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.
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Susannah McCorkle Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The quick toboggan when you reach the heights
I miss the kisses and I miss the bites
I wish I were in love again
The broken dates, the endless waits
The lovely loving and the hateful hates
The conversation with the flying plates
No more pain, no more strain
Now I'm sane, but I would rather be punch drunk
The pulled-out fur of cat and cur
The fine mis-mating of a him and her
I've learned my lesson, but I wish I were
In love again
The furtive sigh, the blackened eye
The words "I love you, till the day I day"
The self-deception that believes the lie
I wish I were in love again
When love congeals, it soon reveals
The faint aroma of performing seals
The double-crossing of a pair of heals
I wish I were in love again
No, no more care, no, no despair
Now I'm all there (now), but I'd rather be punch drunk
Believe me, sir, I much prefer
The classic battle of a him and her
I don't like quiet and I wish I were
In love again, in love again, in love again
In Susannah McCorkle's song "I Wish I Were in Love Again," she vividly describes the ups and downs of being in love. She yearns for the passionate moments of a relationship in the first two stanzas, reminiscing on the kisses, bites, and lovely loving. However, she also acknowledges the fights, broken dates, and hateful hates that come with being with someone. In the third stanza, she realizes that being single means no more pain or strain, but she still misses being "punch drunk" in love.
The fourth stanza brings attention to the darker side of relationships, mentioning the pulled-out fur of a cat and cur, which can be interpreted as a metaphor for fighting and violence. She admits to learning her lesson from past relationships, but still wishes she were in love again. In the fifth stanza, the singer acknowledges the self-deception in believing in the words "I love you" even when it's not true, and in the sixth stanza, she speaks of love becoming stale and revealing the "faint aroma of performing seals."
In the last stanza, the singer admits to preferring the classic battle of being in a relationship, acknowledging that she does not like quiet and wishes she were in love again. Overall, the song captures the dichotomy of being in love, with its sweet moments and turmoil.
Line by Line Meaning
The sleepless nights, the daily fights
The quick toboggan when you reach the heights
I miss the kisses and I miss the bites
I wish I were in love again
I long to experience the highs and lows of passionate love once more, even if it means enduring sleepless nights and daily fights.
The broken dates, the endless waits
The lovely loving and the hateful hates
The conversation with the flying plates
I wish I were in love again
Despite the heartbreak and tumultuous nature of love, I still yearn for it and miss the intense emotions that come with it.
No more pain, no more strain
Now I'm sane, but I would rather be punch drunk
While I may be more level-headed without love, I find myself missing the dizzying intoxication of being in love and all of the pain and strain that comes with it.
The pulled-out fur of cat and cur
The fine mis-mating of a him and her
I've learned my lesson, but I wish I were
In love again
Despite past failed relationships and heartache, I still desire the experience of love and all of its complexities.
The furtive sigh, the blackened eye
The words "I love you, till the day I day"
The self-deception that believes the lie
I wish I were in love again
Though love can be deceiving and even abusive, I still hold onto hope that I can find a sincere and lasting love.
When love congeals, it soon reveals
The faint aroma of performing seals
The double-crossing of a pair of heals
I wish I were in love again
The once-passionate love can quickly fizzles out and reveal the mundane or even manipulative nature of both partners, yet I still yearn for the passion of love.
No, no more care, no, no despair
Now I'm all there (now), but I'd rather be punch drunk
Despite feeling emotionally stable, I still long for the intense emotions and potentially painful experiences that come with love.
Believe me, sir, I much prefer
The classic battle of a him and her
I don't like quiet and I wish I were
In love again, in love again, in love again
I find the challenge and drama of romantic relationships to be more fulfilling than the calmness of being alone, and I deeply desire to experience that again.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., IMAGEM MUSIC INC
Written by: LORENZ HART, RICHARD RODGERS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Lucas27
Thanks so much for this video. I had never before seen Susannah in an interview. She appears as nice as I always imagined from her singing. I think her singing was exquisite. I have many favorites, but nothing gets better than "I Took a Trip On a Train".
Lucas27
Jesus! I mean, "I Thought About You".
Phil Pesch
Thank you for posting. There are few video moments of Susanna McCorkle to be found so they are treasures. I love so much of her work, but her interpretation of "The Hungry Years" is especially moving. Wish she was here.
D.J. Sweeney
So sad that she died so tragically. I really loved her voice. Her phrasing was really awesome.
Kenneth Freund
One of the great singers from the 80's & 90s. Never got the credit she deserved. Try finding a better reading of "Easy to Love". You won't.
Randall Riley
+Kenneth Freund Agree. her "Easy to Love" is sublime and classy, all the way.
ChainsGoldMask
Waters of March touched my soul in a way few things have ever. Her version of that song is magical. She was an amazing woman, from her career before music leading her to music, and even her passing. This woman burned brightly.
bricology
Thank you for uploading this. I saw her perform two nights in a row back in '87 or '88, and just loved her voice and her persona. What a remarkable woman and, what a loss.
nejazzguy
I always loved her unique speaking voice, she was a true pro and really worked and worked and worked on her unique versions of songs.
googlefuckedupyoutube
Thank you for this. She was a wonder. I sing with a quirky very eclectic cover band, actually a mostly rock band. But I sing “If I Only Had A Heart” because of her version, as the ballad she understood it to be, which I found so inspiring. I wish there were more footage of her singing live. I regret never seeing her live.