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.

The Good Life
Kay Starr Lyrics

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Oh, the good life, full of fun,
Seems to be the ideal
Yes, the good life let's you hide
All the sadness you feel.

You won't really fall in love,
For you can't take the chance
So be honest with yourself,

Don't try to fake romance.

It's the good life
To be free and explore the unknown,
Like the heartaches
When you learn you must face them alone.

Please remember, I still love you,
And in case you don't know,

Well, just wake up,
Kiss the good life "hello".

Overall Meaning

Kay Starr's "The Good Life" captures the idea that living a fulfilling and happy life requires more than just material possessions. The song begins by suggesting that the good life is full of fun and seems to be the ultimate goal to strive for. However, the lyrics hint that this life can be an illusion, as it is a way to hide the sadness one feels. The good life can become a facade, hiding one's true feelings from others.

The following stanzas warn against falling in love as it poses a threat to one's freedom. The singer suggests being honest with oneself and avoiding the temptation to fake a romantic relationship. The singer states that living the good life means being free to explore the unknown and being willing to face heartaches on their own.

The last stanza is a plea for forgiveness and an assurance of love. It urges the listener to wake up and embrace the good life, even with the pain that is inevitable in life. In summary, "The Good Life" is a tribute to the joy and heartaches of living life to the fullest.

The Good LifeKay Starr Lyrics

Venita Banerjee

Nick Riggio

The Good Life
Kay Starr Lyrics