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.
You're Driving Me Crazy
Kay Starr Lyrics
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Why did you leave me lonely?
For here's a heart that's only
For nobody but you!
I'm burning like a flame, dear;
Oh, I'll never be the same, dear;
I'll always place the blame, dear,
Yes, you,
You're driving me crazy!
What did I do? What did I do?
My tears for you
Make everything hazy,
Clouding the skies of blue.
How true,
Were the friends who were near me to cheer me,
Believe me, they knew!
But you,
Were the kind who would hurt me, desert me,
When I needed you!
Yes, you!
You're driving me crazy!
What did I do to you?
The lyrics of Kay Starr's song "You're Driving Me Crazy" express intense emotions of heartbreak and confusion. The song is written from the perspective of someone who has been left by their lover and cannot understand why they were abandoned. The opening lines of the song, "You left me sad and lonely; Why did you leave me lonely? For here's a heart that's only for nobody but you!" depict the feeling of betrayal and abandonment that the singer is experiencing. They wonder why their lover would leave them alone when they had given them their heart and love.
The song goes on to describe the effect that this abandonment has on the singer. They say that they are "burning like a flame" and that they "will never be the same" because of what has happened. They place the blame for their heartbreak on their lover, acknowledging that they are the only one who matters to them - "On nobody but you."
Throughout the song, the singer addresses their lover directly, emphasizing the confusion and hurt that they are feeling. They ask, "What did I do? What did I do?" and state that their tears for their lover are making everything "hazy, clouding the skies of blue." The singer also reflects on how their friends were there to support them during this difficult time but ultimately it was their lover who hurt them and left them when they were most vulnerable.
In essence, the lyrics of "You're Driving Me Crazy" are a deep reflection of the agony of heartbreak and betrayal. It portrays the feeling of being lost and lonely, crying for a lost love, and not knowing why they left.
Line by Line Meaning
You left me sad and lonely;
You walked away from me and left me feeling unhappy and alone.
Why did you leave me lonely?
Can you explain why you chose to abandon me with no one around to keep me company?
For here's a heart that's only For nobody but you!
I have a heart that only beats for you and nobody else.
I'm burning like a flame, dear;
I feel an intense passion and desire for you that feels like fire.
Oh, I'll never be the same, dear;
Because of you, I will never be able to go back to how things used to be.
I'll always place the blame, dear, On nobody but you.
You are the one I hold responsible for making me feel this way, nobody else.
Yes, you, You're driving me crazy!
It's you who is causing me to go insane.
What did I do? What did I do?
Can you explain what I did to deserve this treatment from you?
My tears for you Make everything hazy, Clouding the skies of blue.
I cry for you so much that my vision becomes blurred, disrupting the once-clear blue sky.
How true, Were the friends who were near me to cheer me, Believe me, they knew!
My friends knew how much I needed their support during this time and how important their true concern was for me.
But you, Were the kind who would hurt me, desert me, When I needed you!
Despite everything I needed from you, you became the one who hurt me and left me stranded.
Yes, you! You're driving me crazy!
You are the one who is pushing me over the edge and causing me to lose my mind over this whole affair.
What did I do to you?
Can you explain why you chose to treat me in such an unkind and uncaring manner?
Lyrics © DONALDSON PUBLISHING CO, Kanjian Music, TOBAGO MUSIC COMPANY, BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Walter Donaldson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind