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.
Spring Can Really Hang You up the Most
Julie London Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Throw my heart away each Spring
Now a Spring romance
Hasn't got a chance
Promised my first dance to Winter
All I've got to show's a splinter
For my little fling
That never left the post
I lay in my room
Starring up at the ceiling
Spring can really hang you up the most
Morning kiss wakes trees and flower
And to them my life
To drink a toast I walk in the park
Just to kill those lonely hours
Spring can really hang you up the most
All afternoon
Those birds tweet-a-tweet I know their tune
This is love this is it
Heard it before
And I know the score
And I decide that love is a bore
Love seem sure around the new year
Now it's April
Love is just a ghost
Spring arrived on time
But what became of you, dear
Spring can really hang you up the most
Spring can really hang you up the most
Spring is here
There's no mistaken
Robins build their nest from coast to coast
My heart tries the same
So they won't hear it breaking
Spring can really hang you up the most
College boys are riding somewhere
... tender passion there it grows
But I'm on the shelf with last years easter bonnet
Spring can really hang you up the most
Love came my way
I'm holding the last
We had our day
Now that's all in the past
Spring came along
A season of song
For love's sweet promise
But something went wrong
Doctor's once prescribed a tonic
Sulfur and molasses was the dose
Didn't help me a bit
My condition must be chronic
Spring can really hang you up the most
All alone, the party's over
Winter was a gracious host
But when you keep praying
For snow to hide the clover
Spring can really hang you up the most
The song "Spring Can Really Hang You up the Most" by Julie London talks about the complications that come with Spring and love. The song's protagonist laments about how Spring has disappointed her and how past relationships have not worked out. The first verse mentions how the singer used to be a "sentimental thing" who threw her heart away each Spring because of its flowers, romance, and new beginnings. However, her perception has since changed. She admits that Spring romance is doomed to fail and that the only thing she has to show for it is a "splinter" from her failed fling.
The second verse describes her feelings of isolation and loneliness during Spring. She compares herself to a "horse that never left the post" and spends her days and nights in her room, staring at the ceiling. She also talks about taking walks in the park and watching the trees, flowers, and birds come to life, but even that is not enough to cure her woes. The singer is haunted by memories of past lovers as she listens to birds tweet and sings to herself about how love is just a ghost in the Spring.
The final verse shows the singer's despair as she realizes that Spring has indeed hung her up but the party is now over. She ends up alone, with nobody to turn to, and is convinced that her condition of despair will never change. The song captures the essence of seasonal depression and how Spring becomes a time of sorrow for those experiencing heartbreak.
Line by Line Meaning
Once I was a sentimental thing
I was once naive and overly emotional
Throw my heart away each Spring
I used to fall in love easily and recklessly, only to have my heart broken in the Spring
Now a Spring romance
Now that I've become more wise and mature,
Hasn't got a chance
I know that love in the Spring is unlikely to succeed
Promised my first dance to Winter
I've given up on the idea of a Spring romance; instead, Winter is my preferred season for love
All I've got to show's a splinter
But even that hasn't worked out so well for me, as all I have to show is a small, painful reminder of my past heartbreak
For my little fling
For my short-lived romance
Spring, this year has got me feeling like a horse
This Spring, I feel stuck in place and unable to move forward
That never left the post
Just like a racehorse that never starts the race, I am unable to make any real progress in my life
I lay in my room
I spend most of my time alone and introspective
Starring up at the ceiling
As if searching for answers in the unknown space above me
Morning kiss wakes trees and flower
The start of a new day brings life and growth to the world around me
And to them my life
Yet for me, life feels stagnant and unchanging
To drink a toast I walk in the park
To try and lift my spirits, I take walks in nature
Just to kill those lonely hours
But even then, I am unable to escape my feelings of loneliness and isolation
All afternoon
For hours on end,
Those birds tweet-a-tweet I know their tune
I am constantly reminded of the joy and vitality of nature by the chirping birds around me
This is love this is it
But that only serves to make me feel more acutely the absence of love and companionship in my own life
Heard it before
I've felt the illusion of love before
And I know the score
But I know that this feeling is fleeting and will only lead to heartbreak
And I decide that love is a bore
In the end, I give up on the idea of love altogether, seeing it as a tiresome and ultimately fruitless pursuit
Love seem sure around the new year
Perhaps because of the holiday season, love seems more attainable around the end of the year
Now it's April
But by the Spring, that feeling has faded
Love is just a ghost
Now it feels like love was never even real
Spring arrived on time
Spring has come as expected, but my feelings remain the same
But what became of you, dear
I wonder what has become of the lover I once had
Spring can really hang you up the most
Spring is a season that can magnify feelings of loneliness and longing like nothing else
Spring is here
Despite my feelings, Spring has arrived
There's no mistaken
There's no doubt about it
Robins build their nest from coast to coast
Nature continues on, with all its beauty and vitality
My heart tries the same
Yet, despite my attempts to remain aloof, my heart can't help but long for connection and love
So they won't hear it breaking
But even as I try to protect myself, I know that my heart will inevitably be broken again
College boys are riding somewhere
While some enjoy the carefree life of youth and passion
... tender passion there it grows
Growing up and experiencing tender passions and romance for the first time
But I'm on the shelf with last years easter bonnet
I feel left behind, like a relic of Spring seasons past
Love came my way
I was not always so jaded about love
I'm holding the last
But now I've become disillusioned and cynical about love
We had our day
I've experienced love and heartbreak before
Now that's all in the past
But that time has come and gone, and now I'm left alone
Spring came along
The hopefulness of Spring used to bring me joy and renewal
A season of song
But now all the season brings is sadness
For love's sweet promise
The promise of love is what used to make Spring so special
But something went wrong
But now that promise has been broken, and Spring only serves as a reminder of that disappointment
Doctor's once prescribed a tonic
Even doctors have tried to help me cope with my Springtime blues
Sulfur and molasses was the dose
But even a prescribed remedy couldn't fix my underlying problem
Didn't help me a bit
In the end, it was all in vain
My condition must be chronic
My feelings of sadness around Spring seem to recur year after year
All alone, the party's over
In the end, I'm left alone, without even the hope of a party or celebration to make things better
Winter was a gracious host
Winter, in its own way, was kinder to me than Spring has been
But when you keep praying
But even that kindness could not protect me from the inevitable loneliness of life
For snow to hide the clover
It's easy to wish for a quick fix, for something external to fix my internal problems
Spring can really hang you up the most
But ultimately, it's up to me to confront my feelings and make a change for the better
Lyrics © FRICON MUSIC COMPANY, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Fran Landesman, Tommy Wolf
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind