She was born Victoria Regina Spivey in Houston, Texas, United States, the daughter of Grant and Addie (Smith) Spivey. Her father was a part-time musician and a flagman for the railroad; her mother was a nurse. Her sisters were Addie "Sweet Peas" Spivey (1910–1943), also a singer and musician, who recorded for several major record labels between 1929 and 1937, and Elton Island Spivey (1900–1971), who also followed a professional singing career as The Za Zu Girl.
Spivey's first professional experience was in a family string band led by her father in Houston. After Grant Spivey died, the seven-year-old Victoria played on her own at local parties and, in 1918, was hired to accompany films at the Lincoln Theater in Dallas. As a teenager, she worked in local bars, nightclubs, and buffet flats, mostly alone, but occasionally with singer-guitarists such as Blind Lemon Jefferson. In 1926, she moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where she was signed by Okeh Records. Her first recording, "Black Snake Blues", did well, and her association with the record label continued. She made numerous Okeh sides in New York until 1929, then switched to the RCA Victor label. Between 1931 and 1937, more recordings followed on the Vocalion and Decca labels, and, working out of New York, she maintained an active performance schedule. Spivey's recorded accompanists included King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Lonnie Johnson, and Red Allen. She recorded many of her own songs, which dwelt on disease, crime and outré sexual images.
The Depression did not put an end to Spivey's musical career; she found a new outlet for her talent in the year of the crash, when film director King Vidor cast her to play "Missy Rose" in his first sound film, Hallelujah! (1929). Through the 1930s and 1940s, Spivey continued to work in musical films and stage shows, often with her husband, vaudeville dancer Billy Adams, including the Hellzapoppin' Revue.
In 1951, Spivey retired from show business to play the pipe organ and lead a church choir, but she returned to secular music in 1961, when she was reunited with an old singing partner, Lonnie Johnson, to appear on four tracks on his Prestige Bluesville album, Idle Hours. The folk music revival of the 1960s gave her further opportunities to make at least a semblance of a comeback. She recorded again for Prestige Bluesville, sharing an album Songs We Taught Your Mother with fellow veterans Alberta Hunter and Lucille Hegamin and began making personal appearances at festivals and clubs.
In 1962, Spivey and jazz historian Len Kunstadt launched Spivey Records, a low-budget label dedicated to blues and related music. They recorded prolifically such performers as Sippie Wallace, Lucille Hegamin, Otis Rush, Otis Spann, Willie Dixon, Roosevelt Sykes, Big Joe Turner, Buddy Tate and Hannah Sylvester, as well as newer artists including Luther Johnson, Brenda Bell, Washboard Doc, Bill Dicey, Robert Ross, Sugar Blue, Paul Oscher, Danny Russo and Larry Johnson.
In March 1962, Bob Dylan contributed harmonica and back-up vocals, accompanying Victoria Spivey and Big Joe Williams on a recording for Spivey Records. The recordings were released on Three Kings And The Queen (Spivey LP 1004) and Kings And The Queen Volume Two (Spivey LP 1014). (Dylan was listed under his own name on the record covers.) In 1964 Spivey made her only recording with an all-white band: the Connecticut based Easy Riders Jazz Band, led by trombonist Big Bill Bissonnette. It was released first on an LP and later re-released on compact disc.
Spivey married four times; her husbands included Ruben Floyd and Billy Adams.
Victoria Spivey died in New York on October 3, 1976, at the age of 69, from an internal haemorrhage.
I can't last long
Victoria Spivey Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Yes I'm sinkin', sinkin', sinkin' down below my grave
Done had a good time, but Lord how I done paid
Cause the rising sun ain't gonna shine no mo'
No the rising sun ain't gonna shine no mo'
Well it's dark and dreary, no matter where I go
Oh the lights in my room even refuse to shine
If my baby don't come back, I know I'll be doin' time
Because ooh, I can't stand no more
I can't stand no more
Well he quit me for my best friend, and don't come to see me no more
Tell all my good friends, 'cause I know I can't last long
Tell all my good friends, I know I can't last long
Please don't you wait, for I'll be dead and gone
Please don't you wait, 'cause I know I'll be dead and gone
The lyrics to Victoria Spivey's "I Can't Last Long" portray a sense of lamentation and despair. The singer is feeling incredibly lonely and isolated. She believes she has hit rock bottom and that she's sinking down below her grave, indicating that she feels like there is nowhere left to go. She's had a good time, but she's acknowledging that she's paid a heavy price for it. The rising sun is not going to shine any more and the world seems dark and dreary, no matter where she goes. This could imply that she's experiencing depression or that her soul feels a deep sense of sadness. The lights in her room refuse to shine, which indicates that the darkness she's feeling is not just external, but internal as well.
The refrain of the song reinforces the singer's sense of despair. She reiterates that she can't stand it anymore and that she's at her wit's end. She feels that her lover has abandoned her for her best friend, which is a blow to her pride and self-worth. She acknowledges that if her baby (lover) doesn't come back, she'll be doomed to a bleak future. She requests that her friends don't wait for her, as she knows she won't be around for very long. She's resigned to her fate and believes that death is just around the corner.
Line by Line Meaning
Lonesome, lonesome
Feeling lonely and isolated.
Yes I'm sinkin', sinkin', sinkin' down below my grave
Experiencing a deep despair and sinking feeling that feels like being buried alive.
Done had a good time, but Lord how I done paid
Having enjoyed life, but paid the price for it in the end.
Cause the rising sun ain't gonna shine no mo'
Feeling hopeless and that there is no light at the end of the tunnel.
No the rising sun ain't gonna shine no mo'
Believing that things will never get better.
Well it's dark and dreary, no matter where I go
Being surrounded by negativity and feeling hopeless, no matter where you are.
Well the lights in my room even refuse to shine
Feeling abandoned by everything and everyone, even inanimate objects.
Oh the lights in my room even refuse to shine
Feeling completely alone and that nothing will ever go right again.
If my baby don't come back, I know I'll be doin' time
Feeling trapped and hopeless without the one you love by your side.
Because ooh, I can't stand no more
Being at the end of your rope and unable to endure any more pain or suffering.
I can't stand no more
Feeling like you can't take it any longer.
Well he quit me for my best friend, and don't come to see me no more
Feeling completely betrayed and abandoned by the people you trusted the most.
Tell all my good friends, 'cause I know I can't last long
Feeling like your life is coming to an end and wanting to say your final goodbyes.
Tell all my good friends, I know I can't last long
Preparing for the inevitable end and wanting to leave on good terms with those you care about.
Please don't you wait, for I'll be dead and gone
Advising loved ones to move on and not hold onto hope, because your time has passed.
Please don't you wait, 'cause I know I'll be dead and gone
Insisting on letting go and not holding onto the past, because your time has come to an end.
Writer(s): victoria spivey
Contributed by Claire W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Black man
on Good Cabbage
WHAT TF IS CABBAGE