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.
Who Cares
Susannah McCorkle Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To fall in the sea?
Who cares what banks fail in Yonkers,
Long as you've got a kiss that conquers?
Why should I care?
Life is one long jubilee,
So long as I care for you
The lyrics of Susannah McCorkle's song "Who Cares" showcase a carefree attitude towards life when in love. The opening line, "Who cares if the sky cares to fall in the sea?" suggests that when in love, even the most dramatic and catastrophic events in the world seem insignificant. The idea is further emphasized in the next line, "Who cares what banks fail in Yonkers?" implying that financial problems do not matter much as long as they have each other's love to rely on.
The singer then questions why she should care about the troubles of the world when life is a "long jubilee" as long as they care for each other. The lyrics convey that the love shared between two people is the most crucial aspect of life, and everything else is insignificant in comparison. The song presents love as a force that overpowers all other worries and troubles.
In conclusion, Susannah McCorkle's "Who Cares" is a joyful song that celebrates love and its power to make everything else irrelevant in life.
Line by Line Meaning
Who cares if the sky cares
Why should it matter if the sky falls?
To fall in the sea?
To crash into the ocean.
Who cares what banks fail in Yonkers,
Why should anyone be concerned with bank failures in Yonkers?
Long as you've got a kiss that conquers?
As long as love is strong enough to overcome any obstacles.
Why should I care?
What reason is there for me to be concerned?
Life is one long jubilee,
Life is a continuous celebration.
So long as I care for you
As long as I love and cherish you.
And you care for me!
And you love me in return!
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: GEORGE GERSHWIN, IRA GERSHWIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind