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.
Skylark
Susannah McCorkle Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Have you anything to say to me?
Won't you tell me where my love can be?
Is there a meadow in the mist
Where someone's waiting to be kissed?
Skylark
Have you seen a valley green with spring?
Over the shadows and the rain
To a blossom covered lane
And in your lonely flight
Haven't you heard the music in the night?
Wonderful music, faint as a will o' the wisp
Crazy as a loon, sad as a gypsy serenading the moon
Oh skylark
I don't know if you can find these things
But my heart is riding on your wings
So if you see them anywhere
Won't you lead me there?
Oh skylark
I don't know if you can find these things
But my heart is riding on your wings
So if you see them anywhere
Won't you lead me there?
In the song "Skylark" by Susannah McCorkle, the singer is asking the skylark if it has any information about where her love might be. She wonders if there is a meadow in the mist where her love is waiting to be kissed. She also asks if the skylark has seen a green valley in the spring where her heart can journey to a blossom-covered lane. The singer is hoping that the skylark might be her guide to finding her love and the idyllic settings she describes.
The lyrics suggest a longing for love and a romanticized vision of nature. The meadow in the mist and green valley in the spring are both vivid images of natural beauty that the singer wishes to experience with her love. The skylark, with its ability to soar high in the sky, represents a hope for guidance towards these idealistic settings. The singer also speaks of the music she hears at night and asks if the skylark has heard it, perhaps implying a desire to share these moments with her loved one. The song creates a longing for love and a sense of hope that the natural world might help guide the singer towards it.
Line by Line Meaning
Skylark
Addressing the bird, emphasizing its significance in the upcoming conversation
Have you anything to say to me?
Asking the bird if it has any important information to share
Won't you tell me where my love can be?
Pleading with the bird to reveal the whereabouts of a missing significant other
Is there a meadow in the mist
Questioning whether there is a romantic location shrouded in fog
Where someone's waiting to be kissed?
Wondering if a lover is eagerly anticipating a kiss in that location
Have you seen a valley green with spring?
Inquiring if the bird has spotted a vibrant spring landscape
Where my heart can go a journeying
Desiring a location that can evoke strong emotions and thoughts
Over the shadows and the rain
Willing to traverse through challenging terrain to reach that location
To a blossom-covered lane
Seeking a picturesque pathway adorned with flowers
And in your lonely flight
Acknowledging the bird's solitary existence
Haven't you heard the music in the night?
Asking the bird if it has ever heard beautiful melodies during its nocturnal flights
Wonderful music, faint as a will o' the wisp
Describing the alluring music the bird may have heard as ethereal and elusive
Crazy as a loon, sad as a gypsy serenading the moon
Further characterizing the distinct qualities of the music as wild and mournful
Oh skylark
Reemphasizing the importance of the bird in the song's message
I don't know if you can find these things
Admitting uncertainty about the bird's capability to fulfill the singer's desires
But my heart is riding on your wings
Symbolically entrusting the bird with the artist's deepest desires and emotions
So if you see them anywhere
Requesting the bird to keep a look out for the desired locations
Won't you lead me there?
Pleading with the bird to guide the singer to their sought-after destinations
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: HOAGY CARMICHAEL, JOHNNY MERCER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind