“Patty Andrews, the lead singer of the Andrews sisters group was born in Mound, Minnesota on February 16, 1918 in a house that occupied the property where The Gillespie Center stands today.
During the 1920’s Laverne, Maxene and Patty Andrews spent their summers in Mound, living with their parents in a house across the street from the grocery store that was owned by Pete and Ed Sollie, bachelor uncles of the three girls. (Today, Green T Accounting occupies the Sollie grocery store building and The Gillespie Center is on the land where the Andrews Sisters’ house once stood.)” - From a commentary by Tom Rockvam that appeared in The Laker Newspaper during 2005.
They started their career as imitators of an earlier successful singing group, the Boswell Sisters. After singing with various dance bands and touring on Vaudeville, they first came to national attention with their recordings and radio broadcasts in 1937. Their music entertained Allied troops worldwide during World War II, sold war bonds, appeared in several films (including a few Abbott and Costello features), and performed for soldiers serving overseas. Their first film with Abbott and Costello, the pre-war comedy Buck Privates, introduced their best-known recording, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" which would win Best Song at the Academy Awards.
They also recorded many songs with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye and other popular artists of the era. Their popularity was such that after the war they discovered that some of their records had actually been smuggled into Germany after the labels had been changed to read "Hitler's Marching Songs."
After a brief hiatus after the war, the sisters regrouped, performing in clubs throughout the United States and Europe. They broke up in 1953, with Patty's choice to go solo. Their last appearance together was in 1962 on The Dean Martin Show. Laverne, who had cancer, retired soon after; she died five years later, in 1967 at the age of 55.
After a long silence, the two surviving sisters had something of a comeback when Bette Midler recorded a cover of their song "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy." Maxene and Patty appeared both together and separately throughout the 1970s, with Maxene releasing a solo album in 1986. Their most notable comeback; however, was in the Sherman Brothers' nostalgic World War II musical: "Over Here!" which premiered on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre in 1974. The musical featured the two then living sisters (Maxene and Patty) and was written with them in mind for the leads. It launched the careers of many, now notable theater and film icons (John Travolta, Marilu Henner, Ann Reinking, et al). Ironically it was the last major hurrah of the sisters and was cut short due to a frivolous lawsuit initiated by Patty's husband to the show's producers.
Throughout their long career, the sisters had sold over 60 million records. The group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998.
The last of the three sisters Patty Andrews died of natural causes at her home in Northridge, California on January 30, 2013, just 17 days before her 95th birthday. The sisters were interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California, close to their parents.
Ciribiribin
The Andrews Sisters Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There's a handsome gondolier
Every night he sings so happily
So his lady love can hear
In a manner so bravissimo
He repeats his serenade
And his heart beats so fortissimo
Ciribiribin, he waits for her each night beneath her balcony;
Ciribiribin, he begs to hold her tight, but no, she won't agree...
Ciribiribin, she throws a rose and blows a kiss from up above,
Ciribiribin, Ciribiribin, Ciribiribin, they're so in love!
The Andrew Sisters' Ciribiribin is an Italian-themed romantic song about a gondolier who sings serenades to his lady love every night. The lyrics describe how the gondolier sings in a bravissimo manner, repeating his serenade as his heart beats fortissimo while waiting beneath his lover's balcony. Every night he hopes for her to acknowledge his love, to hold her tight, but unfortunately, she refuses his requests. Instead, she throws a rose and sweetly blows a kiss from above, a gesture that indicates they are deeply in love.
The lyrics of Ciribiribin are based on a Neapolitan song written by Alberto Pestalozza in 1898. The Andrews Sisters version was recorded in 1939 and became a hit during World War II, lifting the spirits of soldiers serving overseas. This song is an example of the Andrews Sisters' unique vocal harmony and gift for interpreting various styles of music.
Line by Line Meaning
When the moon hangs low in Napoli
The scene is set in Naples when the moon is low.
There's a handsome gondolier
A good-looking gondolier is present here.
Every night he sings so happily
He sings every night with sheer joy.
So his lady love can hear
He sings for his beloved so she can hear him.
In a manner so bravissimo
He sings with great vigor and excellence.
He repeats his serenade
He repeats his musical performance.
And his heart beats so fortissimo
His heart starts beating strongly.
When she raises her Venetian shade...
She acknowledges his presence by lifting the window blinds.
Ciribiribin, he waits for her each night beneath her balcony;
He eagerly waits for her under her balcony every evening.
Ciribiribin, he begs to hold her tight, but no, she won't agree...
He pleads to hold his beloved but gets turned down every time.
Ciribiribin, she throws a rose and blows a kiss from up above,
Nonetheless, she shows her love by throwing a flower and blowing him a kiss from above.
Ciribiribin, Ciribiribin, Ciribiribin, they're so in love!
Despite the struggles, they are madly in love with each other.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Peermusic Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: HOWARD E JOHNSON, ALBERTO PESTALOZZA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
J Parker
on Crazy Arms
And I'll move the mountains
If he wants them out of the way
Crazy, he calls me
Sure I'm crazy
Crazy in love, I'd say
I say I'll go through fire
And I'll go through fire
As he wants it, so it will be
Crazy, he calls me
Sure I'm crazy
Crazy in love, you see
Like the wind that shakes the bough
He moves me with a smile
The difficult I'll do right now
The impossible will take a little while
I say I'll care forever
And I mean forever
If I have to hold up the sky
Crazy, he calls me
Sure I'm crazy
Crazy in love am I
Like the wind that shakes the bough
He moves me with a smile
The difficult I'll do right now
The impossible will take a little while
I say I'll care forever
And I mean forever
If I have to hold up the sky
Crazy, he calls me
Sure I'm crazy
Crazy in love am I
sonichits has completely wrong lyrics for this song. Correct ones are - Now blue ain't the word for the way that I feel
And the storm's brewing in this heart of mine
This is no crazy dream I know that it's real
You're someone else's love now you're not mine
Crazy arms that reach to hold somebody new
But my yearning heart keeps saying you're not mine
My troubled mind knows soon to another you'll be wed
And that's why I'm lonely all the time
Please take the treasured dreams I have for you and me
And take all the love I thought was mine
Someday my crazy arms will hold somebody new
But now I'm so lonely all the time
interlude
Crazy arms that reach to hold someone new
But my yearning heart keeps saying you're not mine
My troubled mind knows soon that you soon will be wed
And that's why I'm lonely all the time
Crazy arms and lonely all the time
Harold Chernofsky
on Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
i love them