Frizzell was born in Corsicana, Texas, but moved with his family shortly after his birth to El Dorado, Arkansas, where they remained until the early 1940s. Frizzell began playing the guitar as a very young boy and by age 12, he was appearing regularly on a children's show at a local radio station KELD.
The family moved back to Texas when Frizzell was still a teenager, and his music career got a boost when he won a talent contest in Dallas.
In his late teens, he was performing at fairgrounds and other venues, developing a unique, soulful voice. Like his father, he got work in the oilfields, but his growing popularity as a singer soon gave him regular work on the Honky Tonk nightclub circuit. At age 19, he had a half-hour show on a small Texas radio station, getting a big break when a record producer heard him sing. Signed to Columbia Records, he immediately had a string of hits that broke into country music's top ten; several of them reached # 1. In 1950 , he was invited to perform at the Grand Ole Opry; the following year he appeared on the prestigious Louisiana Hayride radio program that broadcast from Shreveport, Louisiana and then began touring with country music's biggest star of the era, Hank Williams. A prolific songwriter, Frizzell had four songs in the country top ten at the same time in 1951 — a feat that would not be repeated on any chart until The Beatles accomplished it on the pop charts, with five songs in 1964.
By the end of the 1950s, rock and roll was dominating the North American music scene, but although no one would ever mistake Frizzell's music for anything but country, his 1959 hit, " Long Black Veil," gained wide acceptance with a variety of music fans in addition to country, and was the first recording of this "standard." A few years later, Frizzell recorded " Saginaw, Michigan," which took the #1 spot on the country music charts and broke into the pop charts as well. The song earned him a Grammy Award nomination.
In the early 1970s, Frizzell changed record labels and moved to Bakersfield, California, where he recorded several more country music hits and became the first country singer to perform at the Hollywood Bowl. By then, however, his problems with alcoholism were already taking their toll. Mood swings and outbreaks of irrational anger became a trademark, and his constant failure to meet recording commitments strained his relationship with his recording company. In 1972, Lefty Frizzell was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and his song "If You've Got the Money, I've Got the Time" earned him a Grammy Hall of Fame Award. Unfortunately, success and money only added to Frizzell's alcohol addiction, and on July 19, 1975, he suffered a massive stroke and died at age 47. He was buried on "Music Row" at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens in Goodlettsville, Tennessee.
Lullaby Yodel
Lefty Frizzell Lyrics
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Your deep blue eyes how they haunt me though you're far away
Oh why did she take you away from arms and leave nothing to cherrish there
She's left me so blue but when she took you too it seems more than l could bear
My baby I want you tonight dear after my work is through
To rock you to sleep in my arms dear and sing lullabys to you
A dream of you baby caresses dimples and golden hair
Your future has been the chief thing in my life you'll never know how it means
My plans and my schemes are all blasted it seems for you are my only embrace
My baby I want you tonight dear after my work is through
Just to rock you to sleep in my arms dear and sing lullabys to you
Lefty Frizzell's song "Lullaby Yodel" is a ballad about a man who misses his baby dearly, expressing the longing for their company and the desire to be with them again. The song is mainly focused on establishing why he wants to be with his baby, and this is made apparent in the first few lines. The opening verse speaks about how the man is haunted by his baby's deep blue eyes, and he knows that his baby also wants him. He then talks about how the woman took the baby away from him and how it seems like too much to bear. This sets a mournful tone to the ballad.
The second verse speaks more about the man's dreams and his deep connection to the baby. He talks about how the baby's future has been the chief thing in his life, and how all his plans and schemes are shattered because he can't embrace the baby. The chorus addresses the baby directly, talking about how he wants to hold the baby at the end of the day and sing them to sleep.
Line by Line Meaning
My baby I know that you want me each lonely night and day
I'm aware that you yearn for my presence day and night.
Your deep blue eyes how they haunt me though you're far away
I can't get your penetrating blue eyes out of my mind, even though you're not with me.
Oh why did she take you away from arms and leave nothing to cherish there
Why did she take you away from me, leaving me with nothing to hold dear?
She's left me so blue but when she took you too it seems more than l could bear
She's made me so sad, but when she took you away as well, it felt like more than I could handle.
My baby I want you tonight dear after my work is through
After my work is done, I crave nothing more than to be with you tonight.
To rock you to sleep in my arms dear and sing lullabys to you
I want to hold you close, sing sweet lullabies, and soothe you into peaceful slumber.
A dream of you baby caresses dimples and golden hair
In my dreams, I caress you, playing with your dimples and running my fingers through your golden hair.
And reach out to clasp you in my arms to find only emptiness there
But when I try to hold you close, I find nothing but empty space.
Your future has been the chief thing in my life you'll never know how it means
Your future is the most important thing to me, and you'll never truly comprehend its significance.
My plans and my schemes are all blasted it seems for you are my only embrace
All of my plans and schemes have been ruined because you're the only thing I want to hold onto.
Contributed by Alexis F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@angelm8866
thank you