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.
Just One Of Those Things
Susannah McCorkle Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Just one of those crazy flings
One of those bells that now and then rings
Just one of those things
It was just one of those nights
Just one of those fabulous flights
A trip to the moon on gossamer wings
If we'd thought a bit before the end of it
When we started painting the town
We'd have been aware that our love affair
Was too hot not to cool down
So goodbye, dear, and amen
Here's hoping we meet now and then
It was great fun
But it was just one of those things
The lyrics of Susannah McCorkle's song "Just One of Those Things" speaks of a love affair that was short-lived, impulsive, and passionate. The song conveys the idea that sometimes people get caught up in the moment and engage in crazy flings that they know will not last. This is referenced in the first verse, which describes the fleeting nature of such relationships with the line "One of those bells that now and then rings." The chorus emphasizes the idea that this encounter was just one of those things, an intense experience just one night, a momentary escape, and a trip to the moon on gossamer wings.
The bridge of the song suggests that if the couple had thought things through, they might have realized that their love affair was too intense to last. They did not pay much attention while painting the town red and probably missed seeing the possibility that their relationship was too hot not to cool down, as stated in the lyrics. The song ends with the singer, bidding his/her lover farewell, with the hope that they will meet again someday.
Overall, the song excellently captures the intense and fleeting nature of a relationship that was not meant to be, and it recognizes the inevitability of the end, even though the affair was enjoyable while it lasted.
Line by Line Meaning
It was just one of those things
The singer is acknowledging that the experience they had was one that wasn't exclusive, special or enduring.
Just one of those crazy flings
The singer is referring to the short-lived nature of their love and how it was intense, passionate and volatile.
One of those bells that now and then rings
The singer is describing how their love was sporadic and came up at unexpected times.
Just one of those things
The artist reiterates that what they had was fleeting, transitory and not significant.
It was just one of those nights
The artist is referring to a particular night where they experienced something magical and extraordinary.
Just one of those fabulous flights
The singer is reflecting on the exhilarating, fantastical and dreamlike nature of their romance.
A trip to the moon on gossamer wings
The singer is using a metaphor to describe how their love was ethereal, delicate and otherworldly.
If we'd thought a bit before the end of it
The artist is acknowledging that if they had stopped and considered the course of their love, they might have realized it wasn't going to last.
When we started painting the town
The artist is referring to the time when they were out in public, enjoying each other's company, and making a scene.
We'd have been aware that our love affair
The artist is confessing that they only realized after the fact that their love affair was too hot and passionate to last for a long time.
Was too hot not to cool down
The singer is using a rhetorical device to highlight that their love was intense and short-lived.
So goodbye, dear, and amen
The artist is bidding farewell to their lover, perhaps for the last time.
Here's hoping we meet now and then
The singer is expressing hope that they will meet their lover again, but suggests it will only be occasionally.
It was great fun
The singer is acknowledging that their love was enjoyable and had a sense of adventure to it.
But it was just one of those things
The singer ends by reiterating that their love was a brief and fleeting occurrence, one of those things that happen and don't really matter in the grand scheme of things.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: COLE PORTER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind