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.
Love Is Here To Stay
Susannah McCorkle Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Not for a year but ever and a day
The radio and the telephone and the movies that we know
May just be passing fancies and in time may go
But oh, my dear, our love is here to stay
Together we're going a long, long way
In time the Rockies may crumble, Gibraltar may tumble
But our love is here to stay
In time the Rockies may crumble, Gibraltar may tumble
They're only made of clay
But our love is here to stay
In Susannah McCorkle's iconic song, "Love Is Here To Stay," she celebrates the strength of a love that will withstand the test of time. She sings with confidence in the belief that their love is not just a passing whim, but a forever kind of love. She acknowledges that things like the radio, the telephone, and movies may come and go, but their love is enduring.
The line "it's very clear, our love is here to stay" sets the tone for the entire song, as McCorkle repeats the phrase throughout. She then asserts that their love is not just a temporary infatuation - it will last forever, through good times and bad. Even the strongest of physical structures like the Rockies and Gibraltar may eventually succumb to decay, but their love will remain.
The way McCorkle sings the lyrics beautifully captures the essence of the song. Her voice is soft and tender, with a touch of melancholy that hints at the inevitable ups and downs of life. But throughout it all, their love will remain constant, providing a source of strength and comfort.
Line by Line Meaning
It's very clear, our love is here to stay
Our love is strong and certain, it will remain with us always
Not for a year but ever and a day
Our love is not fleeting, but everlasting
The radio and the telephone and the movies that we know
The popular technology and entertainment of our time may come and go
May just be passing fancies and in time may go
These things may only be temporary interests and eventually fade away
But oh, my dear, our love is here to stay
Despite any changes, our love for each other is permanent
Together we're going a long, long way
Our commitment to each other goes beyond the present moment
In time the Rockies may crumble, Gibraltar may tumble
Even the most enduring geological structures may ultimately collapse
They're only made of clay
These seemingly solid structures are ultimately fragile
But our love is here to stay
Our love, on the other hand, is indestructible
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Peermusic Publishing, RALEIGH MUSIC PUBLISHING
Written by: George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind