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.
Losing Hand
Susannah McCorkle Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I gambled on your love baby and got a losing hand
Your ways keep changing like the shifting desert sand
While I was playing fair baby you played a cheating game
While I was playing fair baby you played a cheating game
I know you don't care but I love you just the same
I thought I'd be your king baby, yes and you could be my queen
But you used me for your joker ´cause I thought you're deal was clean
The way you did me pretty baby I declare I never understand
The way you did me pretty baby I declare I never understand
I gambled on your love baby and got a losing hand
In Susannah McCorkle's song "Losing Hand," the singer expresses their feelings about being in a relationship where their love is not reciprocated. The singer uses the metaphor of gambling to represent the risks they took in choosing to love someone who doesn't feel the same way about them. They sing, "I gambled on your love baby and got a losing hand," expressing the disappointment and heartbreak that comes with taking a chance on love and not getting what you hoped for. The singer continues to explain that they were playing a fair game, while their partner was playing a cheating game. The partner's behavior was unpredictable and constantly changing, similar to the shifting sands of a desert.
Despite their partner's cheating and unpredictable ways, the singer still loves them. They had hoped that their partner would be the queen to their king, but instead, the partner used the singer as their joker. The singer feels used and betrayed by their partner's actions. They express frustration and confusion, singing "The way you did me pretty baby I declare I never understand."
Overall, "Losing Hand" is a poignant and relatable love song that captures the pain and confusion that comes with loving someone who doesn't feel the same way about you. It is a reminder of the risks we take when we choose to love someone and the disappointment that can come when those risks do not pay off.
Line by Line Meaning
I gambled on your love baby and got a losing hand
I took a chance on your love, but ended up with a terrible outcome. Your behavior is unpredictable and constantly changing, like shifting sands.
While I was playing fair baby you played a cheating game
I was honest and sincere in our relationship, but you were deceptive and dishonest. Despite this, I still have strong feelings for you.
I know you don't care but I love you just the same
Despite the fact that you don't reciprocate my love, I still have strong feelings for you and cannot help the way I feel.
I thought I'd be your king baby, yes and you could be my queen
I thought we would be equals in our relationship, with each other's best interests at heart. I saw a future with us ruling together as a team.
But you used me for your joker ´cause I thought you're deal was clean
You took advantage of my trust in you and used me as a pawn in your selfish game. I never suspected that you were being deceitful and had ulterior motives.
The way you did me pretty baby I declare I never understand
The manner in which you treated me, my heart, and my trust was cruel and confusing. I will never comprehend why you would hurt me in this way.
I gambled on your love baby and got a losing hand
In spite of everything, I took a chance on your love, but the outcome was unfavorable. I lost the game of love with you.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: CHARLES E. CALHOUN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind