Early life
Samuel George "Sammy" Davis, Jr. was born in New York City, New York to Elvera Sanchez (1905-2000)[1], a Puerto Rican tap dancer, and Sammy Davis, Sr. (1900-1988), 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. During his lifetime Sammy Davis, Jr. stated that his mother was Puerto Rican and born in San Juan.[2] As a child he learned how to dance from his father and his "uncle" Will Mastin, who led the dance troupe his father worked for. Davis joined the act as a young child 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, for instance. When Davis served in the United States Army during World War II however, he was 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."
Career
While in the service, however, he joined an integrated entertainment Special Services unit, and found that the spotlight removed some of the prejudice. "My talent was the weapon, the power, the way for me to fight. It was the one way I might hope to affect a man's thinking," he said.[3]
Sammy Davis, Jr. (left) with Roy Wilkins (right) at the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C.
After he was discharged, Davis rejoined the dance act which played at a wide variety of spots around Portland Oregon, and began to achieve success on his own as he was singled out for praise by critics. The next year, he released his second album. The next move in his growing career was to appear in the Broadway show Mr. Wonderful in 1956.
In 1959, he became a member of the Rat Pack, which was led by his old friend Frank Sinatra, and included such fellow performers as Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford, and Shirley MacLaine. Initially, Sinatra called the gathering of fast-living friends "the Clan," but Sam voiced his opposition, saying that it invoked thoughts about the Ku Klux Klan. Sinatra renamed the group "the Summit"...but nevertheless, the media kept on calling it the Rat Pack all along.
Davis was a headliner at The Frontier Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada for many years, yet was required to accept accommodations in a rooming house on the west side of the city, rather than reside with his peers in the hotels, as were all black performers in the 1950s. For example, no stage dressing rooms were provided for black performers, so they were required to wait outside by the swimming pool between acts. [4]
During his early years in Las Vegas, he and other African-American artists like Nat King Cole and Count Basie could entertain on the stage, but often could not reside at the hotels at which they performed, and most definitely could not gamble in the casinos or go to the hotel restaurants and bars. After he achieved superstar success, Davis refused to work at venues which would practice racial segregation. His demands eventually led to the integration of Miami Beach nightclubs and Las Vegas casinos. Davis was particularly proud of this accomplishment. [5]
Although James Brown would claim the title of "Hardest Working Man in Show Business," the argument could be made that Sammy Davis, Jr. deserved it more. For example, in 1964 he was starring in Golden Boy at night and shooting his own New York-based afternoon talk show during the day. When he could get a day off from the theater, he would either be in the studio recording new songs, or else performing live, often at charity benefits as far away as Miami, Chicago and Las Vegas, or doing television variety specials in Los Angeles. Even at the time, Sam knew he was cheating his family of his company, but he couldn't help himself; as he later said, he was incapable of standing still.
Although still a huge draw in Las Vegas, Davis' musical career had sputtered out by the latter years of the 1960s, although he had a #11 hit (#1 on the Easy Listening singles chart) with "I've Gotta Be Me" in 1969. An attempt to update his sound and reconnect with younger people resulted in some embarrassing "hip" musical efforts with the Motown record label.[6] But then, even as his career seemed at its nadir, Sammy had an unexpected worldwide smash hit with "Candy Man". Although he didn't particularly care for the song and was chagrined that he was now best known for it, Davis made the most of his new opportunity and revitalized his career. Although he enjoyed no more Top 40 hits, he did enjoy some extra popularity with his performance of the theme song from the T.V. series Baretta (1975-1978) which was not released as a single but was given extensive radio play and he remained a successful live act beyond Vegas for the remainder of his career. He would still occasionally land television and film parts, including high profile visits to the All in the Family series playing himself. In the 1970s, he also appeared in a series of memorable commercials in Japan for Suntory whiskey.
On December 11, 1967, NBC broadcast a musical-variety special entitled Movin' With Nancy. In addition to the Emmy Award-winning musical performances, the show is famous for Nancy Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr. greeting each other with a kiss, one of the first black-white kisses in U.S. television history.[7]
In Japan, Davis appeared in television commercials for coffee, and in the U.S. he joined Sinatra and Martin in a radio commercial for a Chicago car dealership.
Davis was one of the first male celebrities to admit to watching television soap operas, particularly the shows produced by the American Broadcasting Company. This admission led to him making a cameo appearance on General Hospital and playing the recurring character Chip Warren on One Life to Live for which he received a Daytime Emmy nomination in 1980. He was also a game show fan, making a cameo on the ABC version of Family Feud in 1979, and hosting a question with Richard Dawson watching from the sidelines. He appeared on Tattletales with third wife Altovise Davis in the 1970s. He also made a cameo during an episode of the NBC version of Card Sharks in 1981.
Davis was an avid photographer who enjoyed shooting family and acquaintances. His body of work was detailed in a 2007 book by Burt Boyar. "Jerry [Lewis] gave me my first important camera, my first 35 millimeter, during the Ciro's period, early '50s," Boyar quotes Davis. "And he hooked me." Davis used a medium format camera later on to capture images. Again quoting Davis, "Nobody interrupts a man taking a picture to ask... 'What's that nigger doin' here?' ". His catalogue of photos include rare shots of his father dancing onstage as part of the Will Mastin Trio. Also, intimate snapshots of close friends: Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, James Dean, Nat "King" Cole and Marilyn Monroe. His political affiliations also were represented in his images of: Robert Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. His most revealing work comes in photographs of wife May Britt and their three children, Tracey, Jeff and Mark.
(Credit Wikipidia.org)
Here Lies Love
Sammy Davis Jr. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Wave a blue finale
For my tragedy.
Life a misery,
Meant only for me,
While I linger, weary,
'Neath a willow tree.
Here again we parted
When I set you free.
All my thoughts are jumbled,
Everything is blurred,
All the world has crumbled,
Shattered by word.
My end has come,
My heart is numb,
'Twas like a bolt from the blue above.
I can't believe it but you're gone, darling,
And here lies love.
The sky is dark
And I hear a lark,
He sounds as sad as a mournful dove.
The dew appears like the tears of dawn, darling,
For here lies love.
All my dreams lost beyond recall,
Dreams of Spring blasted in the Fall,
You gave lips, you gave arms,
I gave all!
I ought to cry,
My eyes are dry,
There's only one thing I'm conscious of;
I only know that I can't go on, darling,
Here lies love.
My end has come,
My heart is numb,
'Twas like a bolt from the blue above.
I can't believe it but you're gone, darling,
And here lies love.
I only know that I can't go on, darling,
For here lies love.
The song "Here Lies Love" by Sammy Davis Jr. is a melancholic ballad about lost love and heartbreak. The lyrics paint a picture of a tragic ending to a once-passionate romance. The singer reflects on the memories of the past while sitting under a willow tree, feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders. He recalls the moments of happiness and the moment of heartbreak when he had to let his love go. The pain of the loss feels unbearable, and he cannot believe it has happened. The singer cannot find solace in anything anymore; even the sky is dark, and the lark's song sounds mournful, just like his soul. He gave his all to the romance and sacrificed his dreams, but now he feels lost and empty.
The lyrics are an emotional representation of the aftermath of a relationship gone wrong. The singer is overwhelmed by the pain of the loss and the frustration of not being able to turn back time. The words are a reminder to the listeners to treasure their love and protect it with all their power. They warn that lost opportunities may never come back, and a careless mistake can lead to heartbreaking consequences. The song evokes a sense of vulnerability, and the listener is left to ponder the fragility of romantic love.
Line by Line Meaning
Night winds, cold and melancholy,
The winds that blow at night are cold and full of sorrow, reflecting the sadness of my situation.
Wave a blue finale
They create a mournful ending, or finale, represented by the color blue.
For my tragedy.
A tragedy has occurred, and the night winds seem to acknowledge and mourn this fact.
Life a misery,
My life is filled with suffering and unhappiness.
Meant only for me,
This misery seems to be my destiny alone, as though it were planned for me specifically.
While I linger, weary,
I am tired and emotionally drained, and I remain in this state for some time.
'Neath a willow tree.
I sit or stand beneath a willow tree, which symbolizes sadness and mourning.
Right here our romance was started,
This is the place where the artist and their love began their relationship.
Here again we parted
This is also where the two of them parted ways.
When I set you free.
The artist is the one who initiated the separation, choosing to release their love from the relationship.
All my thoughts are jumbled,
The singer is confused and disoriented, unable to think clearly.
Everything is blurred,
Everything seems to blend together or become indistinct, adding to the artist's confusion and disorientation.
All the world has crumbled,
The singer's world has collapsed, leaving them feeling alone and hopeless.
Shattered by word.
It was something someone said that caused this collapse, which might imply that the singer's words led to their love's departure.
My end has come,
The singer feels as though their life is over, or their current situation will not improve.
My heart is numb,
The artist feels disconnected from their emotions, unable to feel anything deeply due to their pain and shock.
'Twas like a bolt from the blue above.
The pain and heartbreak they feel was sudden and severe, like being struck by lightning out of nowhere.
I can't believe it but you're gone, darling,
The singer is in disbelief that their love is no longer with them.
And here lies love.
The love they shared is now dead and gone, represented by the phrase 'here lies love.'
The sky is dark
The world around the artist seems bleak and hopeless.
And I hear a lark,
Despite the darkness, the artist hears a bird singing, potentially symbolizing hope or light in the darkness.
He sounds as sad as a mournful dove.
Even the bird's song echoes the sadness and mourning present in the artist's life.
The dew appears like the tears of dawn, darling,
The dew on the ground seems like tears, perhaps symbolizing a sadness that is so deep and profound that it exists even in nature.
All my dreams lost beyond recall,
The artist has lost all hope for a happy future, as if all their dreams have been irretrievably destroyed.
Dreams of Spring blasted in the Fall,
The singer's desires for a bright, happy future have been destroyed or torn apart during a time when they were just starting to come to life.
You gave lips, you gave arms,
The singer's love gave them affection and physical closeness.
I gave all!
The singer gave everything they had to the relationship, which now feels wasted and lost.
I ought to cry,
The artist should feel like crying given their situation, but they are unable to due to shock or numbness.
My eyes are dry,
Despite the need to cry, the artist's eyes are dry and cannot produce tears.
There's only one thing I'm conscious of;
The only thing the singer is aware of is their own pain and sadness.
I only know that I can't go on, darling,
The singer cannot imagine moving forward, as their grief is too great to bear.
Here lies love.
The song ends as it began, with the artist acknowledging the death of their love.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: RALPH RAINGER, LEO ROBIN, FRANCOIS JOSEPH CHARLES SALABERT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind