Wiley was born in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. While still in her early teens, she left home to pursue a singing career with the Leo Reisman band. Her career was temporarily interrupted by a fall while horseback riding. Wiley suffered temporary blindness, but recovered, and at the age of 19 was back with Reisman again, with whom she recorded three songs: "Take It From Me," "Time On My Hands," and her own composition, "Got The South In My Soul." She sang with Paul Whiteman and later, the Casa Loma Orchestra. A collaboration with composer Victor Young resulted in several songs for which Wiley wrote the lyrics, including "Got The South in My Soul" and "Anytime, Anyday, Anywhere," the latter an R&B hit in the 1950s.
In 1939, Wiley recorded eight Gershwin songs on 78s with a small group for Liberty Music Shops. The set sold well and was followed by 78s dedicated to the music of Cole Porter (1940) and Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart (1940 and 1954), Harold Arlen (1943), and 10" LPs dedicated to the music of Vincent Youmans and Irving Berlin (1951). The players on these recordings included Bunny Berigan, Bud Freeman, Max Kaminsky, Fats Waller, Billy Butterfield, Bobby Hackett, Eddie Condon, Stan Freeman, Cy Walter, and the bandleader Jess Stacy, to whom Wiley was married for a number of years. These influential albums launched the concept of a "songbook" (often featuring lesser-known songs), which was later widely imitated by other singers.
Wiley's career made a resurgence in 1950 with the much admired ten-inch album Night in Manhattan. In 1954, she opened the very first Newport Jazz Festival accompanied by Bobby Hackett. Later in the decade she recorded two of her finest albums, West of the Moon (1956) and A Touch of the Blues (1957). In the 1960s, Wiley retired, although she acted in a 1963 television film, Something About Lee Wiley, which told her life story. The film stimulated interest in the singer. Her last public appearance was a concert in Carnegie Hall in 1972 as part of the New York Jazz Festival, where she was enthusiastically received.
Let's Fall in Love
Lee Wiley Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Even educated fleas do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love
In Spain the best upper sets do it
Lithuanians and Letts do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love
Not to mention the Finns
Folks in Siam do it
Think of Siamese twins
Some Argentines, without means do it
People say in Boston even beans do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love
Romantic sponges they say do it
Oysters down in Oyster Bay do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love
Cold Cape Cod clams, 'gainst their wish, do it
Even lazy jellyfish do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love
Electric eels, I might add, do it
Though it shocks 'em I know
Why ask if shad do it
Waiter, bring me shadroe
In shallow shoals, English soles do it
Goldfish in the privacy of bowls do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love
The lyrics of Lee Wiley's song "Let's Do It" essentially convey the idea of love being ubiquitous and present in all living creatures, from birds and bees to electric eels and jellyfish. The song, therefore, encourages human beings to give in to the feelings of love as well. The use of the phrase "let's do it" repeatedly in the song emphasizes the idea of love being an active process that requires participation rather than mere contemplation.
The song also takes a humorous approach to the idea of love, mentioning the different animals and nationalities that engage in the act of love-making. The lyrics highlight the diversity of creatures who partake in the act, emphasizing that love transcends boundaries of culture, ethnicity, and even species. The three stanzas of the song give examples of animals and people from Spain, Amsterdam, Siam, Argentina, and Boston, engaging in love-making. These examples also serve to create an amusing and light-hearted melody, where the listener can simply enjoy the song without the need to ponder too much on its meaning.
All in all, the song, through its playful lyrics, emphasizes the universal and timeless nature of love. The words encourage the listener to take love lightly and also, to have fun with it.
Line by Line Meaning
Birds do it, bees do it
Even animals engage in love-making
Even educated fleas do it
Even tiny creatures like fleas engage in love-making
Let's do it, let's fall in love
We should also engage in love-making
In Spain the best upper sets do it
Even high-society Spanish people engage in love-making
Lithuanians and Letts do it
Even people from Lithuania and Latvia engage in love-making
The Dutch in old Amsterdam do it
Even the people of the conservative city of Amsterdam indulge in love-making
Not to mention the Finns
There are also Finnish people who engage in love-making
Folks in Siam do it
Even Thai people engage in love-making
Some Argentines, without means do it
Even less-privileged Argentinian people engage in love-making
People say in Boston even beans do it
Even everyday objects like beans are used as a euphemism for love-making in Boston
Romantic sponges they say do it
Even inanimate objects like sponges are used as a euphemism for love-making
Oysters down in Oyster Bay do it
Even sea creatures like oysters engage in love-making
Cold Cape Cod clams, 'gainst their wish, do it
Even unwilling creatures like Cape Cod clams engage in love-making
Even lazy jellyfish do it
Even creatures with minimal movement like jellyfish engage in love-making
Electric eels, I might add, do it
Even electrical creatures like eels engage in love-making
Though it shocks 'em I know
Even though it may be dangerous for eels to engage in love-making, they still do it
Why ask if shad do it
There's no need to question if fish like shads engage in love-making because they do
Waiter, bring me shadroe
The singer wants to eat shad roe, which is an aphrodisiac
In shallow shoals, English soles do it
Even flatfish like English soles engage in love-making
Goldfish in the privacy of bowls do it
Even pet goldfish kept in bowls engage in love-making
Let's do it, let's fall in love
We should also engage in love-making
Lyrics © TuneCore Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc., Actual Music, S.L.
Written by: Cole Porter
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind