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.
How About Me -
Julie London Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And soon somebody else
Will make a fuss about you
But how about me?
It's over, all over
And soon somebody else
Will tell her/his friends about you
You'll find somebody new
But what am I to do
I'll still remember you
When you have forgotten
And maybe a baby
Will climb upon your knee
And put its arms about you
But how about me?
And maybe a baby
Will climb upon your knee
And put its arms about you
But how about me?
It's over
But how about me?
The lyrics of the song "How About Me?" by Julie London express the feeling of losing someone you love and seeing them move on with someone else, while you are left behind feeling lost and forgotten. The song talks about how the person you once loved will move on to someone new, and others will fuss over them, but what about the person who was left behind? The lyrics express the pain and sadness of feeling forgotten and alone, as the person you love moves on with someone else.
The lyrics mention a possible scenario where the person who left you might have a baby and the child would climb on their lap and wrap their arms around them. This possibility only adds to the pain of the person left behind, as they long for the love and attention that they once shared with the person they loved. The song's mournful melody reflects the emotional tone of the lyrics, making it a heartbreaking but poignant composition.
Line by Line Meaning
It's over, all over
The relationship is finished and done
And soon somebody else
It won't be long before someone new takes an interest in you
Will tell her/his friends about you
They'll gossip and talk about the new relationship with their circle of friends
But what about me?
But what about my feelings and how I'm affected by the end of our relationship?
You'll find somebody new
You'll eventually move on and find another partner
But what am I to do
But what about me and how I'll cope with the breakup?
I'll still remember you
I won't forget about you and the time we spent together
When you have forgotten
Even if you move on and forget about me, I'll still remember
And maybe a baby
Perhaps in the future, you'll have a child
Will climb upon your knee
The child will sit on your lap
And put its arms about you
The child will hug you
But how about me?
But what about my feelings and how seeing you with a child affects me?
It's over
The relationship has ended
But how about me?
But what about me and how I'll move on from this heartbreak?
Lyrics © IMAGEM U.S. LLC
Written by: IRVING BERLIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind