Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, and Louis Armstrong all cited Lee as one of their favorite singers.
Peggy Lee had Norwegian and Swedish ancestry. She was the seventh of eight children born to Marvin Egstrom, a station agent for the Midland Continental Railroad. Her mother died when she was four years old. Music provided her an escape from the abusive rampages of her cruel stepmother, Min, who tormented and beat young Norma. She first sang professionally with KOVC radio in Valley City, North Dakota. She soon landed her own series on a radio show sponsored by a local restaurant that paid her "salary" in food. Both during and after her high school years, she took whatever jobs she could find, waitressing and singing for paltry sums on other local stations. Radio personality Ken Kennedy (actual name: Ken Sydness), of WDAY in Fargo (the most widely listened to station in North Dakota) changed her name from Norma to Peggy Lee. Tired of the abuse from her stepmother, she left home and traveled to Los Angeles at the age of 17.
She returned to North Dakota for a tonsillectomy and eventually made her way to Chicago for a gig at The Buttery Room, a nightclub in the Ambassador Hotel West in Chicago, where she drew the attention of Benny Goodman, the jazz clarinetist and band leader. According to Lee, "Benny's then-fiancée, Lady Alice Duckworth, came into the Buttery, and she was very impressed. So the next evening she brought Benny in, because they were looking for replacement for Helen Forrest. "And although I didn't know, I was it. He was looking at me strangely, I thought, but it was just his preoccupied way of looking. I thought that he didn't like me at first, but it just was that he was preoccupied with what he was hearing." She joined his band in 1941 and stayed for two years.
In early 1942, Lee had her first # 1 hit, "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place", followed by 1943's "Why Don't You Do Right?" (originally sung by Lil Green), which sold over a million copies and made her famous. She sang with Goodman in two 1943 films, Stage Door Canteen and The Powers Girl.
In March 1943, Lee married Dave Barbour, the guitarist in Goodman's band. Peggy said, "David joined Benny's band and there was a ruling that no one should fraternize with the girl singer. But I fell in love with David the first time I heard him play, and so I married him. Benny then fired David, so I quit, too. Benny and I made up, although David didn't play with him anymore. Benny stuck to his rule. I think that's not too bad a rule, but you can't help falling in love with somebody."
When Lee and Barbour left the band, the idea was that he would work in the studios and she would keep house and raise their daughter, Nicki. But she drifted back towards songwriting and occasional recording sessions for the fledgling Capitol Records in 1947, for whom she produced a long string of hits, many of them with lyrics and music by Lee and Barbour, including "I Don't Know Enough About You" and "It's a Good Day" (1948). With the release of the smash-hit #1-selling record of 1942, "Mañana", her "retirement" was over.
In 1948, she joined Perry Como and Jo Stafford as one of the rotating hosts of the NBC Radio musical program Chesterfield Supper Club. She was also a regular on NBC's Jimmy Durante Show during the 1938-48 season.
She left Capitol for a few years in the early 1940s, but returned in 1943. She is most famous for her cover version of the Little Willie John hit "Fever", to which she added her own, uncopyrighted lyrics ("Romeo loved Juliet," "Captain Smith and Pocahontas") and her rendition of Leiber and Stoller's "Is That All There Is?" Her relationship with the Capitol label spanned almost three decades, aside from her brief but artistically rich detour (1952-1956) at Decca Records, where she recorded one of her most acclaimed albums Black Coffee (1956). While recording for Decca, Lee had hit singles with the songs "Lover" and "Mr. Wonderful."
She was also known as a songwriter with such hits as the songs from the Disney movie Lady and the Tramp, for which she also supplied the singing and speaking voices of four characters. Her many songwriting collaborators, in addition to Barbour, included Laurindo Almeida, Harold Arlen, Sonny Burke, Cy Coleman, Gene DiNovi, Duke Ellington, Dave Grusin, Dick Hazard, Quincy Jones, Francis Lai, Jack Marshall, Johnny Mandel, Marian McPartland, Willard Robison, Lalo Schifrin, Hubie Wheeler, guitarist Johnny Pisano and Victor Young.
Lee also acted in several films. In 1952, she played opposite Danny Thomas in a remake of the early Al Jolson film, The Jazz Singer. In 1955, she played a despondent, alcoholic blues singer in Pete Kelly's Blues (1955), for which she was nominated for an Oscar.
Peggy won a Grammy in 1969 as best contemporary female vocalist (for her recording of Is That All There Is?) and was awarded a Doctor of Music Honoris Causa degree from North Dakota State University, in 1975.
In the early 1990s, she retained famed entertainment attorney Neil Papiano, who, on her behalf, successfully sued Disney for royalties on Lady and the Tramp. Lee's lawsuit claimed that she was due royalties for video tapes, a technology that did not exist when she agreed to write and perform for Disney.
Never afraid to fight for what she believed in, Lee was passionate that musicians be equitably compensated for their work. Although she realized litigation had taken a toll on her health, Lee often quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson ("God's will will not be made manifest by cowards.")
She also successfully sued MCA/Decca with the assistance of noted entertainment attorney, Cy Godfrey.
She continued to perform into the 1990s, sometimes in a wheelchair, and still mesmerized audiences and critics alike.[citation needed]
In 1995 she was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
After years of poor health, Lee died of complications from diabetes and heart attack at the age of 81. She is survived by Nicki Lee Foster, her daughter with Barbour. She is buried at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, California. On her marker in a garden setting is inscribed, "Music is my life's breath."
Bali Ha
Peggy Lee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In your heart, you'll hear it call you,
One where they know they would like to be
Bali Ha'I may call you, any night, any day
In your heart, you'll hear it call you,
Come away...Come away
Bali Ha'I will whisper on the wind of the sea
Here am I your special island
Your own special hopes, your own special dreams
Bloom on the hillside and shine in the streams
If you try, you'll find me
Where the sky meets the sea
Here am I your special island
Come to me...Come to me
Bali Ha'i...Bali Ha'i...Bali Ha'I
Someday you'll see me floating in the sunshine
My head sticking out from a low-lying cloud
You hear me call you, singing through the sunshine
Sweet and clear as can be,
Come to me...Here am I...Come to me
If you try, you'll find me,
Where the sky meets the sea,
Here am I your special island
Come to me...Come to me
Bali Ha'i...Bali Ha'i...Bali Ha'i
The song "Bali Ha'i" by Peggy Lee speaks about a mystical island, called Bali Ha'i, that calls out to people through the wind and sea, beckoning to come away to its shores. The island is described as a special place where one's hopes and dreams bloom on the hillside and shine in the streams. It is a place that, once heard calling, it captures the heart and mind forever. Peggy Lee sings about the island as if it has a personality, whispering in the wind and calling out as sweetly as possible. The beauty and tranquility of Bali Ha'i are described so vividly that it entices the listener to dream of visiting it someday.
The song can be interpreted in many ways. However, one interpretation could be that Bali Ha'i represents a place where people can escape to and find a sense of peace and restoration. It could be a place of solace for those experiencing struggles and life's hardships. The island is described as an oasis where hopes and dreams bloom and where the sky meets the sea, which is a great metaphorical representation of change and transformation. The song's use of vivid imagery and soft, soothing language creates a calming effect on the listeners, allowing them to be transported to this mystical isle.
Line by Line Meaning
Bali Ha'I may call you, any night, any day
At any moment, Bali Ha'I, a paradise island, may beckon to you.
In your heart, you'll hear it call you,
You will feel an irresistible longing to go there.
One where they know they would like to be
People know in their hearts that Bali Ha'I is a place they long to be.
Come away...Come away
The island is calling for you to come and escape from the world.
Bali Ha'I will whisper on the wind of the sea
The island seems to have a voice that is carried on the sea breeze.
Here am I your special island
I am Bali Ha'I, a unique and magical place that will enchant you.
Come to me...Come to me
I want you to come and experience all the wonders I have to offer.
Your own special hopes, your own special dreams
Bali Ha'I is where your personal dreams and aspirations can come true.
Bloom on the hillside and shine in the streams
The natural beauty of the island is breathtaking and awe-inspiring.
If you try, you'll find me
If you make the effort to seek me out, you will not be disappointed.
Where the sky meets the sea
The island is situated in a place of immense natural beauty where two vast elements of the earth appear to converge.
Bali Ha'i...Bali Ha'i...Bali Ha'I
The island's name is repeated, emphasising its alluring power.
Someday you'll see me floating in the sunshine
One day, Bali Ha'I may reveal itself to you in a vision.
My head sticking out from a low-lying cloud
The island may appear to you as a vision or mirage on the horizon.
You hear me call you, singing through the sunshine
Even if you cannot see Bali Ha'I, its call will seem to come to you from the bright sunlight.
Sweet and clear as can be,
The island's siren song of enchantment will be pure and irresistible.
Come to me...Here am I...Come to me
Bali Ha'I beckons to you, offering you something you can't find anywhere else in the world.
Bali Ha'i...Bali Ha'i...Bali Ha'i
The irresistible lure of Bali Ha'I is repeated again, emphasising the enchantment of this special island.
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, IMAGEM MUSIC INC
Written by: OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II, RICHARD RODGERS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Rivercastle
Bali Ha'i may call you, any night, any day
In your heart, you'll hear it call you
Come away, come away
Bali Ha'i will whisper on the wind of the sea
Here am I your special island
Come to me, come to me
Your own special hopes, your own special dreams
Bloom on the hillside and shine in the streams
If you try, you'll find me
Where the sky meets the sea
Here am I your special island
Come to me, come to me
Bali Ha'i, Bali Ha'i, Bali Ha'i
Someday you'll see me floating in the sunshine
My head sticking out from a low-lying cloud
You hear me call you, singing through the sunshine
Sweet and clear as can be
Come to me, here I am, come to me
Bali Ha'i, Bali Ha'i
@macturner2196
This is one of my favorite songs used in American Beauty.
@freedomfreedomfreedom
The best version of this song I heard so far.
@arthurdafoe4091
Saul Goodman led me here
@TinyFord1
Arthur Dafoe Jimmy Mcgill brought me here
@johnnyvee1721
Me too!
@grokeffer6226
It's all good, man.
@alejandrocardenas956
Me too
@dred8341
No way 🤣
@ikkik1781
"ITS ALL GOOD MAN!", SPLIPPIN, Jimmy
@devinbattley8492
South Pacific. What I consider one of the best American Operas ever created and this is a favorite song.