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.
I Didn't Know What Time It Was
Julie London Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Then I met you
Oh, what a lovely time it was
How sublime it was too!
I didn't know what day it was
Then you held my hand
Warm like the month of May it was
Grand to be alive, to be young
To be mad, to be yours alone
Grand to see your face, feel your touch
Hear your voice say I'm all your own
I didn't know what year it was
Life was no prize
I wanted love and here it was
Shining out of your eyes
Once I was old, twenty years or so
Rather well preserved, the wrinkles didn't show
Once I was old, but not too old for fun
I used to hunt for little girls up my imaginary gun
But now I ain't for only one
I'm wise and I know what time it is now
I'm wise and I know what time it is now
I'm so wise and I know what time it is now
In "I Didn't Know What Time It Was," Julie London sings about a newfound sense of love and happiness that came into her life unexpectedly. Throughout the song, London reflects on how lost and directionless she felt before meeting the person who changed everything for her. The opening lines, "I didn't know what time it was / Then I met you," suggest that something as basic as keeping track of time was unimportant to her before love entered the picture.
London goes on to describe the way love changed her life, using words like "sublime" and "grand" to emphasize just how wonderful it was. She feels grateful to be alive and young, and revels in the feeling of being someone's whole world, as we hear in the lines, "Grand to see your face, feel your touch / Hear your voice say I'm all your own." The song's final lines, "I'm so wise and I know what time it is now," suggest that London feels like she has finally found her place in the world and has a newfound sense of clarity about her life.
One interesting aspect of this song is the way that London uses language to create a sense of warmth and comfort. She describes love as being "warm like the month of May" and sings about feeling "grand" and "sublime" in her lover's arms. This imagery gives the song a feeling of hope and positivity, even as London reflects on darker times from her past.
Another fascinating aspect of "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" is the way that it captures a specific moment in time. The song was first released in 1959, and the lyrics contain references to the era in which it was written. For example, when London sings about hunting for "little girls" with her imaginary gun, it's clear that she is referring to a time when society's views on relationships and sexuality were quite different from what they are today.
Line by Line Meaning
I didn't know what time it was
I was unaware of the time
Then I met you
But after I met you
Oh, what a lovely time it was
I experienced a wonderful time
How sublime it was too!
It was perfect in every way!
I didn't know what day it was
I had no idea which day it was
Then you held my hand
But as soon as you held my hand
Warm like the month of May it was
It felt pleasant and comforting
And I'll say it was grand
It was splendid and wonderful
Grand to be alive, to be young
Amazing to be alive and young
To be mad, to be yours alone
To be passionately yours only
Grand to see your face, feel your touch
Blissful to see your face and feel your touch
Hear your voice say I'm all your own
Hearing you say that I belong to you
I didn't know what year it was
I was clueless about the year
Life was no prize
Life was unexciting
I wanted love and here it was
I was searching for love and I found it in you
Shining out of your eyes
I saw it in your eyes
Once I was old, twenty years or so
I used to consider myself old, only twenty or so
Rather well preserved, the wrinkles didn't show
I had preserved my looks and the wrinkles were not evident
Once I was old, but not too old for fun
I was old but not so much that I couldn't have fun
I used to hunt for little girls up my imaginary gun
I used to go around looking for younger women to seduce
But now I ain't for only one
But now I am committed to only one person
I'm wise and I know what time it is now
I'm knowledgeable and aware of what's happening now
I'm so wise and I know what time it is now
I've gained a lot of wisdom and I know what's happening now
I'm wise and I know what time it is now
I've gained a lot of wisdom and I know what's happening now
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind