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 Were Only Fooling
Kay Starr Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But I was falling in love.
It's a story as old
As Adam and Eve,
I was making love
But you were making believe.
I tried to stop dreaming of,
You were only fooling me,
While I was falling in love.
(repeat)
The lyrics to Kay Starr's song "You Were Only Fooling" speak about the experience of falling in love with someone who is not interested in a committed relationship. The singer realizes that the person they were falling for was not genuine and was only playing with their emotions. Despite knowing that they were being fooled, the singer could not help but fall in love with the person. The lyrics reference the story of Adam and Eve to highlight how this experience of being fooled in love is as old as time.
The last two lines of the second verse, "You lied to me with kisses, I tried to stop dreaming of," illustrate the conflicting emotions of the singer. Though aware that they were being deceived, the singer was unable to stop their feelings for the person. The chorus repeats the theme of being fooled in love and falling for someone who did not reciprocate the same feelings. The use of the phrase "making believe" in the second verse implies that the other person was acting, pretending to have feelings they did not have.
Overall, "You Were Only Fooling" is a classic example of a love song with a bittersweet twist. The singer recognizes that they were being deceived, but the emotions they felt were real. The song's lyrics convey a sense of longing and heartache while recognizing the complexities and fragility of romantic relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
You were only fooling,
You weren't being serious or sincere in your actions or words,
But I was falling in love.
I was developing strong romantic feelings for you despite your lack of genuine interest,
It's a story as old
This situation is a common occurrence,
As Adam and Eve,
As far back as the biblical story of Adam and Eve,
I was making love
I was giving all of myself to you emotionally and physically,
But you were making believe.
You were pretending or feigning affection or love for me,
You lied to me with kisses,
Your physical displays of affection were disingenuous and meant to deceive me,
I tried to stop dreaming of,
I attempted to shake my feelings for you and see reality,
You were only fooling me,
You were leading me on and not truly invested in our relationship,
While I was falling in love.
I was falling deeply in love with you despite your lack of genuine feelings towards me.
Lyrics © RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: FABER BILLY, FOTINE LARRY, MEADOWS FRED
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind