I Surrender Dear
Julie London Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning | Line by Line Meaning
Sworn enemy of love
Kept my lips from saying
Things I was thinking of.
But now my pride you've humbled,
I've cast it to the winds,
Broken, beaten, sick at heart
My confession begins.
We've played the game of stay away
But it cost more that I can pay.
Without you I can't make my way,
I surrender, dear.
I may seem proud, I may act gay,
It's just a pose, I'm not that way,
'Cause deep down in my heart I say
I surrender, dear.
Little mean things we were doing
Must have been part of the game,
Lending a spice to the wooing,
But I don't care who's to blame.
When stars appear and shadows fall,
Why then you'll hear My poor heart call,
To you my love, my life, my all
I surrender, dear.
We've played the game of stay away
But it cost more that I can pay.
Without you I can't make my way,
I surrender, dear.
I may seem proud, I may act gay,
It's just a pose, I'm not that way,
'Cause deep down in my heart I say
I surrender, dear.
Little mean things we were doing
Must have been part of the game,
Lending a spice to the wooing,
But I don't care who's to blame.
When stars appear And shadows fall,
Why then you'll hear My poor heart call,
To you my love, my life, my all
The song "I Surrender Dear" by Julie London is a powerful ballad where the singer admits to her lover that her pride has prevented her from confessing her love in the past. The lyrics are full of emotion as the singer reveals the reasons why she has held back her feelings. The opening lines of the song are particularly poignant as she addresses her pride as a "sad, splendid liar" and confesses that it has been her "sworn enemy of love".
The second verse of the song is equally powerful as she admits that she has been playing a game of "stay away" with her lover. She acknowledges that this game has become too costly and that she cannot make her way in life without him. The lyrics perfectly capture the powerlessness that the singer feels when it comes to her love for this person.
The third and final verse is different in tone from the rest of the song. It speaks of the small, meaningless things that people do when they are in love, and how they can add spice to the relationship. The singer does not want to blame anyone, rather she wants to surrender control and allow her heart to lead her. She concludes with the line "To you my love, my life, my all, I surrender, dear" which summarizes the entire song's theme of giving oneself fully and unconditionally to the person they love.
Line by Line Meaning
Pride, sad, splendid liar,
My feelings of pride have disguised the true sadness that I feel inside. I have been living a lie that has kept me from acknowledging my love for you.
Sworn enemy of love
I have allowed my pride to become the enemy of my love for you, preventing me from expressing my feelings.
Kept my lips from saying things I was thinking of.
My pride has prevented me from expressing the thoughts and emotions that I have been holding back.
But now my pride you've humbled, I've cast it to the winds, Broken, beaten, sick at heart My confession begins.
You have made me realize the extent to which my pride has been hurting me, and I am now ready to confess my love for you, even though it makes me feel vulnerable and broken.
We've played the game of stay away But it cost more that I can pay. Without you I can't make my way, I surrender, dear.
We have been avoiding each other, but the cost of doing so has become too much for me. I cannot move forward without you, so I am finally surrendering and admitting my love for you.
I may seem proud, I may act gay, It's just a pose, I'm not that way, 'Cause deep down in my heart I say I surrender, dear.
My prideful and carefree demeanor is just a facade to hide the vulnerability and fear that I feel underneath. I am finally admitting that I surrender to the power of my love for you.
Little mean things we were doing Must have been part of the game, Lending a spice to the wooing, But I don't care who's to blame.
The teasing and bickering between us was just part of the game of courtship, and though it may have added a bit of excitement, I don't care who is at fault for our previous misunderstandings.
When stars appear and shadows fall, Why then you'll hear My poor heart call, To you my love, my life, my all I surrender, dear.
In the quiet and stillness of the night, my heart cries out to you, and I am finally surrendering all of myself to you, as my love, my life, and my all.
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Capitol CMG Publishing, Integrity Music
Written by: GORDON CLIFFORD, HARRY BARRIS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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). Read Full BioJulie 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.