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.
I'm Thru With Love
Kay Starr Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'll never fall again.
Said I do to love,
Don't ever call again.
For I must have you
Or no one.
That's why I'm thru with love.
I keep my feelings there.
I have stopped my heart
Like an icy frigidaire.
For I need to care for no one.
That's why I'm thru with love.
Why did you leave me
To think that you cared.
You didn't need me.
You have your share
of slaves around you
To hound you and swear
Their deep devotion.
Emotion.
Did you good by the spring
And all it meant to me
a good neighbor
The things that used to be.
For I must have you or no one.
That's why I'm thru with love.
That's why I'm thru with love.
In Kay Starr's song "I'm Thru With Love," she declares the end of her romantic desires. She has been hurt and disappointed too many times, and now she's done with it. She's closed off her heart and won't let anyone in again. Even though she may want love, she's too afraid of getting hurt again. The lyrics express a deep sadness and a lack of trust in love and relationships.
The song suggests that someone hurt Starr deeply and that she believed they cared for her, but they left her alone. It's possible that the "slaves" mentioned in the song are people who flatter and pursue the individual who left her as they try to win their heart. However, the person who left her has no true devotion to any of them.
In the end, Starr realizes that she must have the one who hurt her or no one at all. She's so closed off and hurt that she believes she'll never fall again. The song is a sad reflection on love and its potential for pain.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm thru with love,
I am done with love and all its complications.
I'll never fall again.
I have learned my lesson and will not allow myself to be vulnerable to love again.
Said I do to love,
I committed myself to love in the past.
Don't ever call again.
I do not want to hear from love again as it has only brought me pain.
For I must have you
You are the only one that matters to me.
Or no one.
I will not settle for anyone else.
I've locked my heart.
I have closed off my heart to protect myself.
I keep my feelings there.
I do not let my emotions show because it is easier to keep them hidden.
I have stopped my heart
I have shut down my emotions to avoid being hurt again.
Like an icy frigidaire.
My heart is as cold as an appliance because I refuse to allow it to warm up for anyone.
For I need to care for no one.
I can take care of myself and do not want to rely on anyone else, especially not love.
Why did you leave me
I cannot understand why you chose to abandon me.
To think that you cared.
I was under the impression that your actions showed you cared but now I see that was not the case.
You didn't need me.
You did not need my love or companionship.
You have your share
You have plenty of people who are willing to do whatever you want.
of slaves around you
There are many people who are blindly devoted to you.
To hound you and swear
They are always there, pestering you and making promises they may not be able to keep.
Their deep devotion.
Their loyalty to you appears to be unwavering.
Emotion.
But their devotion is based purely on emotion, not rational thought.
Did you good by the spring
We had good times together in the past, enjoying the spring and its surroundings.
And all it meant to me
Those moments were important and meaningful to me.
a good neighbor
We were good friends and neighbors.
The things that used to be.
But those times are in the past and cannot be relived.
For I must have you or no one.
You are still the only one I want and I will not accept anyone else.
That's why I'm thru with love.
But since love has caused me so much pain and you are no longer interested, I have given up on love entirely.
That's why I'm thru with love.
I want nothing to do with love any longer and am finished with it completely.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: CHARLES TOBIAS, CLIFF FRIEND
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind