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.
Love Me or Leave Me
Kay Starr Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If the sea should suddenly run dry
If you love me, really love me
Let it happen, I won't care
If a dream I build should fall apart
I can still be smiling with my heart
If you love me, really love me
Shall I catch a shooting star
I can bring it where you are
If you'd only say you care
I can make a mountain fall
I'll do anything at all
As long as you are there
When at last our life on earth is through
I will share eternity with you
If you love me, really love me
Let it happen, darling, I won't care
When at last our life on earth is through
I will share eternity with you
If you love me, really love me
Let it happen, darling, I won't care
Let it happen, darling, I won't care
The lyrics to Kay Starr's song "If You Love Me" express a deep sense of commitment and devotion to a beloved partner. The song begins with an almost apocalyptic scenario where the sun might fall from the sky and the sea might dry up, but the singer stays calm, as long as their lover truly loves them. This is an example of the kind of absolute trust that the singer has in the person they're addressing. They seem ready to confront any kind of adversity, to smile even if their dreams fall apart, as long as they are loved in return, which appears to be the only thing they truly need. "Let it happen, darling, I won't care", the final line, is a powerful statement of selfless love, implying that their own well-being is secondary to the happiness of the other.
While the singer's words express a strong sense of profound love and devotion, the repeated phrases "if you love me, really love me" might also hint at a kind of insecurity, a doubt that their love is reciprocated, which might lead them to feel vulnerable and exposed. However, even in this case, the singer seems confident that their love will overcome everything else, even death itself. The grand finale of the song affirms the notion that love transcends all human boundaries and that the bond between two lovers will last beyond life itself.
Line by Line Meaning
If the sun should tumble from the sky
Even if something catastrophic happens or the unthinkable occurs, I won't mind as long as you love me.
If the sea should suddenly run dry
Even if something that seemed impossible happens, I won't mind as long as you truly love me.
If you love me, really love me
As long as you genuinely love me, nothing else matters and I can handle anything that comes my way.
Let it happen, I won't care
I don't care what happens as long as you love me. Nothing can change how I feel about you.
If a dream I build should fall apart
If something I hope or wish for, does not come true, I can still be happy as long as you love me.
I can still be smiling with my heart
Although I may look sad or disappointed, inside, my heart will be smiling with happiness because of your love.
Shall I catch a shooting star
If you ask me to, I will do anything for you, even something as impossible as catching a shooting star.
I can bring it where you are
I will go to great lengths to make you happy, even if it means doing the impossible.
If you'd only say you care
Just hearing you say that you care about me means the world to me and makes everything worth it.
I can make a mountain fall
For your love, I am willing to do the impossible, move mountains and overcome any obstacle.
I'll do anything at all
I am willing to go to any length, make any sacrifice, and do anything just to show my love for you.
As long as you are there
As long as I have you by my side, I know that everything will be alright and I am not afraid of any obstacle.
When at last our life on earth is through
When we have lived a full life and it is time for us to leave this earth, I know that we will be together even then.
I will share eternity with you
Even after death, my love for you will last forever, and we will share eternity together.
Let it happen, darling, I won't care
Nothing that could ever happen to me will be as important as your love, and I will always love you no matter what happens.
If you love me, really love me
Throughout the song, Kay is reassuring her love's love towards her and wants to make sure that their love is true and real and nothing else should matter.
Lyrics © RAOUL BRETON EDITIONS, Kanjian Music, BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: Marguerite Monnot, Geoffrey Parsons, Edith Piaf
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Kátia Camila
That's really pure gold! Thanks for sharing! Have a great week! Warm greetings from Brazil!
MrRJDB1969
You're welcome. Have a great week also - MrRJDB1969
Somewhere In Time
I love this version. I also love Ella Mae Morse's version, too. I like this song in general.
MrRJDB1969
Also the name of a 1955 motion picture, starring James Cagney and Doris Day. Her rendition of the song, "Love Or Leave Me" was much slower than either the Morse or Starr versions. - MrRJDB1969