Born in Belhaven, North Carolina, she moved to the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn, New York, at a young age. Although some sources claim that her stage name was inspired by a character from the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, she stated in an interview that she was named after her aunt, which prompted her family to call her "Little Eva." As a teenager, she worked as a maid and earned extra money as a babysitter for songwriters Carole King and Gerry Goffin. It is often claimed that Goffin and King were amused by Boyd's particular dancing style, so they wrote "The Loco-Motion" for her and had her record it as a demo (the record was intended for Dee Dee Sharp).
However, as King said in an interview with NPR and in her "One to One" concert video, they knew she could sing when they met her, and it would be just a matter of time before they would have her record songs they wrote, the most successful being "The Loco-Motion."
Music producer Don Kirshner of Dimension Records was impressed by the song and Boyd's voice and had it released. The song reached #1 in the United States in 1962. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. After the success of "The Loco-Motion," Boyd was stereotyped as a dance-craze singer and was given limited material.
The same year, Goffin and King wrote "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)" (performed by the Crystals) after discovering that Boyd was being regularly beaten by her boyfriend. When they inquired why she tolerated such treatment, Eva replied without batting an eyelid that her boyfriend's actions were motivated by his love for her.
Phil Spector's arrangement of the song was ominous and ambiguous.
It was a brutal song, as any attempt to justify such violence must be, and Spector's arrangement only amplified its savagery, framing Barbara Alston's lone vocal amid a sea of caustic strings and funereal drums, while the backing vocals almost trilled their own belief that the boy had done nothing wrong. In more ironic hands (and a more understanding age), 'He Hit Me' might have passed at least as satire. But Spector showed no sign of appreciating that, nor did he feel any need to. No less than the song's writers, he was not preaching, he was merely documenting.
Boyd's other single recordings were "Keep Your Hands Off My Baby," "Let's Turkey Trot," and a remake of the Bing Crosby standard "Swinging on a Star," recorded with Big Dee Irwin (though Boyd was not credited on the label). Boyd also recorded the song "Makin' With the Magilla" for an episode of the 1964 Hanna-Barbera cartoon series The Magilla Gorilla Show.
She continued to tour and record throughout the sixties, but her commercial potential plummeted after 1964. She retired from the music industry in 1971. She never owned the rights to her recordings. Although the prevailing rumor in the 1970s was that she had received only $50 for "The Loco-Motion," it seems $50 was actually her weekly salary at the time she made her records (an increase of $15 from what Goffin and King had been paying her as nanny). Penniless, she returned with her three young children to North Carolina, where they lived in obscurity.
Interviewed in 1988 after the success of the Kylie Minogue cover version of "The Loco-Motion", Boyd stated that she did not like the new version; however its then-current popularity allowed her to make a comeback in show business.
She returned to live performing with other artists of her era on the cabaret and oldies circuits. She also occasionally recorded new songs.
The only existing footage of Little Eva performing "Loco-Motion" is a small clip from the ABC sixties live show Shindig! where she sang a short version of the clip along with the famous dance steps. She also sang "Let's Turkey Trot" and the Exciters' song "I Want You to Be My Boy" in the same episode. This TV show was one of her final performances until 1988, when she began performing in concerts with Bobby Vee and other singers. In a 1991 Richard Nader concert, she performed "Loco-Motion" and "Keep Your Hands Off My Baby". The concert was partially documented on videotape, albeit of marginal quality.
She continued performing until she was diagnosed with cervical cancer in October 2001. She died on April 10, 2003 in Kinston, North Carolina, at the age of 59, and is buried in a small cemetery in Belhaven, North Carolina. Her gravesite was sparsely marked until July 2008, when a report by WRAL-TV of Raleigh, North Carolina highlighted deteriorating conditions at the cemetery and efforts by the city of Belhaven to have it restored. A simple white cross had marked the site until a new gravestone was unveiled in November of that year. Her new grey gravestone has the image of a steam locomotive prominently engraved on the front and the epitaph reads: "Singing with the Angels".
Sharing You
Little Eva Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I know I'm sharing you
I'm not the only one
Who's in your heart
When I'm with you
Your love belongs to me
But you have someone else
When we're apart
There are two of us who kiss you
Two of us who miss you
Two of us who wish there
Were two of you
And though it hurts me so
To go on sharing you
I know my helpless heart
Just can't be free
But even though
I must keep sharing you
You know you'll
Never be sharing me
"Sharing You" is a song by Little Eva, which tells a story of a woman who knows that the man she loves has someone else in his heart besides her. The first lines of the song, "Sharing you, I know I'm sharing you, I'm not the only one who's in your heart," set up the song's main theme. The singer is aware that she's not the only one who loves the person she's with. It seems that the man she's with is not completely committed to their relationship because he has another woman in his heart.
Throughout the song, Little Eva sings about how their love belongs to her when they're together. However, when they're apart, she knows that the man she loves is sharing his love with someone else. She expresses her feelings honestly, "And though it hurts me so to go on sharing you, I know my helpless heart just can't be free." It seems that she's torn between staying in the relationship or leaving, and she decides to stay, even though she knows it's hurting her. Little Eva concludes the song by stating that even though she must keep sharing him, he'll never be sharing her.
Overall, "Sharing You" is an emotional song about love, heartbreak, and the complexities of relationships. The lyrics are raw, honest, and relatable, making the song a classic in the soul genre.
Line by Line Meaning
Sharing you
Acknowledging the title of the song as a plea to share the person they love.
I know I'm sharing you
Accepting the fact that they are not the only one loving their mutual partner.
I'm not the only one
Admitting that there is another person sharing their lover's affection.
Who's in your heart
Wondering who else their lover thinks about when they are apart from each other.
When I'm with you
Feeling secure about their relationship while they are together.
Your love belongs to me
Assuming that they are the primary person in their lover's life.
But you have someone else
Acknowledging the presence of another person in their lover's life.
When we're apart
Feeling anxious and unsure about their partner's loyalty when they are not together.
There are two of us who kiss you
Realizing that there are two people who share intimate moments with their mutual partner.
Two of us who miss you
Feeling the absence of their loved one when they are not together.
Two of us who wish there Were two of you
Expressing a desire to have more than one of their lover to go around.
And though it hurts me so
Admitting the emotional pain caused by sharing their lover.
To go on sharing you
Continuing to struggle with sharing their mutual partner's love.
I know my helpless heart
Realizing that they cannot control their own feelings of love and attachment.
Just can't be free
Feeling trapped and constrained by their own affection.
But even though
Despite their reservations and struggles.
I must keep sharing you
Continuing to love and share their partner, even though it causes them pain.
You know you'll Never be sharing me
Assuring their lover that they will not share their love with another person beyond their mutual partner.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: CAROLE KING, GERRY GOFFIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind