Samuel George "Sammy" Davis, Jr. (born December 8, 1925 in Harlem, New York… Read Full Bio ↴Samuel George "Sammy" Davis, Jr. (born December 8, 1925 in Harlem, New York; died May 16, 1990 in Beverly Hills, California) was a Grammy Award winning singer, Golden Globe and Emmy Award winning actor, dancer, multi-instrumentalist and only black member of Frank Sinatra's The Rat Pack. Davis began his career with his father and uncle in the Will Mastin Trio and he toured nationally with them, only leaving due to military service. He became an overnight sensation following a nightclub performance at Ciro's after the 1951 Academy Awards, became a successful recording artist and then made his first film performances later that decade.

Davis, Jr. was born in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York, to Elvera Sanchez, a dancer, and Sammy Davis, Sr., an African-American entertainer. The couple were both dancers in vaudeville. As an infant, he was raised by his paternal grandmother. When he was three years old, his parents split up. His father, not wanting to lose custody of his son, took him on tour. Sammy Davis Jr. claimed that his mother was Puerto Rican, however the 2003 biography In Black and White alleges that he made this claim due to the political sensitivities of the 1960s (during the Cuban Missile Crisis), and that his mother was born in New York of Cuban descent rather than in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

As a child he learned how to dance from his father, Sammy Davis, Sr., and his "uncle" Will Mastin, who led the dance troupe his father worked for. Davis joined the act as a young child in 1928 and they became the Will Mastin Trio. Throughout his long career, Davis included the Will Mastin Trio in his billing.

Mastin and his father had shielded him from racism. Snubs were explained as jealousy. But during World War II, Davis served in the United States Army, where he was first confronted by strong racial prejudice. As he said later, "Overnight the world looked different. It wasn't one color anymore. I could see the protection I'd gotten all my life from my father and Will. I appreciated their loving hope that I'd never need to know about prejudice and hate, but they were wrong. It was as if I'd walked through a swinging door for eighteen years, a door which they had always secretly held open.

I Wanna Be Around
Sammy Davis Jr. Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I wanna be around to pick up the pieces
When somebody breaks your heart
Some somebody twice as smart as I

A somebody who will swear to be true
As you used to do with me
Who'll leave you to learn
That misery loves company, wait and see

I mean, I wanna be around to see how he does it
When he breaks your heart to bits
Let's see if the puzzle fits so fine

And that's when I'll discover that revenge is sweet
As I sit there applaudin' from a front-row seat

When somebody breaks your heart
Like you, like you broke mine

Overall Meaning

In Sammy Davis Jr.'s song "I Wanna Be Around," the lyrics are pretty clear: the singer is still hung up on an ex-lover and wants nothing more than to be around when she gets her heart broken so he can gloat and revel in her pain. He wants to rub in her face that he warned her not to trust someone else over him. The lyrics paint a picture of a bitter, vengeful man who wants nothing more than to see his former lover suffer. But as he reveals more about his motivation, it becomes clear that he's just a man who's been hurt and wants some kind of vindication.

The first two lines of the song suggest that the singer is still hoping that he and his former lover can get back together. He wants to be there to pick up the pieces when someone breaks her heart because he believes that person will be "twice as smart" as he. The line "A somebody who will swear to be true as you used to do with me" is evidence that the singer's previous relationship ended due to infidelity. He also wants her to "wait and see" what will happen when she is left alone with her misery, implying that the singer believes she will eventually come back to him. But the final verse makes it clear that the singer is just trying to exact revenge on his former lover, reflecting the pain he's experienced in the breakdown of their relationship.

Line by Line Meaning

I wanna be around to pick up the pieces
I want to be there for you when you are broken

When somebody breaks your heart
When someone else breaks your heart

Some somebody twice as smart as I
Someone who is smarter and more cunning than me

A somebody who will swear to be true
Someone who will promise to be faithful

As you used to do with me
Just like you did with me

Who'll leave you to learn
They will let you experience

That misery loves company, wait and see
That you will have company in your misery, just wait and see

I mean, I wanna be around to see how he does it
I want to witness what happens

When he breaks your heart to bits
When he shatters your heart into pieces

Let's see if the puzzle fits so fine
Let's see if the situation works out well for you

And that's when I'll discover that revenge is sweet
That is when I will realize that revenge feels good