Susannah McCorkle (1 January 1946 – 19 May 2001) was an American jazz singe… Read Full Bio ↴Susannah McCorkle (1 January 1946 – 19 May 2001) was an American jazz singer much admired for her direct, unadorned singing style and quiet intensity.

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 ↴

Who wants to be a millionaire?
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

Who wants a supersonic plane?
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

Overall Meaning

The catchy upbeat tune, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" tells us what most of us secretly think, that money and expensive luxuries aren't everything. The song is a playful rejection of wealth and status, as Susannah McCorkle insists that she doesn't want riches or the trappings of the wealthy. She dismisses the trappings of wealth one by one, from flashy flunkies to marble swimming pools in favor of the person she loves who is all she needs.

The lyrics convey a sense of contentment with one's current life and the joy derived from being with the person you love. McCorkle declares that she doesn't want a lot of things that are seen as symbols of wealth and luxury. Instead, she values love and personal connections over material possessions. In this way, the song is a celebration of love rather than a critique of wealth.

Overall, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" is an upbeat and lighthearted song that encourages listeners to look past material possessions and to appreciate the people and relationships that bring true happiness.

Line by Line Meaning

Who wants to be a millionaire?
I don't

Have flashy flunkies everywhere?
I don't

Who wants the bother of a country estate?
Owning a country estate is not my thing

Who wants to wallow in champagne?
I don't want to indulge in champagne

Who wants a supersonic plane?
I don't want a supersonic plane

And I don't, 'cause all I want is you
The only thing I desire is you

Who wants uranium to spare?
I don't want uranium for myself

Who wants to journey on a gigantic yacht?
Do I have any interest in going on a gigantic yacht? No, I don't

Who wants a fancy foreign car?
I don't want a fancy foreign car

Who wants to tire of caviar?
I don't want to get tired of caviar

Who wants a marble swimming pool too?
I don't want a marble swimming pool