She began her professional singing career in a local movie house in 1918. In 1920 she sang in a musical at the Democratic Convention held in San Francisco. There she was hired by musical comedy producer Will King for his California company. In 1924 Lee began her prolific recording career by signing a contract with Pathé-Perfect. She was given a generous amount of artistic freedom to experiment with both vocal expression and songwriting. Her career continued in recording, musicals and vaudeville until 1935 when she came down with strep throat. After her recovery she opened her own club in Texas. Later the club burned down and she moved to Rochester, NY in 1939.
In 1930, Lee was featured in three short subject films, "Song Service" (Paramount), "A Million Me's" (Paramount) and "The Music Racket" (Vitaphone).
During her recording career from 1924 to 1938 she recorded nearly 200 songs. Over 50 of these songs were composed by Lee herself. She also made a brief comeback in 1950.
On December 16, 1954, Lee died.
Lee Morse, Echoes of a Songbird
http://www.LeeMorse.com
Love Letters In The Sand
Lee Morse Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Waiting on the weary shore
I'm just a woman who's only human
One you should feel sorry for
It was a morning, long before dawn
Without a warning I found he was gone
How could he do it, why should he do it
Am I blue, am I blue
Ain't these tears in these eyes telling you
How can you ask me am I blue
Why, wouldn't you be too
If each plan with your man
Done fell through
There was a time
When I was his only one
But now I'm the sad and lonely one...lonely
Was I gay, until today
Now he's gone, and we're through
Am I blue
The song, "Love Letters In The Sand" by Lee Morse expresses the heartbreak of a woman who has been left alone on the shore by her lover. She is portrayed as a lonely and vulnerable person. She is caught off guard when she realizes that he is gone, and she can't understand why he would leave her. The songwriters used the metaphor of the sand to depict the impermanence of love and how memories are always carried away with the waves. The chorus of the song, "Am I Blue?" is a rhetorical question, where the woman asks if she is feeling sad, and the tears in her eyes are the answer.
The lyrics of the song suggest the idea that life is unstable, and love can be temporary. The woman in the song had a good relationship with her man, which she believed would last forever, but he left without notice. Now, she is left with nothing but the memory of their love. Although the woman blames herself for the breakup, the songwriters use the element of sympathy to express that she is not alone in this situation. The song ends with a sad note of loneliness, with the woman realizing that she has lost her love, and all that remains are the "love letters in the sand."
Line by Line Meaning
I'm just a woman, a lonely woman
I am a woman with an aching heart, waiting patiently on the shore
Waiting on the weary shore
I wait on this desolate shore, hoping for a return of my beloved
I'm just a woman who's only human
I am a human with flaws, who is not above experiencing sadness and heartbreak.
One you should feel sorry for
I am in deep sorrow, and it would be empathic to share my sorrow.
It was a morning, long before dawn
It was a melancholic dawn, which had no soothing balm for my heartache.
Without a warning I found he was gone
My beloved left abruptly, with no explanation or goodbye.
How could he do it, why should he do it
My mind is torn with confusion and disbelief, as I never imagined he could abandon me this way
He never done it before
This is something that has never happened before, leaving me bewildered and hurt
Am I blue, am I blue
I am sad, beyond measure, drowning in my tears.
Ain't these tears in these eyes telling you
My watery eyes serve as a testimony of the depth of pain I have experienced
How can you ask me am I blue
It is apparent that my condition is one of deep sadness, therefore asking is unnecessary
Why, wouldn't you be too
Surely you can relate to the agony of a lost love, and understand why I am so blue.
If each plan with your man
Every dream shared with him has now been shattered and turned into ashes
Done fell through
All my aspirations have collapsed like a house of cards
There was a time
There was a moment in our relationship when I was the centre of his world
When I was his only one
And no one else held a place of such importance in his life as I did.
But now I'm the sad and lonely one...lonely
But now I must bear the excruciating pain of his departure alone, for I have been abandoned
Was I gay, until today
Just a day before, I was happy and content, with a heart full of love
Now he's gone, and we're through
But that all changed when he left, now the love we once shared is over
Am I blue
Thus, my heartbreak continues, and my emotional state is that of deep sadness
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: GRANT CLARKE, HARRY AKST
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Arends Tunes
The guitarist, especially at 2'30", sure sounds like Joe Venuti's best pal and Bing Crosby's favorite accompanist, Eddie Lang. Lang died in '33.
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I always thought this song was 1950s