Mary Frances Penick was born on December 30, 1931 in the small Appalachian town of Dry Ridge, Kentucky. As a child, her grandfather nicknamed her "Skeeter" because she was always active and buzzing around like a mosquito. She got her start in music as part of the duo, The Davis Sisters, along with childhood friend, Betty Jack Davis. Thus, Skeeter Davis was born to the rest of the world.
The Davis Sisters sang in the local Lexington, Kentucky area and appeared on local radio WLAX in 1949. From there, they earned radio and television appearances in Detroit, Cincinnati and Wheeling, WV, where they were part of the WWVA Wheeling Jamboree.
In 1952, Skeeter and Betty Jack recorded for Fortune, but won a recording contract with RCA the following year and achieved their first chart success. "I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know" went to number one on the U.S. country chart and number eighteen on the U.S. pop chart.
Sadly, on August 23, 1953, Skeeter and Betty Jack were involved in a serious car accident in which Betty Jack died and Skeeter was critically injured. It took Skeeter more than a year to recover both physically and mentally. With great difficulty and a lot of persuasion, Skeeter returned to singing with Betty Jack's sister, Georgia Davis, to briefly resume the Davis Sisters' act. But, within a year, the duo broke up and Skeeter pursued a solo career.
She continued to record on the RCA label where she worked with Eddy Arnold and Elvis Presley. In 1955, she toured for RCA on the Caravan of the Stars. Davis teamed up with producer, Chet Atkins and scored her first solo country chart hit in 1958 with "Lost To A Geisha Girl." This was during a time when the female acts were surging forward with "response" songs to some of the biggest hits by male artists. As Kitty Wells had answered Hank Thompson's "Honky Tonk Angels," with "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" in 1952, Skeeter Davis put out this answer to Hank Locklin's "Geisha Girl."
A few years later, Davis recorded another answer to a Hank Locklin song and gained another huge hit. Locklin sang "Please Help Me I'm Falling" and Davis' response was, "I Can't Help You, I'm Falling Too."
In 1959, Davis achieved one of her greatest ambitions when she moved to Nashville and became a regular member of the Grand Ole Opry. In 1960, she married WSM personality, Ralph Emery, but the tumultuous marriage ended in 1964.
During the 1960's, Davis was one of RCA's most successful country artists. She harvested 26 U.S. country hits, 12 of which crossed over to the U.S. pop charts. Among these was what was to become her trademark song, the million-selling record "The End Of The World" which peaked at number two in both the U.S. country and pop charts in 1963. She also earned her only UK chart presence with "The End Of The World" which topped out at number eighteen in only thirteen weeks on the chart.
Davis has also acheived songwriting success. Her co-written song "Set Him Free" became her first country Top 10 hit in 1959. She also co-wrote "My Last Date" with Boudleaux Bryant and Floyd Cramer. Cramer, famed pianist and member of the original A-team, recorded it as an instrumental solo and had a million-selling record on it in 1960.
During the 60's and 70's, Davis toured extensively in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Far East. Her solo career started to wane in the 70's, but she still had several more hits such as "Bus Fare To Kentucky," "I'm A Lover, Not A Fighter," and "One Tin Soldier." Her duets with Bobby Bare, George Hamilton IV, and The Bee Gees gave her a few more hits, but by the mid-70's, Davis was reaching the end of her illustrious career. She ended her twenty-two year relationship with RCA in 1974 and charted her last hit for Mercury in 1976 with "I Love Us."
In 1967, Davis recorded a tribute album to Buddy Holly, which featured Waylon Jennings on the guitar. Later in 1972, she also did a tribute album to her friend, Dolly Parton. In 1985, she re-recorded an old Davis Sisters' hit, "May You Never Be Alone," with the group NRBQ. She married Joey Spampanito of NRBQ, but this marriage ultimately ended in divorce as well.
In 1973, Davis was dropped from the Grand Ole Opry's roster due to her strong criticisms of the Nashville Police Department during one of her performances. Her membership was later reinstated.
Davis has also taken to writing about her real life experiences. Her autobiography, "Bus Fare To Kentucky," was published in 1993. Davis pulls no punches in this brutally honest account of her life. She tells how she endured a family history of alcoholism, incest and murder. She also tells her side of the story regarding her four year marriage to Ralph Emery, following the heavy criticism which she received in Emery's autobiography. In 1997, she co-wrote a children's Christmas book, entitled "The Christmas Note," based on her own childhood.
Skeeter Davis passed away September 19th 2004 after a long battle with cancer.
Written by Sherry Anderson. June 2001
* Article appears courtesy of www.countrypolitan.com
Don't Let Me Stand In Your Way
Skeeter Davis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But I won't ask you to stay
If she's the girl that you're dreaming of
Don't let me stand in your way.
I can't pretend you're not breaking my heart
But if our love has seen its day
Don't let her go 'cause you're sorry for me
I know that I would have nothing to gain
By trying to hold on to you
And in the end it would bring me more pain
'Cause I'd make you unhappy too.
I'll still be here if you change your mind
Till then there's nothing left to say
So if you're sure she's the girl for you
Don't let me stand in your way.
Yes, I'll still be here if you change your mind
Till then there's nothing left to say
So if you're sure she's the girl for you
Don't let me stand in your way.
Oh, don't let me stand in your way.
No, don't let me stand in your way...
The lyrics of Skeeter Davis's song Don't Let Me Stand In Your Way is about a person who loves someone deeply but is willing to let them go if they have found someone else. The singer expresses her emotions for her love interest and tells him that she still loves him and always will, but she doesn't want to hold him back from his dreams. She pleads with him not to let her stand in the way of his happiness and to pursue his heart's desire.
The singer acknowledges that it hurts her deeply to let him go, but she knows that holding on to him will only bring her more pain in the end. She understands that she has nothing to gain from trying to hold on to him and that in her attempt to do so, she would only end up making him unhappy too. Therefore, she is willing to step aside and let him go, hoping that he finds the happiness he deserves with the girl of his dreams.
Overall, the lyrics of this song are bittersweet and express love, sacrifice, and understanding. The singer is willing to let go of the person she loves deeply because she knows what's best for him, which is a selfless act of love.
Line by Line Meaning
I love you now and I always will
I am still in love with you and always will be.
But I won't ask you to stay
I won't beg you to stay with me if you don't want to.
If she's the girl that you're dreaming of
If you've found someone else and she's the one you want to be with.
Don't let me stand in your way.
Please don't let me prevent you from being with the person you really want to be with.
I can't pretend you're not breaking my heart
I can't deny that seeing you with someone else is breaking my heart.
But if our love has seen its day
If our love is over and it's time to move on.
Don't let her go 'cause you're sorry for me
Don't choose to be with me just because you feel sorry for me.
Don't let me stand in your way.
Please don't let me prevent you from being with the person you really want to be with.
I know that I would have nothing to gain
I understand that holding on to you wouldn't benefit me.
By trying to hold on to you
If I were to try to hold onto you and convince you to stay with me.
And in the end it would bring me more pain
It would only lead to more pain for me in the long run.
'Cause I'd make you unhappy too.
Because I know deep down that I wouldn't make you happy either.
I'll still be here if you change your mind
I'll be here for you if you decide you want to be with me again.
Till then there's nothing left to say
Until then, there's nothing more to discuss.
So if you're sure she's the girl for you
If you're absolutely certain that she's the one you want to be with.
Don't let me stand in your way.
Please don't let me prevent you from being with the person you really want to be with.
Yes, I'll still be here if you change your mind
I'll still be available if you decide you want to be with me again.
Till then there's nothing left to say
Until then, there's nothing more to discuss.
So if you're sure she's the girl for you
If you're absolutely certain that she's the one you want to be with.
Don't let me stand in your way.
Please don't let me prevent you from being with the person you really want to be with.
Oh, don't let me stand in your way.
Please don't let me prevent you from being with the person you really want to be with.
No, don't let me stand in your way...
Please don't let me prevent you from being with the person you really want to be with.
Contributed by Jordan F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
JKosowski1
Can't get enough of Skeeter's music.
whispperson
Love this Lady
Steve Carroll
Perfect Goffin/King vehicle!
TIMROZIERLOCAL513
Wall of Sound Nashville style !!!
leslie hilesgardener
If I'm talking to much I'll WAIT WATCHING for your que I maybe going in the wrong direction
TheLimePopsicle
@nipsterstang You're welcome, Jim!