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."
Them There Eyes
Peggy Lee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Life was a beautiful song
Didn't have a care nor worry
Then you had to come along
I fell in love with you first time
I looked into them there eyes
You've got a certain lil' cute way of flirtin'
With them there eyes
No stallin'
I'm fallin'
Going in a big way for sweet little you
My heart is jumpin'
You sure started somethin'
With them there eyes
You'd better watch them if you're wise
They sparkle, they bubble
They're gonna get you in a whole lot of trouble
You're overworkin' 'em
There's danger lurkin' in
Them there eyes
Maybe you think I'm just flirtin'
Maybe you think I'm all lies
Just because I get romantic when I gaze in
Them there eyes
I fell in love with you first time
I looked into them there eyes
You've got a certain lil' cute way of flirtin'
With them there eyes
They make me feel happy, they make me blue
No stallin'
I'm fallin'
Going in a big way for sweet little you
My heart is jumpin'
You sure started somethin'
With them there eyes
You'd better watch them if you're wise
They sparkle
They bubble
They're gonna get you in a whole lot of trouble
You're overworkin' 'em
There's danger lurkin' in
Them there eyes
The song "Them There Eyes" by Peggy Lee is a playful and flirtatious expression of falling in love through the gaze into someone's eyes. The song describes a life that was a beautiful song, carefree, and without worry until the love interest came along. From the first glance into their eyes, the singer fell in love, and the cute way of flirtation with their eyes caught her attention, making her feel both happy and sad.
The lyrics suggest the danger of falling in love, and the importance of being cautious when looking into someone's eyes, as their sparkle and bubble can cause trouble. The singer can't help but get romantic when she looks into "them there eyes," reassured by the feeling of jumping heart, and sure that the person has started something charming.
The song encourages the listener to pay attention to another's eyes, and to see beyond the physical aspects, look into the depth of the person's eyes, and observe the emotions and intentions behind them. The playful tone of the song matched with the flirtatious lyrics is a reminder that courtship is not always meant to be taken too seriously.
Line by Line Meaning
I was just minding my business
I was living my life without any worries or stress.
Life was a beautiful song
I was enjoying life and everything seemed wonderful.
Didn't have a care nor worry
I had no concerns or problems to worry about.
Then you had to come along
You entered my life and changed everything.
I fell in love with you first time
I immediately fell in love with you when I saw your eyes.
I looked into them there eyes
I gazed into your eyes and found myself attracted to you.
You've got a certain lil' cute way of flirtin'
You have a charming and cute way of flirting with me.
With them there eyes
Your eyes are the key to your charm and attractiveness.
They make me feel happy, they make me blue
Your eyes can change my mood and make me feel happy or sad.
No stallin'
There is no hesitation in my feelings toward you.
I'm fallin'
I am falling in love with you and cannot stop it.
Going in a big way for sweet little you
I am completely devoted and in love with you.
My heart is jumpin'
I feel an intense excitement and joy when I think of you.
You sure started somethin'
You have made a big impact on my life and feelings.
You'd better watch them if you're wise
You need to be careful with your eyes and your charm because it could lead to trouble.
They sparkle
Your eyes shine and catch my attention.
They bubble
Your eyes have a lively and energetic quality that is enticing.
They're gonna get you in a whole lot of trouble
Your eyes could lead to trouble because of their charm and seductiveness.
You're overworkin' 'em
You are using your eyes too much and may be exhausting their magic.
There's danger lurkin' in
Your eyes have the potential to cause problems and danger if not used carefully.
Maybe you think I'm just flirtin'
You may think that I am only flirting with you, but my feelings are genuine.
Maybe you think I'm all lies
You may doubt the sincerity of my feelings for you.
Just because I get romantic when I gaze in
I become romantic and emotional when I look into your eyes.
Lyrics © DistroKid, Universal Music Publishing Group, Royalty Network
Written by: Maceo Pinkard, Doris Tauber, William Tracy
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
samaira slays
i legit love this song with my whole heart
Talitha Spans
love this
Luca Panzeri
I fell in love with you the first time I looked into
Them there eyes
You've got a certain lil' cute way of flirtin' with
Them there eyes
They make me feel so happy
They make me feel so blue
Stallin'
No stallin'
Fallin' in a great big way for you
My heart is jumpin'
You sure started somethin with
Them there eyes
You'd better watch out little brown eyes if you're wise
They sparkle
They bubble
They're gonna get you in a whole lot of trouble
You're overworkin' them
There's danger lurkin' in
Them there eyes