Kay Starr (Katherine Laverne Starks, July 21, 1922 – November 3, 2016) was … Read Full Bio ↴Kay Starr (Katherine Laverne Starks, July 21, 1922 – November 3, 2016) was an American pop and jazz singer who enjoyed considerable success in the 1940s and 1950s.

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.

Mama Goes Where Papa Goes
Kay Starr Lyrics

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Mama goes where papa goes,
Or papa don't go out tonight!
Mama goes 'cause mama knows
He can't be trusted out o' her sight!

Mama's got a feelin' that she must be near,
Just to help her keep papa's conscience clear!
That's why mama goes where papa goes,

Or papa don't go out tonight!

Here's your bedroom slippers and your favourite pipe,
Your yellow bathrobe with the favourite stripe.
Here's your armchair, the book that you read,
And here's your lovin' mama, I've got everyrthing you need!

You go with lots o' fellas, and you ain't the worst,
But I think in terms of safety first!
Any clever gal will admit I'm right,
if you wanna keep your man keep him right in sight!
That's why mama goes where papa goes,
Or papa don't go out tonight!

Teacher used to tell me when I went to school,
"Any girl who trusts a man's a doggone fool!",
That's why mama goes where papa goes,
Or papa don't go out tonight!

And I'm sick o' your lies,
Your tired alibis,
It took me some time but I finally got wise;
So make up your mind,

You can't leave me behind,
Papa, you can't go out tonight!

Overall Meaning

In Kay Starr's song Mama Goes Where Papa Goes, the lyrics are centered around the idea of a wife wanting to keep a close eye on her husband because she does not trust him to behave appropriately when he is not with her. Mama goes wherever papa goes because she has a feeling that she must be near him to help keep his conscience clear. Mama also believes in safety first and knows that in order to keep her man, he must remain in her sight.

The song starts with the line "Mama goes where papa goes, or papa don't go out tonight!" which sets the tone for the rest of the piece. Mama insists on going with papa because she knows he can't be trusted out of her sight. She creates a comfortable and secure environment by providing her husband with his favorite pipe, yellow bathrobe, and armchair to ensure that he stays home with her.

The lyrics are packed with strong emotions and convey the feelings of a wife who is not only tired of her husband's lies but has also become wise to them. She is fed up and tells him to make up his mind that he can't leave her behind. The song touches on the theme of trust issues within relationships and how some people will go to great lengths to keep their significant other near them.

Mama Goes Where Papa GoesKay Starr Lyrics

Mama Goes Where Papa Goes
Kay Starr Lyrics