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.
Everybody's Somebody's Fool
Kay Starr Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But you don't care how many tears I cry
And though you only lead me on and hurt me
I couldn't bring myself to say goodbye
[Chorus]
'Cause everybody's somebody's fool
Everybody's somebody's plaything
Yes, everybody's somebody's fool
I told myself it's best that I forget you
Though I'm a fool, at least I know the score
Yet, darling, I'd be twice as blue without you
It hurts but I come running back for more
[Chorus]
Someday you'll find the one you really care for
And if her love should prove to be untrue
You'll know how much this heart of mine is breaking
You'll cry for her the way I cried for you
[Chorus]
The lyrics to Kay Starr's "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" express the pain and heartache of unrequited love. The opening line, "The tears I've cried for you could fill an ocean," speaks to the depth of the singer's emotions and how they have been repeatedly hurt by the person they love. Despite the hurt and pain, the singer cannot bring themselves to leave their love behind, stating, "I couldn't bring myself to say goodbye."
The chorus of the song emphasizes the universal experience of being someone's fool or plaything. The line, "Everybody's Somebody's fool, everybody's somebody's plaything, and there are no exceptions to the rule," speaks to the fact that heartbreak and hurt are part of the human experience, and no one is exempt from it. This sentiment is reinforced in the final verse, where the singer expresses the hope that the person they love will also experience heartbreak and understand the pain they went through.
Line by Line Meaning
The tears I've cried for you could fill an ocean
I have cried so much for you that it feels as though an ocean could be filled with the tears shed
But you don't care how many tears I cry
You don't care about how much pain I am in or how many tears I cry
And though you only lead me on and hurt me
Despite you leading me on and hurting me, I cannot bring myself to leave you
I couldn't bring myself to say goodbye
I am unable to say goodbye or leave you behind
'Cause everybody's somebody's fool
Everyone is a fool for someone
Everybody's somebody's plaything
Everyone can be used or manipulated by someone
And there are no exceptions to the rule
No one is exempt from being a fool or a plaything
Yes, everybody's somebody's fool
Once again, everyone is a fool for someone
I told myself it's best that I forget you
I tried to convince myself that it is best to forget you
Though I'm a fool, at least I know the score
Although I am foolish for staying, I am aware of the situation
Yet, darling, I'd be twice as blue without you
Even though you hurt me, life would be even worse without you
It hurts but I come running back for more
It hurts to come back to you, but I keep doing so anyway
Someday you'll find the one you really care for
One day you will find someone you genuinely care for
And if her love should prove to be untrue
If she ends up betraying you in the future
You'll know how much this heart of mine is breaking
You'll finally understand how much I have been hurting all this time
You'll cry for her the way I cried for you
You will experience the same pain and heartbreak that I have been going through
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Downtown Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management
Written by: HOWARD GREENFIELD, JACK KELLER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind