London's 35-year acting career began in films in 1944 and included playing opposite Gary Cooper in Man of the West (1958) and Robert Mitchum in The Wonderful Country (1959). She achieved continuing success in the TV medical drama Emergency! (1972–1979), co-starring her real-life husband, Bobby Troup, and produced by her ex-husband, Jack Webb, in which London played the female lead role of nurse Dixie McCall. She and Randolph Mantooth, who played one-half of her medical students, a paramedic, in the series, were very close to her family, until her death in 2000.
Born in Santa Rosa, California, she was the daughter of Jack and Josephine Peck, who were a vaudeville song-and-dance team. When she was fourteen the family moved to Los Angeles. Shortly after that, she began appearing in movies. She graduated from the Hollywood Professional High School in 1945.
London began singing under the name Gayle Peck in public in her teens before appearing in a film. She was discovered by talent agent Sue Carol (wife of actor Alan Ladd), while working as an elevator operator. Her early film career, however, did not include any singing roles.
London recorded 32 albums in a career that began in 1955 with a live performance at the 881 Club in Los Angeles. Billboard named her the most popular female vocalist for 1955, 1956, and 1957. She was the subject of a 1957 Life cover article in which she was quoted as saying, "It's only a thimbleful of a voice, and I have to use it close to the microphone. But it is a kind of oversmoked voice, and it automatically sounds intimate."
London's debut recordings were for the Bethlehem Records label. While shopping for a record deal, she recorded four tracks that would later be included on the compilation album Bethlehem's Girlfriends in 1955. Bobby Troup backed London on the album, for which London recorded the standards "Don't Worry About Me", "Motherless Child", "A Foggy Day", and "You're Blasé".
London's most famous single, "Cry Me a River", was written by her high-school classmate Arthur Hamilton and produced by Troup. The recording became a million-seller after its release in December 1955 and also sold on reissue in April 1983 from the attention brought by a Mari Wilson cover. London performed the song in the film The Girl Can't Help It (1956), and her recording gained later attention in the films Passion of Mind (2000) and V for Vendetta (2006). The song "Yummy Yummy Yummy" was featured on the HBO television series Six Feet Under and appears on its soundtrack album. London's "Must Be Catchin'" was featured in the 2011 premiere episode of the ABC series Pan Am. Her last recording was "My Funny Valentine" for the soundtrack of the Burt Reynolds film Sharky's Machine (1981).
Other popular singles include "Hot Toddy", "Daddy", and "Desafinado". Recordings such as "Go Slow" epitomized her career style: her voice is slow, smoky, and playfully sensual.
She was married to Jack Webb, of Dragnet fame. Her obvious beauty and self-poise (she was a pinup girl prized by GIs during World War II) contrasted with his pedestrian appearance and stiff-as-a-board acting technique (much parodied by impersonators). This unlikely pairing arose from his and her love for jazz; their marriage lasted from July 1947 to November 1953. They had two daughters, one who was killed in a traffic accident in the 1990s and one who survived London. In 1954, having become somewhat reclusive after her divorce from Jack Webb, she met jazz composer and musician Bobby Troup at a club on La Brea Blvd. They married on December 31, 1959 and remained married until Troup's death in February 1999. Together, they had one daughter and twin sons.
London suffered a stroke in 1995, and was in poor health until her death in Encino, California, at the age of seventy-four, survived by four of her five children. She died on18th October 2000, and was buried in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Baby Won't You Please Come Home
Julie London Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'd give the world if I could only
Make you understand
It truly would be grand
I'm gonna telephone my baby
Ask him won't you please come home
Oh, when you gone
I'm worried all day long
Baby, won't you please come home
Baby, won't you please come home
I have tried in vain
Nevermore to call your name
When you left you broke my heart
That will never make us part
Every hour in the day
You will hear me say
Baby, won't you please come home
I mean, baby, won't you please come home
Baby, won't you please come home
'Cause your mama's all alone
I have tried in vain
Nevermore to call your name
When you left you broke my heart
That will never make us part
Landlord's gettin' worse
I gotta move May the first
Baby, won't you please come home
I need money
Baby, won't you please come home
The song reflects on the feeling of loneliness by a woman after her partner has left her. The woman is desperate and wants her partner to come back. She would 'give the world' if he understood how much she needed him back. She feels worried all day long and has the blues. The woman attempts to reach out to her partner by calling him and asking him to come home.
The chorus of the song is a plea for her partner to come back to her. Every hour of the day, she says the same thing: 'Baby, won't you please come home?'. The woman sings about her heart being broken when her partner initially left, and how it will never make them part. She tells him that his absence has caused her financial troubles with the landlord getting 'worse,' and she needs money. As a last attempt to win him back, she tells him that his mama is all alone, and she needs him.
In summary, "Baby Won't You Please Come Home" is a heartfelt plea for a lover to return to the singer who is suffering after their departure. The desperation and loneliness of the woman are conveyed through the lyrics and the chorus, which asks the same question repeatedly.
Line by Line Meaning
I've got the blues, I feel so lonely
I am suffering from depression and feeling very alone
I'd give the world if I could only
I would do anything in the world if it meant I could make you understand
Make you understand
Help you comprehend my feelings
It truly would be grand
It would be wonderful if you could grasp my emotions
I'm gonna telephone my baby
I plan to call my lover
Ask him won't you please come home
Requesting their presence at home
Oh, when you gone
Whenever you are away
I'm worried all day long
I am filled with anxiety throughout the day
Baby, won't you please come home
Asking the lover to come back home
I have tried in vain
My attempts were unsuccessful
Nevermore to call your name
I will no longer call out for you
When you left you broke my heart
When you departed, you caused me emotional pain
That will never make us part
Our relationship will remain unbroken
Every hour in the day
All throughout the day
You will hear me say
I will repeat myself to you
Baby, won't you please come home
Asking the lover to come back home
I mean, baby, won't you please come home
Emphasizing that I need the lover to come back home
Baby, won't you please come home
Asking the lover to come back home
'Cause your mama's all alone
Stating that I am alone without the lover
Landlord's gettin' worse
My landlord is becoming more difficult to deal with
I gotta move May the first
I need to move out on May 1st
I need money
Expressing a need for financial resources
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, BMG Rights Management, Royalty Network, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Peermusic Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Charles Warfield, Clarence Williams
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind