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 Got It Bad
Julie London Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tell me to save my tears
Well I'm so mad about him
I can't live without him
Never treats me sweet and gentle
The way he should
I've got it bad
And that ain't good
My poor heart is so sentimental
Not made of wood
I've got it so bad
And that ain't good
But when the fish are jumpin'
And Friday rolls around
My man an' I, we gin some
We pray some, and sin some
He don't love me like I love him
The way he should
I've got it bad
And that ain't good
Yes I've got it bad
And that ain't good
In Julie London's song "I Got It Bad," the lyrics are about a woman who is deeply in love with someone who doesn't treat her the way she deserves. She is so madly in love with him that she can't live without him, even though she knows she should save her tears for someone who treats her better. She acknowledges that her heart is very sentimental and easily swayed, but she can't help the way she feels. The lyrics convey a sense of longing, desperation, and passion.
The song's chorus, "I've got it bad and that ain't good," emphasizes the woman's feelings of helplessness and unrequited love. She recognizes that her lover doesn't love her like she loves him, and she knows that the situation is not good for her, but she can't help the way she feels.
The verses of the song describe the woman's relationship with her lover in more detail. She acknowledges that he never treats her sweet and gentle, but when they spend time together, they "gin some, pray some, and sin some," implying that they have an intense physical connection. Despite this connection, however, the woman knows that he doesn't love her the way she wants him to, which only amplifies her sense of longing and desperation.
Overall, the lyrics of "I Got It Bad" convey a sense of unrequited love and the pain that comes with it. The verses portray a complex relationship that is both intense and unsatisfying, while the chorus emphasizes the woman's sense of helplessness and her inability to control her feelings.
Line by Line Meaning
Though folks with good intentions
Even when people with the best of intentions tell me to stop crying
Tell me to save my tears
Encourage me to stop crying and save my tears
Well I'm so mad about him
I'm so angry about him
I can't live without him
I can't survive without him in my life
Never treats me sweet and gentle
Doesn't treat me the way he should - sweet and gentle
The way he should
The way any decent person should
I've got it bad
I'm in a bad situation
And that ain't good
And it's not a good situation to be in
My poor heart is so sentimental
My heart is so emotional
Not made of wood
I'm not emotionless
I've got it so bad
I'm in such a bad place emotionally
And that ain't good
And it's not a good situation to be in
But when the fish are jumpin'
But when life is going well
And Friday rolls around
And it's finally Friday
My man an' I, we gin some
My man and I drink gin
We pray some, and sin some
We pray and sin in equal measure
He don't love me like I love him
He doesn't love me in the same way that I love him
The way he should
The way he ought to
I've got it bad
I'm in a bad way
And that ain't good
And it's not a good situation to be in
Yes I've got it bad
Yes, I'm in a bad way
And that ain't good
And it's not a good situation to be in
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Duke Ellington, Paul Francis Webster
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind