According to her record label, Liberty Records, Yuro moved with her family to Los Angeles, United States. There, she sang in her parents' Italian restaurant and in local clubs before catching the eye and ear of record executives. Signed to Liberty, she had a U.S. Billboard No. 4 single in 1961 with "Hurt", an R&B ballad that had been an early success for Roy Hamilton. On "Hurt" and on her Billboard No. 12 follow-up in 1962, "What's a Matter Baby (Is It Hurting You?)", Yuro showed an emotional but elegant vocal style that owed a debt to Dinah Washington and other black jazz singers. Many listeners in the early 1960s thought Yuro was black. She opened for Frank Sinatra on his 1962 tour of Australia.
In 1963, Liberty released Make the World Go Away, an album of country and blues standards. The singer at her vocal peak, this recording includes a powerful title track of the same name, a beautifully understated version of Willie Nelson's "Permanently Lonely", and two different blues takes of "I'm Movin' On". Yuro was also known for soulful reworkings of popular American standards, such as "Let Me Call You Sweetheart", "Smile", and "I Apologize".
By the late 1960s, Yuro had performed in venues from London to Las Vegas. However, her career soon lost its early momentum, and she quit the music business altogether after her marriage in 1972. When Yuro began to sing again in the 1980s, her doctors detected throat cancer. Her larynx was eventually removed and in 2004 she succumbed to cancer. Her last recording was the 1984 CD Timi Yuro Sings Willie Nelson, produced by her old friend Nelson.
Yuro's work is admired in the United States as well as in Great Britain and the Netherlands. According to the obituary in the Las Vegas Sun, her hometown paper, Yuro's most famous fan was probably Elvis Presley, who commanded his own table at the casino where Yuro sang in the late 1960s. (Presley had a Top 10 country hit with his 1976 version of "Hurt".) In April 2004, Morrissey announced Yuro's death on his official website, describing her as his "favorite singer". (Morrissey also recorded a version of Yuro's "Interlude" with Siouxsie Sioux in 1995.) P.J.Proby knew Timi Yuro from their time in Hollywood, and often mentions it during his performances of "Hurt".
Yuro found success on the dance floors of northern Britain in the 1970s and 1980s when Northern Soul DJs championed her up-tempo tracks of "It'll Never Be Over for Me" and "What's a Matter Baby". The latter was rereleased on Kent Records in the 1980s.
I'm Afraid the Masquerade Is Over
Timi Yuro Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And my dreams are drifting away
Your eyes don't shine like they used to shine
And the thrill is gone when your lips meet mine
I'm afraid the masquerade is over
And so is love, and so is love
They were once inspired, now they're just routine
I'm afraid the masquerade is over
And so is love, and so is love
I guess I'll have to play Pagliacci
And get myself a clown's disguise
And learn to laugh like Pagliacci
With tears in my eyes
You look the same, you're a lot the same
But my heart says "no, no, you're not the same"
I'm afraid the masquerade is over
And so is love, and so is love
I guess I'll have to play Pagliacci
And get myself a clown's disguise
And learn to laugh like Pagliacci
With tears in my eyes
You look the same, you're a lot the same
But my heart says "No, no, you're not the same"
I'm afraid the masquerade is over
And so is love, and so is love
In Timi Yuro's song "I'm Afraid the Masquerade is Over," the lyrics speak of the end of a relationship or a connection between two people. The singer is expressing her disappointment with the way things have turned out, and she sings of how the blue horizon of her dreams and hopes for the future is turning grey, and that her dreams are drifting away.
She notices that her partner's eyes no longer shine like they used to, and the thrill is gone when their lips meet. The singer explains that the relationship is over, and she is afraid that the masquerade is over, meaning that they can no longer wear masks and pretend to be something else. The singer says that her partner's words, which once inspired her, are now just a routine, and the connection between them has faded.
The singer concludes that she will have to learn to wear a clown's disguise, and learn to laugh and pretend even though there are tears in her eyes. She acknowledges that her partner looks the same, but her heart knows that they are not the same, and the masquerade is over, and so is the love between them.
Line by Line Meaning
My blue horizon is turning grey
My happy days are slipping away and becoming sadder.
And my dreams are drifting away
My aspirations and hopes for the future are disappearing.
Your eyes don't shine like they used to shine
You don't have the same joyful and loving expression in your eyes as you once did.
And the thrill is gone when your lips meet mine
I no longer feel the excitement or passion when we kiss.
I'm afraid the masquerade is over
I'm fearful that our relationship was based on pretenses and illusions, and now it's ending.
And so is love, and so is love
Our love has come to an end as well.
Your words don't mean what they used to mean
Your words were once heartfelt and meaningful, but now they're insincere and unimportant.
They were once inspired, now they're just routine
Your speech was once imaginative and inspired, but now it's just rehearsed and unremarkable.
I guess I'll have to play Pagliacci
I suppose I'll have to pretend to be happy and make others laugh, just like Pagliacci the clown does in the opera.
And get myself a clown's disguise
I'll need to hide my true emotions and put on a façade to cope with my broken heart.
And learn to laugh like Pagliacci
I must learn how to smile and laugh despite feeling sad and lonely, similar to Pagliacci.
With tears in my eyes
Even though I will be crying on the inside, I must put on a happy face for others to see.
You look the same, you're a lot the same
Your appearance is unchanged, but I feel that you've become a different person on the inside.
But my heart says "no, no, you're not the same"
My intuition and emotions tell me that our relationship and your behavior towards me have changed greatly.
I'm afraid the masquerade is over
My fear of our relationship ending due to it being fake is now a reality and it's ending.
And so is love, and so is love
Our relationship has fallen apart, and our love has vanished.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Allie Wrubel, Herbert Magidson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind