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 Wants To Be A Millionaire
Susannah McCorkle Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I don't
Have flashy flunkies everywhere?
I don't
Who wants the bother of a country estate?
A country estate is something I'd hate
Who wants to wallow in champagne?
I don't
I don't
And I don't, 'cause all I want is you
Who wants to be a millionaire?
I don't
Who wants uranium to spare?
I don't
Who wants to journey on a gigantic yacht?
Do I want a yacht?
Oh, how I do not
Who wants a fancy foreign car?
I don't
Who wants to tire of caviar?
I don't
Who wants a marble swimming pool too?
I don't
And I don't 'cause all I want is you
Who wants to be a millionaire?
I don't
And go to every swell affair?
I don't
Who wants to ride behind a liveried chauffeur?
A liveried chauffeur, do I want?
No sir!
Who wants an opera box, I'll bet?
I don't
And sleep through Wagner at the Met
I don't
Who wants to corner Cartiers too?
I don't
And I don't 'cause all I want is you
In Susannah McCorkle's song "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?", the singer expresses that they do not desire to be a millionaire and acquire all the lavish things that come with that lifestyle. In the first verse, they mention flashy flunkies and a country estate as things they do not want. They also don't want to indulge in champagne and a supersonic plane. The singer emphasizes that they don't want any of these things because all they want is the person they love.
The rest of the song follows the same pattern, listing off various items and experiences that come with being a millionaire and stating that they do not want them. In the second verse, the singer mentions uranium and a gigantic yacht. They also do not want a foreign car and to tire of caviar. In the final verse, they mention an opera box and cornering Cartiers, as well as sleeping through Wagner at the Met. They do not want any of these things and would rather be with the person they love.
Line by Line Meaning
Who wants to be a millionaire?
I'm not interested in becoming a millionaire.
I don't
I don't want the things that come with being a millionaire.
Have flashy flunkies everywhere?
I don't want a bunch of people constantly at my service.
Who wants the bother of a country estate?
I don't want the responsibility and trouble that comes with owning a big piece of land.
A country estate is something I'd hate
I really wouldn't enjoy having a country estate.
Who wants to wallow in champagne?
I don't want to indulge in excessive drinking.
Who wants a supersonic plane?
I don't want or need a fancy, fast plane.
And I don't, 'cause all I want is you
I don't desire anything else because what I truly want is you.
Who wants uranium to spare?
I'm not interested in having excess uranium.
Who wants to journey on a gigantic yacht?
I don't want to sail on a huge yacht.
Do I want a yacht?
I'm not sure if I want a yacht or not.
Oh, how I do not
Actually, I really don't want a yacht.
Who wants a fancy foreign car?
I don't desire a fancy foreign car.
Who wants to tire of caviar?
I don't want to get tired of eating caviar all the time.
Who wants a marble swimming pool too?
I don't want a luxurious pool made of marble either.
And go to every swell affair?
I don't want to attend every fancy event.
Who wants to ride behind a liveried chauffeur?
I don't want to be driven around by a chauffeur wearing a uniform.
A liveried chauffeur, do I want?
I'm not sure if I want a chauffeur or not.
No sir!
Actually, I definitely don't want a chauffeur.
Who wants an opera box, I'll bet?
I don't want a private box at the opera.
And sleep through Wagner at the Met
I don't want to fall asleep during a performance at the Metropolitan Opera.
Who wants to corner Cartiers too?
I don't want to monopolize Cartier jewelry.
And I don't 'cause all I want is you
Again, I don't have any aspirations beyond just being with you.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: COLE PORTER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind