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.
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Julie London Lyrics
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Throw my heart away each Spring
Now a Spring romance
Hasn't got a chance
Promised my first dance to Winter
All I've got to show's a splinter
For my little fling
That never left the post
I lay in my room
Starring up at the ceiling
Spring can really hang you up the most
Morning kiss wakes trees and flower
And to them my life
To drink a toast I walk in the park
Just to kill those lonely hours
Spring can really hang you up the most
All afternoon
Those birds tweet-a-tweet I know their tune
This is love this is it
Heard it before
And I know the score
And I decide that love is a bore
Love seem sure around the new year
Now it's April
Love is just a ghost
Spring arrived on time
But what became of you, dear
Spring can really hang you up the most
Spring can really hang you up the most
Spring is here
There's no mistaken
Robins build their nest from coast to coast
My heart tries the same
So they won't hear it breaking
Spring can really hang you up the most
College boys are riding somewhere
... tender passion there it grows
But I'm on the shelf with last years easter bonnet
Spring can really hang you up the most
Love came my way
I'm holding the last
We had our day
Now that's all in the past
Spring came along
A season of song
For love's sweet promise
But something went wrong
Doctor's once prescribed a tonic
Sulfur and molasses was the dose
Didn't help me a bit
My condition must be chronic
Spring can really hang you up the most
All alone, the party's over
Winter was a gracious host
But when you keep praying
For snow to hide the clover
Spring can really hang you up the most
The lyrics of the song “Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most” by Julie London revolves around the theme of unrequited love during the spring season. The first stanza begins by alluding to the singer's experience of being a “sentimental thing” who threw her heart away every Spring merely for a little fling or romance. However, she promised her first dance to Winter, and thus she lost the opportunity or chance of being with anyone during spring season despite the fact that Spring can seem like a promising time for love.
The second stanza describes how Spring is full of promises and it brings life to plants and flowers, but it is also a reminder of the emptiness of the singer's heart. The musical devices of alliteration and onomatopoeia are used in the line “Morning kiss wakes trees and flowers” to add emphasis to the renewed life of Spring. In contrast, the singer's life remains stagnant, and she walks in the park, “killing those lonely hours” toasting to a moment she longs to have. The following stanza continues to express the singer's disillusionment with love, where she compares it to a bore, and how it had deserted her by the month of April. Finally, the song concludes with the sad message that the season of Spring can hang you up the most as it often triggers feelings of sadness and loneliness for those who are alone or heartbroken.
Line by Line Meaning
Once I was a sentimental thing
I used to be very emotional and easy to be carried away by love.
Throw my heart away each Spring
I used to fall in love easily and throw myself into such relationships without caution or emotional restraint, but it felt like Spring was always the perfect time for it.
Now a Spring romance
A romantic relationship that starts in Spring
Hasn't got a chance
Never has a chance to really blossom or reach its peak
Promised my first dance to Winter
I made a promise to myself that I will not fall into another Spring romance and will wait for the right season, which in this case is Winter, to have a romantic relationship.
All I've got to show's a splinter
I only have a little memento of my past fleeting relationship, nothing more and nothing less.
For my little fling
For my short-lived and unfulfilling relationship
Spring, this year has got me feeling like a horse
That never left the post
Spring this year has left me feeling like I am stuck in one spot, not going anywhere, just like a horse who has never left the starting line at a race.
I lay in my room
Starring up at the ceiling
I am lying in my room, gazing at the ceiling and feeling trapped by my own sense of depression and hopelessness.
Spring can really hang you up the most
Spring can really leave you feeling trapped, disillusioned, and disenchanted with love.
Morning kiss wakes trees and flower
And to them my life
The morning sunrays kissing the trees and flowers are a reminder of life, and how my own life is intertwined with that of nature.
To drink a toast I walk in the park
Just to kill those lonely hours
I go for a walk in the park in order to pass the time and to try and forget my loneliness. I raise a glass to nature, and to my own life, in the hope of finding some comfort in the world around me.
All afternoon
Those birds tweet-a-tweet I know their tune
The afternoon is spent listening to the birds singing, their melody being so familiar to me that I can recognize it instantly.
This is love this is it
Heard it before
And I know the score
I have heard about love before, and I know what it's supposed to be like, but my past experiences have taught me that it's never as magical as it seems on first sight.
And I decide that love is a bore
I have made up my mind that love is boring, unfulfilling, and not worth the hassle.
Love seem sure around the new year
Now it's April
Love seemed so promising and certain at the beginning of the year, but now that Spring has arrived, all that hope and positivity seem to have faded away.
Love is just a ghost
Love is an intangible, fleeting feeling that cannot be grasped or held onto for long. It comes and goes like a ghost.
Spring arrived on time
But what became of you, dear
Spring came exactly when it was supposed to, but my former lover is nowhere to be found. I am left feeling abandoned and alone.
Spring is here
There's no mistaken
There is no doubt that Spring has arrived - one can feel it in the air and see it in the blossoming of flowers.
Robins build their nest from coast to coast
My heart tries the same
So they won't hear it breaking
Just like robins building their nests to protect their eggs and young, I try to protect my own heart from breaking by building a wall around it, so that the world cannot see the pain and hurt that lies hidden within.
College boys are riding somewhere
... tender passion there it grows
College boys somewhere are falling in love and experiencing the tender passion that comes with young love.
But I'm on the shelf with last years easter bonnet
But I'm left feeling forgotten, unused, and old - like an easter bonnet from last year that has been put on a shelf to gather dust.
Love came my way
I'm holding the last
Love did come my way, once upon a time, and I am still holding onto the last remnants of it, hoping that maybe, just maybe, things will turn out alright in the end.
We had our day
Now that's all in the past
We shared our moment of joy and love, but that is now nothing more than a distant memory from the past, never to be relived again.
Spring came along
A season of song
For love's sweet promise
But something went wrong
Spring, the season of love, came along, promising sweet and beautiful things, but somewhere along the way, something went horribly wrong and everything fell apart.
Doctor's once prescribed a tonic
Sulfur and molasses was the dose
Didn't help me a bit
My condition must be chronic
Even doctors once gave me a prescription to cure my heartache, but it didn't help at all. My heartache is chronic, and something that cannot be easily cured or fixed.
All alone, the party's over
Winter was a gracious host
But when you keep praying
For snow to hide the clover
The party is over and I am all alone now. Winter was once kind to me, providing me with shelter and respite from heartache, but now I am praying for it to snow, to hide the green clover that represents the hopelessness of my situation.
Spring can really hang you up the most
Spring can really leave you feeling trapped, hopeless, and disillusioned with love - perhaps even more so than any other season.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: FRANCES LANDESMAN, THOMAS J TOMMY JR WOLF
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind