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 Got It Bad
Kay Starr Lyrics
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Tell me to save my tears
Well I'm so mad about him
I can't live without him
Never treats me sweet and gentle
The way he should
I've got it bad
My poor heart is so sentimental
Not made of wood
I've got it so bad
And that ain't good
But when the fish are jumpin'
And Friday rolls around
My man an' I, we gin some
We pray some, and sin some
He don't love me like I love him
The way he should
I've got it bad
And that ain't good
Yes I've got it bad
And that ain't good
Kay Starr's "I Ain't Got it Bad" is a song about a woman who is deeply in love with a man who doesn't treat her the way she deserves. Despite being advised to move on from this unhealthy relationship and not waste any more of her tears on him, she cannot help but feel angry and heartbroken. The song talks about how her heart is sentimental, and she cannot help how she feels. Even though she knows that her lover does not love her back as she does, she still finds herself unable to let go of him. Despite all this pain and disappointment, they still find comfort in each other when they are together, even if it is just ginning, praying, and sinning.
Overall, the song lyrics convey the theme of unrequited love, with a twist of finding solace in each other despite the pain. The song captures the essence of complicated love, where one cannot let go of the other despite knowing that the relationship is not right.
Line by Line Meaning
Though folks with good intentions Tell me to save my tears
Although people often urge me not to cry, with the best of intentions.
Well I'm so mad about him I can't live without him
I am so passionate about him, that I feel like I can't go on living without him.
Never treats me sweet and gentle The way he should
He does not treat me in the tender, affectionate way that I deserve.
I've got it bad And that ain't good
I am head-over-heels in love, even though it is not for the best.
My poor heart is so sentimental Not made of wood
I am highly emotional, with a heart that is delicate and easily affected.
But when the fish are jumpin' And Friday rolls around
But sometimes, when the weather is nice, and the weekend is on its way,
My man an' I, we gin some We pray some, and sin some
My significant other and I drink, pray, and sometimes do things that are less than virtuous.
He don't love me like I love him The way he should
He does not love me with the same intensity and devotion that I feel for him.
I've got it bad And that ain't good
Again, I am consumed by love, even if it is not the best situation.
Yes I've got it bad And that ain't good
One more time, to emphasize the point, that I am in love, even though it is not really good.
Lyrics © GUY WEBSTER/WEBSTER MUSIC , Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: EDWYN STEPHEN COLLINS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind