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.
Was That The Human Thing To Do?
Kay Starr Lyrics
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I heard you say
Forgiveness is divine
But, all the sweet things that you may say
Can't mend this heart of mine
Never thought that anyone in their right mind
Could ever treat another human so unkind
And leave a note behind
Was that the human thing to do?
I always thought that yours was such a heart of gold
But, after I was sold on all the tales you told
Didn't you let your kisses turn from hot to cold?
Was that the human thing to do?
Now, I'm not trying to patch things up
What's been done must be
Lord, I wouldn't even treat a pup
The way you treated me
How could anybody be so darned unfair?
You let me hang around
Until I learned to care
Didn't you even laugh and leave me crying there?
Was that the human thing to do?
I'm not trying to patch things up
What's been done must be
Lord, I wouldn't even treat a pup
The way you treated me
How could anybody be so darned unfair?
To let me hang around
Until, I learned to care
Didn't you laugh when you saw me cryin'?
I'm asking you
Was that the human thing to do?
The song "Was That the Human Thing to Do?" by Kay Starr is a lamentation about being treated unfairly in a relationship. The song's opening lines, "Mistakes are human, I heard you say. Forgiveness is divine," suggest that the singer is open to forgiving their partner for any mistakes made in the relationship. However, despite the partner's apologies and sweet words, the singer's heart remains broken and cannot be mended. The singer then questions whether it was "the human thing to do" for their partner to sneak away and leave a note behind or let their affections turn from hot to cold.
The second verse of the song reveals that the singer had a high opinion of their partner before they were hurt. The line "I always thought that yours was such a heart of gold" suggests that the partner was once kind and good-hearted before their behavior changed. The singer then questions whether it was "the human thing to do" for their partner to let their kisses turn cold and leave the singer crying.
The final verse indicates that the singer is not interested in patching things up and believes that their partner's behavior was unfair. The line "Lord, I wouldn't even treat a pup the way you treated me" emphasizes the singer's sense of betrayal and hurt. The song ends with the singer asking their partner whether it was "the human thing to do" to laugh at them while they were crying.
Overall, this song speaks to the pain caused by mistreatment in a relationship and the difficulty of forgiveness in the face of such unfairness.
Line by Line Meaning
Mistakes are human
Mistakes are a normal part of being human
I heard you say
I remember you saying
Forgiveness is divine
Forgiving someone is an act of great nobility and grace
But, all the sweet things that you may say
Despite all the kind words you may say
Can't mend this heart of mine
My heart is broken and cannot be healed by mere words
Never thought that anyone in their right mind
I never thought that a sane person
Could ever treat another human so unkind
Could treat another person so cruelly
Didn't you sneak away?
Did you not leave without telling me?
And leave a note behind
And leave a written message explaining why?
Was that the human thing to do?
Is that how humans are supposed to act in relationships?
I always thought that yours was such a heart of gold
I used to believe that you had a kind and generous spirit
But, after I was sold on all the tales you told
But, after falling for all of your stories
Didn't you let your kisses turn from hot to cold?
Did you not lose interest in me and stop showing affection?
Now, I'm not trying to patch things up
I am not attempting to repair the relationship
What's been done must be
What happened cannot be changed
Lord, I wouldn't even treat a pup
I wouldn't even treat a dog
The way you treated me
As poorly as you treated me
How could anybody be so darned unfair?
How is it possible to treat someone so unjustly?
You let me hang around
You kept me close
Until I learned to care
Until I began to have feelings for you
Didn't you even laugh and leave me crying there?
Did you not even find it amusing to see me upset and leave me alone?
Was that the human thing to do?
Is that how humans are supposed to treat each other?
I'm asking you
I want to know
Writer(s): Fain, Young
Contributed by Aaliyah K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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