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.
Out Of This World
Sammy Davis Jr. Lyrics
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When I'm looking at you,
I hear out of this world
The music that no mortal ever knew.
You're right out of a book,
The fairy tale I read when I was so high;
No armoured knight out of a bookCould find a more enchanted Lorelei than I.
After waiting so long for the right time,
After reaching so long for a star,
All at once from the long and lonely night time,
And despite time, here you are!
I'd fly out of this world
If you said we were through,
So let me fly out of this world
And spend the next eternity or two with you;
I'll spend the next eternity or two with you.
Sammy Davis Jr.'s song "Out of this World" is a sweet and romantic song that is all about falling in love with someone out of the ordinary. In the first verse, he sings that the person he is looking at is so special that the music he hears seems otherworldly. This person is so unique and different that it feels like he is not of this world.
In the second verse, Davis sings about how this person is like a character from a fairy tale he read as a child. He states that no knight from a book could ever find a more enchanted and captivating love than the one he has found. He has waited so long for the right time and has been reaching for a star for so long, but finally, he has found this special person.
Finally, in the last verse, Davis expresses that his love is so intense that he would fly out of this world if this person said they were through. He wants to spend eternity with them, and the idea of them leaving him is so unfathomable that he would rather leave this world than lose them.
Overall, the song is all about falling in love with someone who is so unique and extraordinary that they feel like they are out of this world.
Line by Line Meaning
You're clear out of this world
You are beyond anything that exists in this world.
When I'm looking at you,
I hear out of this world
The music that no mortal ever knew.
When I gaze upon you, I hear an otherworldly melody that no ordinary human has ever heard.
You're right out of a book,
The fairy tale I read when I was so high;
You come straight out of a storybook, the fairytales that I read when I was young and full of wonder.
No armoured knight out of a book
Could find a more enchanted Lorelei than I.
There is no valiant knight from a storybook that could find a more magical and alluring woman than you.
After waiting so long for the right time,
After reaching so long for a star,
All at once from the long and lonely night time,
And despite time, here you are!
After an extended period of waiting for the perfect moment, after reaching for a star for so long, suddenly, despite the passage of time, here you are, arriving in the midst of a long and lonely night.
I'd fly out of this world
If you said we were through,
If you ever said that we were over, it would be enough to make me want to leave this world behind.
So let me fly out of this world
And spend the next eternity or two with you;
So let me escape to another world and spend an infinite amount of time with you.
I'll spend the next eternity or two with you.
I am committed to being with you for the rest of my life and beyond.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Royalty Network, Spirit Music Group
Written by: JOHNNY MERCER, HAROLD ARLEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind