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.
Memories of You
Lee Wiley Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
At Sunrise,
Ev'ry sunset too,
Seems to be
Bringing me
Memories of you.
Here and there,
Scenes that we once knew,
And they all
Just recall
Memories of you.
How I wish I could forget
Those happy yesteryears
That have left a rosary of tears.
Your face beams
In my dreams,
Spite of all I do!
Ev'rything
Seems to bring
Memories of you.
How I wish I could forget
Those happy yesteryears
That have left a rosary of tears.
Your face beams
In my dreams,
Spite of all I do!
Ev'rything
Seems to bring
Memories,
All those memories of you.
The lyrics to Lee Wiley's "Memories of You" reflect the overwhelming sense of nostalgia and longing felt by the singer. The first stanza describes the constant reminders of the past, with waking skies and sunsets bringing up memories of a former love. The second stanza expands on this theme, describing how familiar scenes and locations trigger recollections of the past. Despite the pain and sadness that these memories can bring, the singer cannot help but remember their former love, dreaming of their face despite trying to forget.
Line by Line Meaning
Waking skies
The sky that emerges early in the morning.
At Sunrise,
During the time when the sun first appears above the horizon.
Ev'ry sunset too,
Also, each time that the sun sets.
Seems to be
Gives off the impression of
Bringing me
Causing me to think of
Memories of you.
past recollections in connection to the subject of the song.
Here and there,
In various places.
Ev'rywhere,
Present in every location.
Scenes that we once knew,
Locations the artist and the subject of the song used to be familiar with.
And they all
Each and every one of them
Just recall
Evoke from memory
Memories of you.
past recollections in connection to the subject of the song.
How I wish I could forget
I would prefer to not remember
Those happy yesteryears
Times of the past filled with happiness.
That have left a rosary of tears.
A series of painful memories.
Your face beams
Your countenance shines
In my dreams,
In my subconscious mind when I sleep.
Spite of all I do!
Despite any efforts I take to act otherwise or forget.
Ev'rything
All elements
Seems to bring
Appears to bring forth
Memories of you.
past recollections in connection to the subject of the song.
How I wish I could forget
I would prefer to not remember
Those happy yesteryears
Times of the past filled with happiness.
That have left a rosary of tears.
A series of painful memories.
Your face beams
Your countenance shines
In my dreams,
In my subconscious mind when I sleep.
Spite of all I do!
Despite any efforts I take to act otherwise or forget.
Ev'rything
All elements
Seems to bring
Appears to bring forth
Memories,
past recollections in connection to the subject of the song.
All those memories of you.
Every one of those past recollections that pertain to the subject of the song.
Lyrics © SHAPIRO BERNSTEIN & CO. INC., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JIM YESTER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind