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.
How Long Has This Been Going On
Susannah McCorkle Lyrics
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I was kissed by my sisters, my cousins, and my aunties.
Sad to tell, it was hell, an inferno worse than Dante's.
So my dear I swore,
"Never, never more!"
On my list, I insisted that kissing must be crossed out.
Now, I find I was blind, and oh my!
I could cry salty tears,
Where have I been all these years?
Little wow, tell me now,
How long has this been going on?
There were chills up my spine,
And some thrills I can't define.
Listen, sweet, I repeat,
How long has this been going on?
Oh, I feel that I could melt,
Into Heaven I'm hurled!
I know how Columbus felt,
Finding another world.
Kiss me once, then once more.
What a dunce I was before.
What a break!
For Heaven's sake!
How long has this been going on?
Dear, when in your arms I creep,
That divine rendezvous,
Don't wake me, if I'm asleep,
Let me dream that it's true!
Kiss me twice, then once more.
That makes thrice, let's make it four!
What a break!
For Heaven's sake!
How long has this been going on?
How long has this, been going on?
Susannah Mccorkle's song "How Long Has This Been Going On?" is a love song that expresses a sense of rediscovery and wonder of love. The song represents the singer's awakening to the power of love that she had previously been blind to as a result of her family kissing her throughout her childhood/teenage years thereby making her think she does not want to be kissed anymore. However, she now realizes that she had been missing out on the beauty and joy that comes with experiencing love.
The lyrics "Oh, I feel that I could melt, Into Heaven I'm hurled! I know how Columbus felt, Finding another world" suggest the ecstasy that the singer feels from experiencing this newfound love. She compares her awakening to the discovery of the New World by Columbus.
The song explores how love creeps up on a person, and when it is found, it can turn their world upside down. The lyrics also showcase how one's perspective on love can change, as the singer had earlier condemned it as something she wanted no part of but now she is consumed by it. The song is a tribute to the beautiful, powerful and transformative power of love.
Line by Line Meaning
As a tot, when I trotted in little velvet panties,
When I was a child and still in diapers,
I was kissed by my sisters, my cousins, and my aunties.
My female relatives would kiss me all over my face and body.
Sad to tell, it was hell, an inferno worse than Dante's.
It was overwhelming and unbearable for me, like a scene from Dante's Inferno.
So my dear I swore, "Never, never more!"
As a result, I vowed to never have unwanted kisses again.
On my list, I insisted that kissing must be crossed out.
I made it clear that I did not want anyone to kiss me again.
Now, I find I was blind, and oh my! How I lost out!
However, now that I am older and have experienced love, I realize how foolish that vow was.
I could cry salty tears, Where have I been all these years?
I regret the years I spent avoiding affection and wish I had discovered it sooner.
Little wow, tell me now, How long has this been going on?
I am in awe of love and desire someone to tell me how long it has existed in the world.
There were chills up my spine, And some thrills I can't define.
Love gives me both physical and emotional sensations, some of which are hard to articulate.
Listen, sweet, I repeat, How long has this been going on?
Once again, I request someone to tell me how long love has existed in the world.
Oh, I feel that I could melt, Into Heaven I'm hurled!
Love makes me feel like I am floating on air and can't contain my excitement.
I know how Columbus felt, Finding another world.
I feel like I have discovered a new world, much like how Columbus must have felt when he discovered America.
Kiss me once, then once more. What a dunce I was before.
I am now ready to receive affection and regret that I ever shunned it.
What a break! For Heaven's sake! How long has this been going on?
It's a miracle that I have discovered love and I again ask anyone to tell me how long it has existed in the world.
Dear, when in your arms I creep, That divine rendezvous, Don't wake me, if I'm asleep, Let me dream that it's true!
When I am held by a lover, it feels like a sacred moment and I do not want to be disturbed, I want to stay in the fantasy that it is real.
Kiss me twice, then once more. That makes thrice, let's make it four!
I am eager to receive as much affection as possible and do not want it to stop.
How long has this been going on? How long has this, been going on?
The question of how long love has existed in the world is still on my mind and I can't stop pondering it.
Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: WILLIAM C HANDY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
HFritzson
She builds the emotion like an actress. Smashing.