper connection between the two singers.
The chords for the song are as follows:
Verse:
C Fm C7 Fm
When a dove is in love
C Ab7 G7
With a doll of a dove,
C C7 Fm
He is out all night coo-cooin'!
C Fm C7 Fm
When an owl's on the prowl
C Ab7 G7
For a feminine fowl,
C C7 Fm
He goes out all night woo-wooin!
C C7 Fm
Every bird and bee
C C7 Fm
Has his lunacy
C C7 G7
In the way he works his dream off,
C E7 A7
But when I feel high,
C G7 C
Here's the way that I
Bb7 A7 Dm
Like to let my kind of steam off!
Chorus:
Gm C7
I could go on singing till the cows come home,
F Bbmaj7 Gm
Then the rooster starts to crow, crow, crow!
Gm C7
When I see your eyes, I go all out;
F Bbmaj7 Gm
I must vocalise till you shout,
D7
"Enough already!".
Line by Line Meaning
When a dove is in love
With a doll of a dove,
He is out all night coo-cooin'!
When a male dove is enamored with a female doll-like dove, he spends his nights making amorous calls to her.
When an owls on the prowl
For a feminine fowl,
He goes out all night woo-wooin!
When a male owl is searching for a female mate, he spends his nights serenading her with wooing sounds.
Every bird and bee
Has his lunacy
In the way he works his dream off,
Every bird and bee has their own way of expressing their amorous desires and tendencies.
But when I feel high,
Here's the way that I
Like to let my kind of steam off!
But when I'm feeling joyful and elated, this is the way that I like to express my happiness.
I could go on singing till the cows come home,
Then the rooster starts to crow, crow, crow!
When I see your eyes, I go all out;
I must vocalise till you shout,
"Enough already!".
I could keep singing for an indefinite amount of time, until the start of a new day when the rooster crows. When I see you, I become inspired and passionate, and must keep singing until you beg me to stop.
I could go on singing till the moon turns pink,
Anything from "Faust" to "Inka dinka dink"!
Love does funny things when it hits you this way,
I must keep on singing like a lark going strong
With my heart on the wings of a sigh-singing day.
My love for you is so strong, that I could sing all night until the impossible happens (the moon turns pink). I will sing anything and everything, because love makes me feel joyful and inspired. And so, I must keep on singing like a bird in full flight, with my heart and soul fully invested in this singing day.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: E. Y. HARBURG, HAROLD ARLEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Wayne Oates
Kids, it just doesn't get any better than this. A star, a mega talent...a legend - Judy Garland.
jeh500
Garland improvised this whole scene (my uncle worked on the set.)
The song is not a great one but she makes it seem great. The footage
captures her as she was in thousands of concerts, She is basically playing
herself here. I saw her in live concerts. I can't describe the effect she had on her audiences. Not one gimmick. Just a great artist giving 200%. At her best,
no one could touch her. She always moved the audience.
CitiZen
LOVE this & I always felt she was playing herself in this film.
I lived a stone's throw from Stoke Poges & walked in her footsteps in the famous church (my car was broken into in the Church car park!)
Gregory Amadeus
jeh500 this is fantastic thank you
egogo816
That's crazy was your uncle there when they shot the hospital scene? and was that Judy venting about the bullshit she had been through if she was playing herself?
Joe Guzman aka Joey Josephs
jeh500 this part was done st the London palladium..... did your uncle tell you any stories about working with her ?
Frankie Bowie
She has the heartfelt intensity of a Gena Rowlands in this movie.
Song is not bad - It’s Harold Arlen, no?
Mark Whitman
Even when her voice cracks on occasion she is still a mesmerizing presence and soooo much better than anyone else! Forget technical singing she rises above this with sheer PRESENCE and a magical stage management with no peer. She was definitely something ethereal and I am a non- believer.
Ralph Fitzgerald
This woman was one of the greats of her time,god blessed her with a magical voice that could make you smile.
John Campolo
No singer can touch Judy Garland: past or present!! What a voice!! She was a very good actress and good dancer as well. What do we have these days. Madonna, Beyoncé, Lady G a Ga ( every time I hear her sing I GA GA) etc.