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.
Exactly Like You
Kay Starr Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Not a real one, just a dream
A wonderful vision of us as a team
Can you imagine how I feel now
Love is real now, it's ideal
You're just what I wanted
And now it's nice to live
Paradise to live
I know why I've waited
Know why I've been blue
Prayed each night for someone
Exactly like you
Why should we spend money
On a show or two
No one does those love scenes
Exactly like you
You make me feel so grand
I want to hand the world to you
I hope you'll understand
Each foolish little scheme I'm schemin'
And dream I'm dreamin'
Now I know why mother
Taught me to be true
She meant me for someone
Exactly like you
In Kay Starr's song "Exactly Like You," the singer reflects on her past dreams of the perfect partner and how she has finally found that person in the present. She used to have a "perfect sweetheart," but it was only a dream. Now, she has found real love that is ideal and everything she wanted. Living with her new partner feels like paradise.
The singer knows why she has waited and been blue - it was because she was looking for someone exactly like her current partner. She expresses that their love is so special that they don't need to spend money on a show or movie to experience those famed love scenes. They have something real that can't be replicated.
The singer's partner makes her feel grand and she wants to give the world to them. She hopes they will understand all the schemes and dreams she has for their future together. The song ends on a sentimental note, with the singer realizing that her mother meant for her to find someone exactly like her partner - someone who would make her dreams come true.
Line by Line Meaning
I used to have a perfect sweetheart
I once had an ideal image of a romantic partner in my mind.
Not a real one, just a dream
This perfect partner was only a figment of my imagination, never a tangible person in reality.
A wonderful vision of us as a team
I often imagined myself and this perfect partner as an amazing team, making our way through life together.
Can you imagine how I feel now
Can you imagine just how happy I am now that I have found a real romantic partner who aligns with my ideal?
Love is real now, it's ideal
Love is no longer just a dream; it's real and my ideal partner is now by my side.
You're just what I wanted
My current partner is literally everything I had imagined in a perfect partner.
And now it's nice to live
Life is so much nicer now that I have found my ideal partner and my love is no longer just a figment of my imagination.
Paradise to live
My life now feels like a paradise with my perfect partner by my side.
I know why I've waited
I understand why I waited for so long to find the right partner who fits my ideal.
Know why I've been blue
I know why I was previously sad because I had yet to find my ideal partner.
Prayed each night for someone
I used to pray every night for a romantic partner.
Exactly like you
Someone exactly like my current partner, someone who fits all of my ideals and expectations.
Why should we spend money
Why should we bother spending money...
On a show or two
...on watching romantic movies or shows...
No one does those love scenes
...when the love in my own life with my partner is better than anything portrayed in movies or shows.
Exactly like you
Just like how the love in my life is exactly like what I had always dreamed of and prayed for.
You make me feel so grand
My partner makes me feel so amazing, so happy and fulfilled.
I want to hand the world to you
I want to give everything to my partner, to share everything with them since they are everything to me.
I hope you'll understand
I hope that my partner truly understands just how much they mean to me.
Each foolish little scheme I'm schemin'
All the silly little plans I'm making and dreaming up...
And dream I'm dreamin'
...all the dreams and fantasies that revolve around my wonderful partner.
Now I know why mother
I finally understand why my mother always used to tell me...
Taught me to be true
...to always be true to myself and wait for the right person to come along.
She meant me for someone
And now I know that she always meant for me to find someone who is exactly like my current partner.
Exactly like you
Someone who aligns with my ideals and expectations completely, just like my current partner does.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Dorothy Fields, Jimmy Mchugh
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
4205lr
Senior citizens still swingin'. You cant beat the old entertainers. They have so much more talent than the current crop.
boonestead
how could there possibly 2 dislikes on this? crazy
blackmore4
@I P Address
No taste, no class and something more sinister. Even if you don't like the style of music or singing, it's plainly obvious to all but the tone deaf that Starr and the musicians on that stage were a class act.
Mike Hudson
Great to see Miss Kay Starr, wonderful as ever.
Mikey Trahant
+Mike Hudson Isn't she wonderful!!!!!
1969SL
Wonderful,wonderful imagine Les Paul and Kay Starr in the same room!
Vasje Gina
I think,Kay Starr is the best of the best.
Rosemary Clooneytunes
..do I love that Les Paul Sound! and Kay Starr .. what a incredible Lady! Great video, thank you for that! *****
bankerguy66
I LOVE THIS WOMAN!
tholu67
She is sooooooooooooo cool!