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 Don't Care
Kay Starr Lyrics
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I don't care if the bells don't chime
Just as long as you love me
And I don't care if the top don't spin
I don't care if the gins won't gin
Just as long as you love me
Let the cold north wind blow
Just as long as you love me
North or south, east or west
You know I will stand the test
Just as long as you love me
I don't care if the birds don't sing
I don't care if the bells don't ring
Just as long as you love me
And I don't care if the world don't turn
I don't care if the fire don't burn
Just as long as you love me
So, darling, let it rain, let it snow
Let the cold north wind blow
Just as long as you love me
North or south, east or west
You know I will stand the test
Just as long as you love me
Yes, darling, just as long as you love me
The lyrics of Kay Starr's song "I Don't Care" are a love song in which the singer declares their love for someone and how they don't care about anything else as long as that person loves them back. The repetition of the phrase "I don't care" becomes a declaration of the singer's devotion to the person they love. The opening lyrics of the song, "I don't care if the sun don't shine, I don't care if the bells don't chime" convey the idea that love can thrive even in unfavorable conditions. The use of hyperbole throughout the song emphasizes the extent of the singer's love.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, I don't care if the sun don't shine
I don't care if the world is in darkness, as long as you love me.
I don't care if the bells don't chime
I don't care about the sounds around me, as long as I have your love.
Just as long as you love me
As long as you love me, nothing else matters to me.
And I don't care if the top don't spin
The world can stop moving for all I care, as long as you love me.
I don't care if the gins won't gin
Things can stop working for all I care, as long as I have your love.
So, darling, let it rain, let it snow
Whatever nature throws my way, I can handle it as long as I have your love.
Let the cold north wind blow
Even if things get tough, I can bear it as long as you love me.
North or south, east or west
No matter where I am, I am willing to face any challenge as long as I have your love.
You know I will stand the test
I am strong enough to face any adversity as long as you love me.
I don't care if the birds don't sing
The world can be silent, and I can still be happy as long as I have your love.
I don't care if the bells don't ring
I can ignore the sounds around me as long as I have your love.
And I don't care if the world don't turn
Even if everything falls apart, nothing really matters as long as I have your love.
I don't care if the fire don't burn
Even passion can fade away, but I can still be content as long as I have your love.
Yes, darling, just as long as you love me
I am willing to face anything and everything as long as I have your love.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: BUCK OWENS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind