At Last
Peggy Lee Lyrics


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I'm confessin' that I love you,
Tell me, do you love me too?
I'm confessin' that I need you,
Honest I do, need you every moment.
In your eyes I read such strange things,
But your lips deny they're true,
Will your answer really change things
Making me blue?

I'm afraid some day you'll leave me,
Saying "can't we still be friends"
If you go, you know you'll grieve me,
All in life on you depends.
Am I guessin' that you love me,





Dreaming dreams of you in vain,
I'm confessin' that I love you, over again.

Overall Meaning

In Peggy Lee's song "I'm Confessin'," the lyrics refer to one person confessing their love to another and seeking a response in return. The first verse and chorus state the person's love and need for the other, as well as their uncertainty about the other's feelings. The second verse expresses the fear of the person being abandoned and the dependency they have on the other. The final lines of the song repeat the confession of love, indicating that the person is willing to continue loving the other despite the uncertainty and fear.


The lyrics of "I'm Confessin'" are very simple in structure and language, yet they convey a deep sense of vulnerability and raw emotion. The repetition of the confession throughout the song emphasizes the intensity of the person's feelings and the importance of the other's response. The use of contrasting images between the eyes and lips of the other person also creates an intriguing sense of ambiguity, highlighting the internal conflict of the person confessing their love.


Line by Line Meaning

I'm confessin' that I love you,
I am revealing that I have strong feelings for you


Tell me, do you love me too?
Can you confirm that you share the same feelings for me?


I'm confessin' that I need you,
I am acknowledging that I cannot live without you


Honest I do, need you every moment.
I am being truthful when I say that I require your presence constantly


In your eyes I read such strange things,
I see a confusing mix of emotions when I look into your eyes


But your lips deny they're true,
However, you deny those emotions when asked directly


Will your answer really change things
Would your response significantly affect our relationship?


Making me blue?
Would it make me sad?


I'm afraid some day you'll leave me,
I am scared that one day you will abandon me


Saying "can't we still be friends"
You will try to salvage the relationship by suggesting friendship


If you go, you know you'll grieve me,
You should understand that your departure will cause me immense pain


All in life on you depends.
My happiness and life seem to be based around your presence


Am I guessin' that you love me,
Do I just think that you have feelings for me?


Dreaming dreams of you in vain,
Are my desires for you unrealistic and impractical?


I'm confessin' that I love you, over again.
I am repeating my declaration of love for you




Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Al J Neiburg, Doc Daugherty, Ellis Reynolds

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Most interesting comments from YouTube:

@HansWienhold

What I like about this performance, in addition to the music and singing, is the number of smiles.

Peggy is smiling as she walks to the microphone.

The guitar player just behind them smiles.

Benny smiles as he launches into his solo, during which, the drummer smiles and looks at the trumpet player who smiles. I count five.

And I notice that I am smiling too.

The rest of the guys are playing horns, so they can't smile. But it comes out in their music anyway.

The guy on the bass fiddle. I don't see him smiling. Then again, the video is kind of blurry. Besides which, it's obvious he is having a whale of a time and probably thinking about how glad he is that he quit that factory job in Des Moines, if indeed, there were any factory jobs in Des Moines at the time.

Who'd 've thunk? Something that entertains, and makes you feel good at the same time.

You don't see much of that these days. Makes me feel like we might have lost something.



@ClassyOldMusic

Thanks for introducing me to that Dave Barbour version. But It seemed like Peggy was getting as bored and sleepy as I was while struggling to get through it. You could see it, Especially in the shots where she's  looking over toward Dave, looking like she couldn't wait for him to finish his anemic, lack-of-creative-spark solo bit. I always felt that music after '49 really began to go down the toilet.

By the way, before I forget, The camera work in this film was just above High School kid, amateur, and they mostly focused above her waist, or breast... and it seemed they only had limited movement or positioning of their equpment, or maybe because there wasn't anything worth filming... in fact, there was hardly any movement from Anybody! NO One Even Cracked a Smile, except for Peggy. Maybe because she knew she was getting paid for it anyway. There was no "Swing" or Life to any of this number at all. It's was more like some Bohemian bar scene than a Live Performance.

Look at this "Benny" number, Benny, Peggy, the Band, and the Audience are Swingin' Happy Cats! Any person with Any Life and/or Rhythm is going to have Fun with Benny's number... JUST Look at Benny! He IS the Quintessential Band Leader, Leading the whole Swinging Mess!

Maybe that's why Benny Goodman is  known as The KING OF SWING! And, You can see in Peggy's body language and hear it in her voice, that she agrees and is adoring her Fun with Him too.

On a List of Top Ten Big Bands of All Time, where Votes came from Real Swing Loving, Band Knowing, People, Consistently, between the Top 2 Bands, The Benny Goodman Orchestra was #2 after Glenn Miller #1. Consistently.

The Dave Barbour Band isn't on Any List, about Anything, Anywhere.

Look at Dave in the Barbour version, jeeeze! he's not having any fun neither, and his sleepy one note picked off the simple scale guitar playing and solos are tired, droopy, weak, like he's annoyed with the whole project. That huge oversized guitar was way too much guitar for the work he was doing. Way, waaayyy too much tool for the simple job.

Everybody around him looks Grumpy! The Piano Player seemed like the only one with life in him but I felt like he was holding back from what he really wanted to paste onto them 88's. Peggy looks like she's just remembering she forgot to feed the dog before she left the house.

The Benny version, when played off my 78 RPM's lights up the room and the people in it, and makes 'em smile and laugh and say things like "they don't play 'em like that anymore"... I can play it over and over on my 1959 Telefunken Verdi Phonograph/Radio console (awesomely made in W. Germany) forever and people get a Kick out of it...

If I wanted to impress anybody with an old 78 RPM record, and try to Promote the Music of the Golden Era, (like I do!) and to keep it from dying,  "Hands Down"! I'd play the Benny version, and No Way At All, for Any reason would I play that boring, Golden Era Killing, Dave Barbour lullabye.

"Get outta here, Give me some money too"



All comments from YouTube:

@cant144

"I knew I couldn't sing over them, so I decided to sing under them. The more noise they made the more softly I sang. When they discovered they couldn't hear me, they began to look at me. Then they began to listen. As I sang, I kept thinking, 'softly with feeling.' The noise dropped to a hum; the hum gave way to silence. I had learned how to reach and hold my audience -- softly, with feeling."Peggy Lee

@ruthiebelle1

A really smart girl to figure that out.

@upthedownescalator630

That's better than Hedy Lamarr who found out that "All a girl has to do to be glamours is just stand still and look stupid."

@williamheyman5439

And it was hard for her to look stupid, as she was a co-inventor of spread-spectrum radio, had a patent, and several inventions.

@RobCummings

Prettiest smack-down I ever saw.

@richardbenitez7803

Notice the super soft glance at here and there as if she singing just for you.... very brilliant. Perfect song forever

45 More Replies...

@Henry-vu5sg

No one in 2023 can touch it.

God bless our predecessors x

@robertbruce7686

2024 ❤

@Miss_Aralys

@@Henry-vu5sg Except maybe every respectful music artist within the Electro Swing community, like Caro Emerald 🤭

@dimtso6107

Year 2025, January

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