What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

By Frank Loesser
1947

Loesser composed this holiday standard as a stand-alone song, before his highly lucrative career as a Broadway composer began in earnest with Where's Charly in 1948. Margaret Whiting was the first to record, and it has remained one of the most endurant of all holiday standards, still recorded regularly to this day. Turn on the TV tonight, and you're likely to hear it.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, from SOTD!

Lyrics:

 

When the bells all ring and the horns all blow,
And the couples we know are fondly kissing,
Will I be with you, or will I be among the missing?

Maybe it's much too early in the game,
But I thought I'd ask you just the same:
What are you doing New Year's,
New Year's Eve?

Wonder whose arms will hold you good and tight
When it's exactly twelve o'clock that night.
Welcoming in the New Year,
New Year's Eve.

Maybe I'm crazy to suppose
I'd ever be the one you chose
Out of a thousand invitations
You received.

But in case I stand one little chance,
Here comes the jackpot question in advance:
What are you doing New Year's,
New Year's Eve?

Recorded By:

Johnny Mathis

Diana Krall

Harry Connick Jr.

Rufus Wainright

Nancy Wilson

Freddie Hubbard 1938-2008

The world of jazz has lost one of its most celebrated trumpeters, with the passing of the great Freddie Hubbard last night due to complications from a heart attack suffered in November.

Hubbard represented the next evolution of jazz trumpeting after bop innovators like Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis. He played in bands with the likes of Quincy Jones, Art Blakey, Slide Hampton and Max Roach in the 1950s and '60s, before starting up some bands of his own in the 1970s and '80s. Non-jazz fans can even here is distinctive sound on Billy Joel's "Zanzibar" off the 1978 album 52nd Street.

An infection in his lips had curtailed his career in the early 1990s, but Hubbard was ironically on the rebound, finally returning to performing and recording last summer, mere months before the heart attack that claimed his life.

Rest in peace.

I Cover the Waterfront

By Johnny Green & Edward Heyman
1933

Journalist Max Miller's 1932 book I Cover the Waterfront was an instant hit, filled as it was with Miller's captivating reminiscences of the San Diego waterfront from his days on the San Diego Sun. The book proved so popular that just a year later, it had inspired both a pop song and a movie, made independently of each other (although Reliance Pictures had the foresight to include the tune in its Claudette Colbert vehicle). A heap of artists recorded it that first year, with the initial hit belonging to Joe Haymes' orchestra.

Lyrics:

Away from the city that hurts and knocks,
I'm standing alone by the desolate docks.
In the still and the chill of the night
I see the horizon, the great unknown.
My heart has an ache,
Its as heavy as stone.
With the dawn coming on, make it last.

I cover the waterfront.
I'm watching the sea.
Will the one I love
Be coming back to me?

I cover the waterfront,
In search of my love.
And I'm covered
By a starlit sky above.

Here am I,
Patiently waiting.
Hoping and longing--
Oh, how I yearn.
Where are you?
Are you forgetting?
Will you remember?
Will you return?

Will the one I love
Be coming back to me?

Recorded By:

Billie Holiday
Eddy Duchin
Sam Cooke
Louis Armstrong
Lester Young, Nat Cole & Buddy Rich

Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone

By Sam H. Stept, Sidney Clare & Bee Palmer
1930

Popular 1910s and '20s singer Palmer is credited as a co-composer, and it was she who introduced the song. Kate Smith was the one who initially popularized it, but it's most well-known rendition may be the one by Michigan J. Frog in Chuck Jones' classic "One Froggy Evening" cartoon. I'd also like to point that I cleverly used it as my answering machine music at one time.

Lyrics:

Please don't talk about me when I'm gone,
Oh honey, though our friendship ceases from now on.
And if you can't say anything real nice,
It's better not to talk at all, is my advice.

We're parting, you'll go your way, I'll go mine,
It's best that we do.
Give a little kiss and hope that it brings
Lots of love to you.

