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.
Whispering Grass
Kay Starr Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Whispering Grass, say! you can't keep your word, keep your word.
Why do you whisper, green grass?
Why tell the trees what ain't so ?
Whispering Grass, the trees don't have to know.
No, No, Why tell them all your secrets?
Who kissed there long ago?
Don't you tell it to the breeze 'cause she will tell the birds and bees
And ev'ryone will know because you told the blabbering trees
Yes, you told them once before;
It's no secret any more.
Why tell them all the old things?
They're buried under the snow.
Whispering Grass, don't tell the trees
'Cause the trees don't need to know.
Why do you whisper, green grass?
Why tell the trees what ain't so ?
Whispering Grass, the trees don't have to know.
No, No, Why tell them all your secrets?
Who kissed there long ago?
Whispering grass, the trees don't need to know.
Don't you tell it to the breeze 'cause she will tell the birds and bees
And ev'ryone will know because you told the blabbering trees
Yes, you told them once before;
It's no secret any more.
Why tell them all the old things?
They're buried under the snow.
Whispering Grass, don't tell the trees
Kay Starr's song "Whispering Grass" is about keeping secrets and the consequences of not being able to keep them. The grass is personified as a character who cannot seem to keep its promise to stay quiet about what it hears. The lyrics refer to green grass as the symbol of youth and innocence, but it is also a carrier of secrets that can unravel everything if they are revealed.
The song tells us not to confide in the trees and the breeze because they cannot keep the secrets to themselves. They will reveal everything to others and the world will know. The song also reminds us not to dwell on the past and old secrets that are best left buried.
This song is a reflection of the societal norms of keeping things secret and not revealing too much, especially those things that are deemed inappropriate or scandalous. The song tells us that some things are best kept hidden and not shared with others. It also warns against gossip and the consequences that come with it.
Line by Line Meaning
You promised me, green grass, not to tell what you heard.
The singer trusted the green grass to keep her secrets, but it seems the grass cannot be trusted to keep its promise.
Whispering Grass, say! you can't keep your word, keep your word.
The grass whispers and talks about secrets it promised to keep, not keeping its word and betraying the trust of the singer.
Why do you whisper, green grass?
The singer is questioning the grass's intention to whisper and talk about secrets.
Why tell the trees what ain't so ?
The singer questions why the grass feels the need to spread false information to the trees.
Whispering Grass, the trees don't have to know.
The singer believes that the trees do not need to be privy to the secrets being shared by the grass.
No, No, Why tell them all your secrets?
The singer is frustrated with the grass for sharing all her secrets without permission and questioning why it needs to do so.
Who kissed there long ago?
The singer asks a rhetorical question, as the grass has already shared secrets that were supposed to be kept private.
Don't you tell it to the breeze 'cause she will tell the birds and bees And ev'ryone will know because you told the blabbering trees
The singer warns the grass that its secrets will be spread far and wide if it tells them to the breeze, who will then tell the birds and bees, and ultimately everyone will know.
Yes, you told them once before; It's no secret any more.
The singer reminds the grass that it has already betrayed her trust in the past and that her secrets are no longer safe with it.
Why tell them all the old things? They're buried under the snow.
The singer questions why the grass still feels the need to share old secrets that are no longer relevant or important.
Whispering Grass, don't tell the trees 'Cause the trees don't need to know.
The singer implores the grass not to share her secrets with the trees, as they do not have a need to know them.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: FRED FISHER, DORIA DORIS FISHER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind