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 Very Thought Of You
Kay Starr Lyrics
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The little ordinary things that everyone ought to do
I'm living in a kind of daydream
I'm happy as a king
And foolish though it may seem
To me that's everything
The mere idea of you, the longing here for you
I see your face in every flower
Your eyes in stars above
It's just the thought of you
The very thought of you, my love
The mere idea of you, the longing here for you
You'll never know how slow the moments go till I'm near to you
I see your face in every flower
Your eyes in stars above
It's just the thought of you
The very thought of you, my love
"The Very Thought of You" is a love song that depicts the power of love and how it can seriously affect one's basic attitudes toward mundane or ordinary things that every person should do. The central idea in the song is about the intensity of presence of a loved one in one's life. Kay Starr's opening lines "The very thought of you, and I forget to do the little ordinary things that everyone ought to do" signify the power that one's loved one has over their lives. It is sung that living with this kind of passion and infatuation is like living in a "daydream" and "happy as a king". The whole song presents a picture of how a single thought can make Kay Starr's character forget all other things in life.
"The Very Thought of You" expresses the longing and yearning for a loved one in a very vivid manner. Kay Starr sings, "You'll never know how slow the moments go till I'm near to you". The words conjure up images of someone waiting endlessly for their loved one's return, knowing the exact time of their return yet feeling impatiently long for the next moment. The song also refers to the beautiful love's thought and how it influences the world around the lover. The flowers, the stars and the moon are no longer just simple things. The lover sees his or her love in every object of nature.
Line by Line Meaning
The very thought of you and I forget to do
When I think of you, I become so absorbed that I neglect everyday responsibilities.
The little ordinary things that everyone ought to do
These are normal daily tasks that one must do to live a functional life.
I'm living in a kind of daydream
I am having vivid fantasies about you and my reality feels blurred.
I'm happy as a king
I am extremely happy and content.
And foolish though it may seem
Some people may think that my behavior is foolish and irrational.
To me that's everything
My love for you is so intense that it overrides everything else in my life.
The mere idea of you, the longing here for you
Just the thought of you and my longing for you is overwhelming and all-consuming.
You'll never know how slow the moments go till I'm near to you
Time seems to slow down when I am away from you and the anticipation of seeing you builds up.
I see your face in every flower
Your face is so vivid in my imagination that it appears in everything I see.
Your eyes in stars above
I am reminded of your beautiful eyes every time I look up at the stars.
It's just the thought of you
My love for you is so strong that even the mere thought of you is enough to make me happy.
The very thought of you, my love
Thinking of you brings me immense joy and happiness, my beloved.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, CARLIN AMERICA INC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Ray Noble
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind