Judy Garland (June 10, 1922 – June 22, 1969) was an American actress and si… Read Full Bio ↴Judy Garland (June 10, 1922 – June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer from Grand Rapids, Minnesota, USA. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years, Garland attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist, and on the concert stage. Respected for her versatility, she received a Juvenile Academy Award, won a Golden Globe Award, received the Cecil B. DeMille Award for her work in films, as well as Grammy Awards and a Special Tony Award. She had a contralto singing range.

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).

When I Look At You
Judy Garland Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I was just lonely melisande,
Pity, pity me.
Came a little wizard,
Waved his wand,
Dreamed you up for me

Now I feel a tingle
Each time I glimpse

Your face go dreaming by;
Proving the heart is quicker than the eye

When I look at you,
I hear lovly music,
Can it be my heart that sings?
When I look at you,
I look at an angel,
Tell me where you've parked your wings

Dizzy me, silly moon
Crazy quilt of a sky
Are you real, or a dream
That got caught in my eye?
When I look at you,
I, I'm looking at rainbows.

Stars come tumbling down from above,
And I'm in love with you my love.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Judy Garland's song "When I Look at You" convey the enchanting feeling of meeting someone who unexpectedly appears to be the perfect match. The singer starts by addressing herself as “lonely Melisande” and wishing for somebody to take pity on her. The song then refers to a little wizard who apparently used his magic wand to make the singer's ideal partner appear before her. The lyrics mention how the singer now senses excitedly upon seeing the person she dreamed of, claiming that this proves that the heart is indeed quicker than the eye.

The chorus repeats the phrase “when I look at you” and portrays the singer's feelings of infatuation, as she hears the sound of lovely music and asks whether it is her heart that is singing. The singer also says she is looking at an angel and inquires where they have parked their wings. The verses continue to paint the picture of the singer's mesmerized state, as she describes feeling dizzy and silly like the moon and staring at a sky that appears to be a colorful patchwork. She then reflects on whether what she is experiencing is real or only a dream that somehow caught in her eye. However, she concludes that by gazing at the person she is infatuated with, she is looking at rainbows and stars that come tumbling down, experiencing intense love.

Line by Line Meaning

I was just lonely melisande,
I was feeling lonely, like Melisande from the play Pelléas et Mélisande by Maurice Maeterlinck.

Pity, pity me.
I felt sorry for myself.

Came a little wizard,
Then a magical person appeared.

Waved his wand,
He used his wand to create something for me.

Dreamed you up for me
He created you in my dreams.

Now I feel a tingle
Now I feel a shiver.

Each time I glimpse
Every time I catch a glimpse of you.

Your face go dreaming by;
Your face appears in my sleep.

Proving the heart is quicker than the eye
Showing that the heart can perceive things more quickly than the eyes.

When I look at you,
When I gaze upon you.

I hear lovely music,
I feel like I am hearing beautiful music.