Kay Starr (Katherine Laverne Starks, July 21, 1922 – November 3, 2016) was … Read Full Bio ↴Kay Starr (Katherine Laverne Starks, July 21, 1922 – November 3, 2016) was an American pop and jazz singer who enjoyed considerable success in the 1940s and 1950s.

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.

C
Kay Starr Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

When love comes in
And takes you for a spin
Ooh la la la
C'est magnifiqua
When every night
Your loved one holds you tight
Ooh la la la
C'est magnifiqua

But when one day
Your loved one drifts away
Ooh la la la
Well it's so tragiqua
But when once more
He whispers "Je t'adore"
C'est magnifiqua

When love comes in
And takes you for a spin
Ooh la la la
C'est magnifiqua
When every night
Your loved one holds you tight
Ooh la la la
C'est magnifiqua
But when one day
Your loved one drifts away
Ooh la la la
Well it's so tragiqua
But when once more
He whispers "Je t'adore"
C'est magnifiqua

But when once more
He whispers "Je t'adore"
C'est magnifiqua
Yes when once more

He whispers "Je t'adore"
C'est magnifiqua

Overall Meaning

The song "C'est Magnifique" by Kay Starr talks about the ups and downs of love. The lyrics depict how love starts abruptly and takes the singer for a spin, leaving them in awe of the intensity of their emotions, represented by the French phrase "C'est magnifique," which translates to "It's magnificent" in English. The chorus emphasizes this feeling of euphoria, with the repeated "Ooh la la la" serving as an expression of joy and excitement.

However, the song also touches upon the possibility of heartbreak, with the line "But when one day your loved one drifts away" portraying the fear and sadness that comes with the loss of a lover. The French phrase "C'est tragique" is used to represent the tragic nature of the situation.

Despite the sadness, the song ends on a hopeful note, with the singer being comforted by their lover once again. The phrase "Je t'adore" (which translates to "I adore you") serves as a symbol of their renewed love and commitment to each other, and the repeated "C'est magnifique" emphasizes the beauty of love even after experiencing heartbreak.

Overall, the song captures the rollercoaster of emotions that comes with being in love, from the exhilaration of new romance to the pain of heartbreak, and the joy of reconciliation.

Line by Line Meaning

When love comes in
When you fall in love

And takes you for a spin
And it takes you on a wild ride

Ooh la la la
Expressing excitement

C'est magnifiqua
It's magnificent

When every night
When every single night

Your loved one holds you tight
Your partner holds you tightly

Ooh la la la
Expressing excitement

C'est magnifiqua
It's magnificent

But when one day
But when one day arrives

Your loved one drifts away
Your partner leaves you behind

Ooh la la la
Expressing sadness