Ruth was born in David City, Nebraska. Her mother died when she was 5, and her father left her with her grandparents, George and Hannah Etting, who owned a roller mill. Her father remarried and moved away, seldom visiting his daughter. When she was 17 she moved to Chicago to attend art school, and got a job designing costumes at a night club. One night the tenor got sick and since she was the only one who could sing low enough, she took his place, and landed a job in the chorus. By 1918 she was one of the club's featured vocalists. It was there she met Moe "The Gimp" Snyder, a wanna-be gangster who took over management of Ruth's career and married her in 1922.
After her New York sucess, she moved to Los Angeles and had roles in a number of films including Roman Scandals with Eddie Cantor. There are conflicting stories about the scandal that virtually ended her career. The marriage between Ms. Etting and The Gimp was virtually loveless from the beginning, and he was a demanding and controlling manager who would not let other men near his wife. They were divorced in 1937. While in Los Angeles she began spending time with Myrl Alderman, a pianist who had played with her earlier in her career. In 1938, The Gimp forced his way into Ruth's house, and shot Alderman, wounding him. The subsequent trial put a halt to her career, although she did make some appearances in 1947. Ruth and Myrl married and retired to Colorado Springs, where she died in 1978. The academy award nominated movie version of her life story, Love me or Leave Me, with Jimmy Cagney and Doris Day, was apparently highly fictionalized.
Back in Your Own Backyard
Ruth Etting Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hoping ev'ry cloud will be silver lined.
But we all return as we live wo learn,
That we left our happiness behind.
When they sing you "Look for the Silver Lining,"
It is silver dollars they're looking for.
You will find my friend that the rainbow's end,
The bird with feathers of blue, is waiting for you,
Back in your own back yard,
You'll see your castle in Spain, through your window pane,
Back in your own back yard.
Oh you can go to the East go to the West,
But someday you'll come weary at heart back where you started from,
You'll find your happiness lies, right under your eyes,
Back in your own backyard.
The lyrics of Ruth Etting's song Back in Your Own Backyard instill the idea that individuals often leave home in search of something better, yet come to find that their happiness was right under their noses all along. The song starts with the notion that when we leave home, we do so expecting to find a "blue bird," a metaphor for finding something rare and special in life. We hope to escape the struggles that we face at home and find a life full of happy moments. However, as we experience life, we learn that leaving home is not the answer to finding joy. Instead, we should embrace the familiarity of our own backyard, the place where we left our happiness behind.
The next stanza of the song refers to the phrase "Look for the Silver Lining," meaning to look for the bright side when things seem tough. The lyrics suggest that people often interpret this phrase to mean that they should search for wealth and fortune, such as silver dollars. But the song warns against this notion, as true happiness can be found in the simple things in life, like being able to see the beauty of the rainbow from one's window pane. The final stanza stresses the importance of finding comfort in one's home because "the bird with feathers of blue is waiting for you back in your own backyard." This lyric concludes that happiness is not something we can find outside of our homes; instead, it is something that lies within our own backyards.
Line by Line Meaning
We leave home expecting to find a blue bird,
When we leave home, we hope to find something rare and beautiful that will bring us happiness.
Hoping ev'ry cloud will be silver lined.
We hope that every bad situation will have a positive side.
But we all return as we live wo learn,
As we live our lives, we come to realize that happiness cannot be found outside of ourselves.
That we left our happiness behind.
We realize that we had happiness all along, but we overlooked it in our pursuit of something better.
When they sing you "Look for the Silver Lining,"
When people tell you to be optimistic and to look for the good in things,
It is silver dollars they're looking for.
They are really looking for money and wealth, not true happiness.
You will find my friend that the rainbow's end,
You will come to realize that the end of the rainbow, the place where wealth and happiness are supposed to be found, does not exist.
Is somewhere around your kitchen door.
True happiness can be found right in your own home.
The bird with feathers of blue, is waiting for you,
Happiness is waiting for you, symbolized by a blue bird, which represents happiness.
Back in your own back yard,
You will find true happiness by returning to your own home and appreciating what you already have.
You'll see your castle in Spain, through your window pane,
You will come to appreciate what you have, and will see beauty in things that you have previously overlooked.
Oh you can go to the East go to the West,
You can travel all over the world in search of happiness.
But someday you'll come weary at heart back where you started from,
But eventually you will become tired and disheartened, and will find yourself returning to your place of origin.
You'll find your happiness lies, right under your eyes,
You will realize that true happiness has been with you all along, within your own life.
Back in your own backyard.
You will find true happiness by returning to your own home and appreciating what you already have.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Downtown Music Publishing
Written by: Al Jolson, Billy Rose, Dave Dreyer
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@edwardgunyo3638
Happy year, I live in my old family home. And I can tell you, I love my old back yard, been in the house since 1941, great landscape, just work like a Banchi over the last two years. Keep cooking.