Julie London (née Peck; September 26,1926 — October 18, 2000) was an Ameri… Read Full Bio ↴Julie London (née Peck; September 26,1926 — October 18, 2000) was an American jazz and pop singer and actress. She was noted for her smoky, sensual voice and languid demeanor. She released 32 albums of pop and jazz standards during the 1950s and 1960s, with her signature song being the classic "Cry Me a River," which she introduced in 1955.

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.

Dream of You
Julie London Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Gee, but I'm blue and so lonely
There's nothin' left to do
But dream of you just dream of you

Dreams don't come true
Still I can't keep from
Dreamin' dreams of you that's all I do
Just dream of you

There once was a time when I called you mine
Then I lost you and with you gone
Life no longer seems quite so fine
So I sit here blue
Been so lonesome I don't know what to do
But dream of you just dream of you

I sit here blue

Been so lonesome I don't know what to do
But dream of you just dream of you

Overall Meaning

In Julie London's song "Dream of You," the lyrics express a deep sense of loneliness and longing for a lost love. The singer finds themselves feeling blue and isolated, with no remedy except to retreat into the realm of dreams where they can still hold onto the memory of their beloved. Despite knowing that dreams do not come true, they are unable to resist the pull of envisioning a life with their lost love. The lyrics convey a sense of resignation, as though the singer has accepted their reality of being alone but still cannot help but yearn for what they have lost.

The song reflects the universal experience of heartbreak and the struggle to move on. It captures the feelings of emptiness and a longing for something that is no longer attainable. The repetition of the phrase "dream of you" emphasizes the singer's preoccupation with their lost love, and the haunting melody and melancholic tone further intensify the overall sense of longing and despair.

Line by Line Meaning

Gee, but I'm blue and so lonely
I feel sad and filled with loneliness

There's nothin' left to do
I have no other options

But dream of you just dream of you
All I can do is imagine being with you

Dreams don't come true
My desires and wishes remain unfulfilled

Still I can't keep from
I am unable to refrain from

Dreamin' dreams of you that's all I do
My every thought and imagination revolves around you

Just dream of you
Simply imagine being with you

There once was a time when I called you mine
In the past, I used to claim you as mine

Then I lost you and with you gone
After losing you, with your absence

Life no longer seems quite so fine
Life doesn't seem as good as it once was

So I sit here blue
I remain in a sad state