Kay Starr was successful in every field of music she tried, jazz, country and pop. But her roots were in jazz, Billie Holiday, considered by many the greatest jazz singer of all time, called Starr "the only white woman who could sing the blues."
She is best remembered for introducing two songs that became #1 hits in the 1950s, "Wheel of Fortune" and "The Rock And Roll Waltz".
Kay Starr was born on a reservation in Dougherty, Oklahoma. Her father, Harry, was a full-blooded Iroquois Indian; her mother, Annie, was of mixed Irish and American Indian heritage. When her father got a job installing water sprinkler systems, the family moved to Dallas, Texas.
While her father worked for the Automatic Sprinkler Company, her mother raised chickens, and Kay used to sing to the chickens in the coop. As a result of the fact that her aunt, Nora, was impressed by her singing, she began to sing at the age of seven on a Dallas radio station, WRR, first in a talent competition where she finished third one week and won every week thereafter, then with her own weekly fifteen minute show. She sang pop and "hillbilly" songs with a piano accompaniment. By the age of ten, she was making $3 a night, a lot of money in the Depression days.
As a result of her father's changing jobs, her family moved to Memphis, Tennessee, and she continued performing on the radio, singing "Western swing music," still mostly a mix of country and pop. It was while she was on the Memphis radio station WMPS that, as a result of misspellings in her fan mail, she and her parents decided to give her the name "Kay Starr". At the age of fifteen, she was chosen to sing with the Joe Venuti orchestra. Venuti had a contract to play in the Peabody Hotel in Memphis which called for his band to feature a girl singer, which he did not have; Venuti's road manager heard her on the radio, and suggested her to Venuti. Because she was still in junior high school, her parents insisted that Venuti take her home no later than midnight.
Although she had brief stints in 1939 with Bob Crosby and Glenn Miller (who hired her in July of that year when his regular singer, Marion Hutton, was sick), she spent most of her next few years with Venuti, until he dissolved his band in 1942. It was, however, with Miller that she cut her first record: "Baby Me"/"Love with a Capital You." It was not a great success, in part because the band played in a key more appropriate for Marion Hutton, which was less suited for Kay's vocal range.
Bonaparte´s Retreat
Kay Starr Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In a town way down in Dixie
'Neath the stars above
He was the sweetest man you ever did see
When he held me in his arms
And told me of my many charms
He kissed me while the fiddles played
All the world was bright
When he held me on that night
And I heard him say
"Please don't ever go away"
When he held me in his arms
And told me of my many charms
He kissed me while the fiddles played
The Bonaparte's retreat
When he held me in his arms
And told me of my many charms
He kissed me while the fiddles played
The Bonaparte's retreat
All the world was bright
When he held me on that night
And I heard him say
"Please don't you go away"
He's gone and I'll admit I knew
That I had met my waterloo
I knew that he would say a do
With Bonaparte's retreat
Goodbye little boy
Goodbye little Joy
Goodbye little boy
So long little Joy
Goodbye little boy
The lyrics of Kay Starr's song Bonaparte's Retreat are about the singer meeting the love of her life in a town in Dixie. She describes the night they fell in love, how he held her and told her about her charms while the fiddles played the Bonaparte's retreat. The Bonaparte's retreat may refer to a tune played by fiddlers and commonly known in rural America during the 19th century, which could be associated with napoleonic times. The singer feels that the world was bright when he held her, and she says that he asked her not to go away. However, the second half of the song suggests their relationship comes to an end with the words "he's gone, and I'll admit I knew that I had met my waterloo," which means she met an impassable obstacle or was defeated.
Line by Line Meaning
Met the man I love
I encountered the man who I deeply love
In a town way down in Dixie
It happened in a location far away from my usual dwelling
'Neath the stars above
Beneath the shining heavenly bodies
He was the sweetest man you ever did see
I admired the personality trait of kindness he possesses
When he held me in his arms
As he embraced me tenderly
And told me of my many charms
Revealing some attributes of myself that he found attractive
He kissed me while the fiddles played
As a musical instrument played a tune, we engaged in a romantic kiss
The Bonaparte's retreat
The melody being played on a fiddle is called the Bonaparte's retreat
All the world was bright
At that moment, the environment seemed appealing
When he held me on that night
During our previous romantic encounter
And I heard him say
I listened as he spoke these words
"Please don't ever go away"
He pleaded with me not to depart his presence
He's gone and I'll admit I knew
Afterward, when he departed, I acknowledged that it was inevitable
That I had met my waterloo
I had reached a point where I was completely defeated
I knew that he would say a do
I was aware that he would utter farewell
With Bonaparte's retreat
The Bonaparte's retreat melody would play as a signal of his departure
Goodbye little boy
Farewell to the young man
Goodbye little Joy
Farewell to the person who gave me joy
So long little boy
I'll be apart from the young man for a while
Goodbye little boy
Once again, farewell to the young man
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DAVID ERIC SWARBRICK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
hartless76
Wow! This song sounds a lot older than the release date. Kay Starr had a wonderful voice. ♥
Daria Wells
I love the Pee Wee King version a lot better. Milwaukee represent!
Andiamo!
Now this really gets my attention. Are they American or Canadian women?