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.
Don't Take Your Love From Me
Kay Starr Lyrics
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Tear a petal from the rose and the rose weeps too
Take your heart away from mine and mine will surely break
My life is yours to take, so please keep the spark awake
Would you take the wings from birds so that they can't fly?
Would you take the ocean's roar and leave just a sigh?
All this, your heart won't let you do
Don't take your love from me
All this, your heart won't let you do
This is what I beg of you
Don't take your love from me
Don't take your love from me
The song "Don't Take Your Love from Me" by Kay Starr is a plea from the singer to her lover to not leave her. The lyrics use metaphors to convey the intensity of her emotions. When she sings "tear a star from out the sky and the sky feels blue," she means that her world would feel empty and dark without her lover's love. She then pleads with him to not break her heart, because she has given him her life to take care of.
The next line compares her heart to a bird that needs its wings to fly. Without his love, her heart would be unable to function, leaving her feeling helpless and vulnerable. She then compares the sound of the ocean's roar to her lover's love, and says that she doesn't want it to become just a sigh. In essence, she is telling him that she doesn't want their relationship to fade away. She then begs him to keep his love for her, reminding him that he won't be able to do otherwise because his heart won't let him.
Overall, the song is a poignant and emotional plea for love and commitment. It captures the fear and anxiety of someone who is afraid of losing the person they love.
Line by Line Meaning
Tear a star from out the sky and the sky feels blue
If you take something important and beautiful away, everything else loses its charm.
Tear a petal from the rose and the rose weeps too
Even small changes can cause distress and sadness.
Take your heart away from mine and mine will surely break
If you leave me, it will shatter my heart and crush my spirit.
My life is yours to take, so please keep the spark awake
You have control over my happiness, so I implore you to not let it die out.
Would you take the wings from birds so that they can't fly?
If you rob something of its natural purpose, it will lose its joy and essence.
Would you take the ocean's roar and leave just a sigh?
If you take something powerful and vibrant and reduce it to nothing, it loses its magic and allure.
All this, your heart won't let you do
You are too caring and compassionate to cause such pain and destruction.
This is what I beg of you
Please listen to me and understand the gravity of your actions.
Don't take your love from me
Please don't leave me without your affection and care.
Lyrics © INDANO MUSIC COMPANY, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Henry Nemo
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind