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.
There Ain't No Sweet Man That's Worth The Salt Of My Tears
Kay Starr Lyrics
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Weeping on my pillow
For years and years
There ain't no sweet man
That's worth the salt of my tears
Down and down he dragged me
Like a mope, he nagged me
There ain't no sweet man
That's worth the salt of my tears
Although I may be blue
And I know we're through
I must tell him goodbye
Rather than have that man
Gonna lay me down and die
So, brokenhearted sisters
All you wolves and misters
Lend me your ears
There ain't no sweet man
That's worth the salt of my tears
Like a weeping willow
Weeping on my pillow
For years and years
There ain't no sweet man
That's worth the salt of my tears
Down and down he dragged me
Like a mope, he nagged me
For years and years
There ain't no sweet man
That's worth the salt of my tears
Although I may be blue
And I know we're through
I must tell him goodbye
Rather than have that man
Gonna lay me down and die
So, brokenhearted sisters
All you wolves and misters
Lend me your ears
'Cause there never was a sweet man
Worth the salt of my tears
The lyrics to Kay Starr's song, "There Ain't No Sweet Man That's Worth the Salt of My Tears", showcase a woman who is tired of a man who has dragged her down for years. The lyrics describe the emotions of the singer who is utterly disappointed with the relationship and has decided to end it, despite how heartbreaking it may be. The opening verse describes the woman's feelings and compares herself to a weeping willow. Throughout the song, she expresses that no man is worth her emotional pain, and despite their past, she must say goodbye.
The lyrics offer a universal message of female empowerment and independence, even though the song was written in a time when women had little to no say in a relationship. The singer decides that letting go of the man, rather than being dragged down and losing herself, is the best way forward. The song offers a message of strength and highlights the importance of self-worth.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm like a weeping willow
I am sorrowful and crying, like a weeping willow tree.
Weeping on my pillow
I am crying so much that my tears are wetting my pillow.
For years and years
I have been sad and crying for a very long time.
There ain't no sweet man
There is no kind and caring man.
That's worth the salt of my tears
No man is worth the sadness and tears I've shed for him.
Down and down he dragged me
He made me feel worse and worse over time.
Like a mope, he nagged me
He complained and criticized me constantly.
Although I may be blue
Even though I am sad and feeling down.
And I know we're through
I know that our relationship is over.
I must tell him goodbye
I need to end things with him and say goodbye.
Rather than have that man
Instead of being with that man.
Gonna lay me down and die
I'd rather die than stay with him and be sad forever.
So, brokenhearted sisters
To all the women who have experienced heartbreak.
All you wolves and misters
To all the men who have caused heartbreak and pain.
Lend me your ears
Listen to my words and advice.
There ain't no sweet man
There is no kind and caring man.
That's worth the salt of my tears
No man is worth the sadness and tears I've shed for him.
There never was a sweet man
There has never been a man who is kind and caring enough to be worth my tears.
Worth the salt of my tears
Worth the sadness and tears I've shed for him.
Writer(s): Fred Fisher
Contributed by Abigail D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.