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.
When a Woman Loves a Man
Kay Starr Lyrics
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To take or leave according to his whim
Love, to a woman means her very heart
She only wants to live her life for him.
Maybe he's not much,
Just another man doing what he can
But what does she care
She'll just string along all through thick and thin
Till his ship comes in
It's always that way
When a woman loves a man
She'll be the first one to praise him when he's going strong
The last one to blame him when everything's wrong
It's such a one sided game that they play
But women are funny that way.
Tell her she's a fool,
She'll say yes I know but I love him so
And that's how it goes
When a woman loves a man
She'll be the first one to praise him when he's going strong
The last one to blame him when everything's wrong
It's such a one sided game that they play
But women are funny that way.
Tell her she's a fool,
She'll say yes I know but I love him so
And that's how it goes
When a woman loves a man
The lyrics of Kay Starr's song "When a Woman Loves a Man" poetically describe the romantic disparity between men and women. Love, as stated in the first verse, is just a thing apart to a man. He can take it or leave it according to his whim, while love means everything to a woman. Her heart is invested wholly, and she only wants to live her life for him. The second verse explains how a woman can be with a man through all the challenges, patiently waiting for his ship to come in. She'll praise him when he's strong and stand by him when he's wrong. Women are described as playing a one-sided game when it comes to love. Despite the odds being stacked against her, a woman will continue to love her man, even if others tell her it's foolishness.
The chorus echoes the sentiment of the verses, where the woman will always stand by her man regardless of the circumstances. She'll say "yes, I know, but I love him so." It's an unyielding kind of love that many women can relate to, making this song a timeless classic.
Line by Line Meaning
Love, to a man, is just a thing apart
Men view love as separate from their identity, and can take or leave it as they please
Love, to a woman means her very heart
For women, love is core to their being and identity, and they are willing to devote their lives to it
Maybe he's not much,
Just another man doing what he can
But what does she care
When a woman loves a man.
Even if the man isn't especially impressive or successful, a woman in love will still value him above all else
She'll just string along all through thick and thin
Till his ship comes in
It's always that way
When a woman loves a man
A woman in love will stay with her man through all the ups and downs of life, always hoping for a better future together
She'll be the first one to praise him when he's going strong
The last one to blame him when everything's wrong
It's such a one sided game that they play
But women are funny that way.
Women will support and uplift their partner when things are going well, but also take the blame when things go wrong, even if it's not their fault
Tell her she's a fool,
She'll say yes I know but I love him so
And that's how it goes
When a woman loves a man
Even if others try to tell a woman that she's foolish for loving a man, she will acknowledge her devotion to him and continue to love him regardless
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: BERNARD D. HANIGHEN, GORDON JENKINS, JOHNNY MERCER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind