Rosemary Clooney (born 23 May 1928 in Maysville, Kentucky, USA – 29 June 20… Read Full Bio ↴Rosemary Clooney (born 23 May 1928 in Maysville, Kentucky, USA – 29 June 2002) was an American singer and actress.

Clooney's first recordings, in May 1946, were for Columbia Records. She sang with Tony Pastor's big band. Clooney continued working with the Pastor band until 1949, making her last recording with the band in May of that year and her first as a solo artist a month later, still for Columbia.

She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit Come On-a My House written by William Saroyan and his cousin Ross Bagdasarian (better known as David Seville, the father figure of Alvin and the Chipmunks), which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me" (a cover version of the Italian song Ba-Ba-Baciami Piccina by Alberto Rabagliati), "Mambo Italiano", "Tenderly", "Half as Much", "Hey There" and "This Ole House", although she had success as a jazz vocalist. Clooney's career languished in the 1960s, partly due to problems related to depression and drug addiction, but revived in 1977, when her White Christmas co-star Bing Crosby asked her to appear with him at a show marking his 50th anniversary in show business. She continued recording until her death in 2002. She was the aunt of Academy Award winning actor George Clooney; mother-in-law of singer Debby Boone; and sister to former television personality Nick Clooney. She was the ex-wife of Jose Ferrer; mother of actor Miguel Ferrer

Clooney was diagnosed with lung cancer at the end of 2001. Around this time, she gave her last concert, in Hawaii, backed by the Honolulu Symphony Pops; her last song was "God Bless America".

How Insensitive
Rosemary Clooney Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

How insensitive
I must have seemed
When she told me that she loved me
How unmoved an' cold
I must have seemed
When she told me so sincerely

Why

She must have asked
Do I just turn an' stare in icy silence?
What was I to say
What can you say when a love affair is over?

Now, she's gone away
And I'm alone with a memory of her last look
Vague an' drawn an' sad
I see it still
All her heartbreak in that last look

How
She must have asked
Could I just turn an' stare in icy silence?
What was I to do
What can one do when a love affair is over?

What can you do
When a love affair is over?

It's over

Overall Meaning

In the song "How Insensitive", Rosemary Clooney reflects on a love affair that has ended, and the sense of detachment and coldness she exhibited during the relationship. She highlights her unresponsiveness to expressions of love from her partner, and the regret she feels for not being able to reciprocate those feelings. Clooney implies that she may have caused the end of the relationship with her emotional unavailability, and she reflects on the pain and sadness she feels now that her partner has left her.

When her partner tells her she loves her, Clooney acknowledges that she must have been insensitive and cold towards those declarations. She seems to recognize that her lack of affection and acknowledgment during the relationship was hurtful and has led to the end of it. Clooney questions herself about what she could have done differently or said to salvage the relationship. She acknowledges that the memory of her partner's last look, filled with heartbreak and sadness, still haunts her. The song ends with Clooney questioning what one can do when a love affair is over, implying that perhaps it is impossible to come back from emotional unavailability and detachment once the damage is done.

Line by Line Meaning

How insensitive
I lacked sensitivity

I must have seemed
I appeared to be

When she told me that she loved me
When she confessed her love to me

How unmoved an' cold
I was unresponsive and indifferent

I must have seemed
I appeared to be

When she told me so sincerely
When she was genuine in her feelings

Why
She asked why

Do I just turn an' stare in icy silence?
I responded with a cold silence

What was I to say
I didn't know what to say

What can you say when a love affair is over?
There's nothing you can say when love is gone

Now, she's gone away
She has left me now