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.
Second Fiddle
Kay Starr Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I was caught in a losing romance
You were also second fiddle
You, too, played the game with no chance
We were losers, we were weepers
They called us birds of a feather
Now we're finders, now we're keepers
We were playing second fiddle
Then we met and gave love a new start
No more playing second fiddle
Now that we're first in each other's heart
Kay Starr's "Second Fiddle" is a song about two individuals who have been playing the role of the second fiddle in their previous relationships. They were caught in a losing romance and had no chance to win. They were known as birds of a feather because they were both losers and weepers. However, things changed when they met each other. They found love and gave it a new start. They are no longer playing second fiddle as they are now first in each other's heart.
The lyrics of the song depict a very common situation in romantic relationships where one partner is always secondary to the other. This can be due to a lack of commitment or emotional investment in the relationship. The song is a reminder that no one deserves to be second fiddle and that everyone has the right to be treated with love and respect.
Line by Line Meaning
I was playing second fiddle
I was not the main priority in my love life
I was caught in a losing romance
I was in a troubled relationship that was unlikely to succeed
You were also second fiddle
You were not the main priority in your love life
You, too, played the game with no chance
You, like me, pursued love without favorable odds.
We were losers, we were weepers
We felt the emotional pain of our relationship shortcomings
They called us birds of a feather
We were seen as similar in our relationship struggles
Now we're finders, now we're keepers
We have found what we were looking for and we will cherish it
Two aching hearts got together
Our past heartbreaks brought us together
We were playing second fiddle
We were not each other's main priority before
Then we met and gave love a new start
Our relationship inspired us to start anew
No more playing second fiddle
Now that we found each other, we are each other's main priority
Now that we're first in each other's heart
We now consider each other to be the most important person in our lives
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind