McCorkle was born in Berkeley, California. She studied modern languages at the University of California, Berkeley. McCorkle began singing professionally after hearing recordings of Billie Holiday in Paris in the late 1960s. She nearly became an interpreter at the European Commission in Brussels, but moved instead to London in 1972 to pursue a career in singing. While in the UK, she made two albums which, although well received, enjoyed only limited circulation.
In the late 1970s, McCorkle returned to the United States and settled in New York City, where a five-month engagement at the Cookery in Greenwich Village brought her to wider public attention and elicited rave reviews from critics.
During the 1980s, McCorkle continued to record; her maturing style and the darkening timbre of her voice greatly enhanced her performances. In the early 1990s, two of the albums McCorkle made for Concord Records, No More Blues and Sábia, were enormously successful and made her name known to the wider world. She was recorded by the Smithsonian Institution which at the time made her the youngest singer ever to have been included in its popular music series. McCorkle played Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher and Alice Tully Halls five times and Carnegie Hall three times, and was featured soloist with Skitch Henderson and the 80-piece New York Pops in a concert of Brazilian music.
Thanks to her linguistic skills, McCorkle translated lyrics of Brazilian, French, and Italian songs, notably those for her Brazilian album Sabia. McCorkle also had several short stories published and, in 1991, began work on her first novel. She published fiction in Mademoiselle, Cosmopolitan Magazine, and non-fiction in the New York Times Magazine and in American Heritage, including lengthy articles on Ethel Waters, Bessie Smith, Irving Berlin and Mae West.
McCorkle suffered for many years from depression and cancer, and took her own life at age 55 by leaping off the balcony of her highrise Manhattan apartment. She was alone in her home at the time. The police immediately entered her home after identifying her body and found no foul play. Suicide was ruled the cause of death.
Harlem Butterfly
Susannah McCorkle Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The moon got in your eye
The night you were born
Harlem butterfly
You listened to the cry
Of some lonely horn
Left you a mark
That you’ll never, never lose
While you chase some will o’ the wisp
In the dark
Your heart keeps singing the blues
Harlem butterfly
The writing’s in the sky
You’ll come to no good
But I’m not blaming you
I’m certain I would do
The same if I could
Even though a candle
Burned at both ends
Can never last out the night
Harlem butterfly
It really gives a lovely light
Instrumental Interlude
Harlem butterfly
The writing’s in the sky
You’ll come to no good
But I’m not blaming you
I’m certain I would do
The same if I could
Even though a candle
Burned at both ends
Can never last out the night
Harlem butterfly
It really gives a lovely light
The song Harlem Butterfly by Susannah McCorkle tells the story of a person who is born in Harlem and is marked by the combination of the moon in their eye and the sound of a lonely horn. This person is like a butterfly, chasing after something in the dark and always singing the blues. The writing is in the sky that this person will come to no good, but the singer is not blaming them because she is certain she would do the same if she could. The metaphor of a candle burned at both ends is used to suggest that the person's life may be short but it is full of light.
The lyrics are open to different interpretations, but it is possible to see the Harlem butterfly as a symbol for the African American experience in the United States. Harlem was a center of African American culture in the early 20th century, and the blues was a musical form that emerged from this community. The mark that the Harlem butterfly carries may be the legacy of racism, poverty, and discrimination that affected generations of African Americans. The butterfly's pursuit of a "will o' the wisp" may represent the quest for freedom, equality, and identity that has been an ongoing struggle for African Americans.
Line by Line Meaning
Harlem butterfly
The singer addresses a person who is elegant like a butterfly that is from Harlem.
The moon got in your eye
On the night of your birth, the moon's light shone into your eyes giving you a mystical quality.
The night you were born
A repetition of the idea that the person's birth was marked by a mystical event, in this case, the moonlight.
You listened to the cry
As a child, you were drawn to the sad sound of a musical instrument.
Of some lonely horn
The musical instrument that caught your attention was a horn whose sound conveyed a sense of loneliness.
That combination
The experience of being born under a mystical moon and hearing the melancholic sound of the horn had a profound effect on you.
Left you a mark
This experience had a lasting impact on you.
That you’ll never, never lose
You will always carry this experience with you.
While you chase some will o’ the wisp
The person is chasing something elusive and unattainable.
In the dark
This chase is happening in a place of uncertainty and obscurity.
Your heart keeps singing the blues
Despite the elusive chase, you remain connected to the melancholic sound of the horn that you heard as a child.
The writing’s in the sky
The outcome of the person's pursuit is already determined and inevitable.
You’ll come to no good
The person's pursuit will not lead to a positive outcome.
But I’m not blaming you
The singer is not pointing fingers or casting blame on the person for their pursuit.
I’m certain I would do
The singer empathizes with the person's pursuit and explains that they would do the same if they were in the person's position.
Even though a candle
Despite a warning, the person is burning their candle at both ends, living recklessly and taking risks.
Burned at both ends
A metaphor for living a life of excess and intensity, using up one's resources at an unsustainable rate.
Can never last out the night
Such a lifestyle is not sustainable and will lead to an early death or downfall.
It really gives a lovely light
Despite the above warning, the person's life is still worth admiring because it is beautiful and vibrant, like a bright flame.
Contributed by Madison Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.