Makes no difference how I carry on,
Please don't talk about me when I'm gone.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Ella Fitzgerald
Leon Redbone
The Mills Brothers
Jerry Lee Lewis

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

By Jerome Kern & Otto Harbach
1933

Along with "Yesterdays", this is one of two major standards to emerge from the 1933 operetta Roberta, in which it was introduced by Tamara Drasin. Irene Dunne performed it in the 1935 film adaptation, and the first commercial recording came from the Paul Whiteman orchestra. Although The Platters' 1958 doo-wop version hit the top of the charts, it is typically derided by purists for lacking the emotional depth and nuance such a piece requires. Those same purists hail the song for its melodic simplicity, built on an ascending and descending scale.

Lyrics:

They asked me how I knew
My true love was true.
I, of course, replied,
"Something here inside
Cannot be denied."

They said someday you'll find
All who love are blind.
When your heart's on fire,
You don't realize
Smoke gets in your eyes.

So I chaffed, and I gaily laughed
To think they would doubt my love.
Yet today, my love has flown away.
I am without my love.

Now, laughing friends deride
Tears I cannot hide.
So, I smile and say,
"When a lovely flame dies,
Smoke gets in your eyes."

Recorded By:

Johnny Mathis
Dinah Washington
Margaret Whiting
Tommy Dorsey
Louis Armstrong

Eartha Kitt 1927-2008

Standard of the Day bids a fond farewell to the lovely and talented Ms. Eartha Mae Kitt. Although best known for her role as Catwoman on the 1960s Batman TV series, Eartha was a gifted singer and dancer as well, and is one of the only performers to ever have been nominated for the Tony, Grammy and Emmy.

Nightclub audiences have long been treated to her sultry voice as she performed her own unique renditions of signature songs like Cole Porter's "Love for Sale" and her holiday-themed hit "Santa Baby", a standard later covered by the likes of Madonna and Macy Gray.

Singing at The Village Vanguard in the early 1950s, she was discovered by Broadway producers, who helped launch her career with a role in New Faces of 1952. Orson Welles, who cast her as Helen of Troy in his production Dr. Faustus, was prompted to describe her as "the most exciting woman in the world."

Despite a strong stance against the Vietnam War that damaged her career in the late 1960s, Ms. Kitt remained a fixture on the club circuit around the world. In recent years, she continued to wow Broadway audiences, and celebrated her eightieth birthday last year with a concert at Carnegie Hall.

Earth Kitt leaves behind a daughter, four grandchildren, and a stirring musical legacy.

Just in Time

By Jule Styne, Betty Comden & Adolph Green
1956

One of Styne's (pictured) most well-known compositions, it was introduced by Judy Holliday and Sydney Chaplin in the musical Bells Are Ringing. Tony Bennett had a major hit with it the same year, and that version remains the breezy, upbeat song's definitive recording.

Lyrics:

Just in time,
You've found me just in time.
Before you came my time
Was running low.

I was lost.
The losing dice were tossed.
My bridges all were crossed,
Nowhere to go.

Now you're here,
And now I know just where I'm going.
No more doubt or fear--
I've found my way.

For love came just in time.
You found me just in time,
And changed my lonely life that lovely day.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Nina Simone
Barbra Streisand
Dean Martin
Rosemary Clooney

The Christmas Song

By Mel Torme & Bob Wells
1944

Composed in the middle of a sweltering summer, the most recorded Christmas song of all time started out as a list of wintery things compiled by Wells in a whimsical attempt to "think cool". Once his vocalist friend Torme spotted the list and added music and a few extra lyrics to it, a holiday standard was born. It was first introduced by Nat King Cole with his trio in 1946, and Cole would later make it one of his signature tunes, recording it a total of four times. Torme himself would eventually record it three times.

Lyrics:

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire,
Jack Frost nipping at your nose,
Yule-tide carols being sung by a choir,
And folks dressed up like Eskimos.

Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe
Help to make the season bright.
Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow
Will find it hard to sleep tonight.

They know that Santa's on his way.
He's loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh.
And every mother's child is gonna spy
To see if reindeer really know how to fly.

And so, I'm offering this simple phrase
To kids from one to ninety-two:
Although it's been said many times, many ways,
Merry Christmas to you.

Recorded By:

Diana Krall
Frank Sinatra
Andy Williama
Johnny Mathis
Bing Crosby

Until the Real Thing Comes Along

By Mann Holiner, Alberta Nichols, Saul Chaplin, L.E. Freeman & Sammy Cahn
1936

Strangely, this song was initially published in two versions which were identical, only one listed different three composers, while the other listed five. Today, ASCAP credits all five. The song was introduced by bandleader Andy Kirk (pictured). Kirk actually made two different 1936 recordings of the tune, one in March and one in April, using two different vocalists--Ben Thigpen and Pha Terrell.

Lyrics:

I'd work for you,
I'd slave for you,
I'd be a beggar or a knave for you.
If that isn't love, it will have to do,
Until the real thing comes along.

I'd gladly move
The earth for you
To prove my love, dear,
And it's worth for you.
If that isn't love, it'll have to do,
Until the real thing comes along.

With all the words, dear, at my command,
I just can't make you understand.
I'll always love you, darling,
Come what may.
My heart is yours
What more can I say?

I'd lie for you,
I'd sigh for you,
I'd tear the stars down
From the sky for you.
If that isn't love, it will have to do,
Until the real thing comes along.

Recorded By:

Billie Holiday
Fats Waller
Frank Sinatra
Ella Fitzgerald
Dexter Gordon

Darn That Dream

By Jimmy Van Heusen & Eddie DeLange
1939

One of the most disastrous Broadway flops of the era was Swingin' the Dream, a jazzy send-up of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream that ran for a total of 13 performances--despite featuring the likes of Louis Armstrong (pictured), Maxine Sullivan, Bill Bailey, Dorothy Dandridge, Vivian Dandridge and Etta Jones. All of these performers took turns with this song--the show's sole hit--during the initial production. It didn't become a hit until Benny Goodman recorded it in 1940 with singer Mildred Bailey.

Lyrics:

Darn that dream I dream each night.
You say you love me and hold me tight,
But when I awake and you're out of sight,
Oh, darn that dream.

Darn your lips and darn your eyes,
They lift me high above the moonlit sky,
Then I tumble out of paradise--
Oh, darn that dream.

Darn that one-track mind of mine,
It can't understand that you don't care.
Just to change the mood I'm in,
I'd welcome a nice old nightmare.

Darn that dream, and bless it, too.
Without that dream I'd never have you.
But it haunts me, and it won't come true,
Oh, darn that dream.

Recorded By:

Billie Holiday
Tommy Dorsey
Doris Day
Miles Davis
Thelonious Monk

Sweet Lorraine

By Cliff Burwell & Mitchell Parish
1928

Legend has it this song played a direct part in turning Nat Cole from a pianist to a singer, and earning him his famous nickname. A lover of the tune since he was a boy, when Cole--then strictly a piano player--was asked by a spectator to sing, he performed it, to everyone's amazement. Thus, a "King" was born. The song had originally been introduced a decade earlier by Rudy Vallee, but Cole would up scoring a much bigger hit with it.

Lyrics:

Just found joy,
I'm as happy as a baby boy
With another brand new choo-choo toy,
When I'm with my sweet Lorraine.

She's got a pair of eyes
That are brighter than the summer skies.
When you see them, you'll realize
Why I love my sweet Lorraine.

When it's raining, I don't miss the sun,
Because it's in my baby's smile.
And to think that I'm the lucky one
That will lead her down the aisle!

Each night I pray
That no one will steal her heart away.
I can't wait until that lucky day,
When I marry sweet Lorraine.

Recorded By:

Stephane Grappelli
Teddy Wilson
Marvin Gaye
Jimmie Noone
Frank Sinatra

You Belong to Me

By Chilton Price, Pee Wee King & Redd Stewart
1952

For the record, it was Price, a rare solo female songwriter, who wrote this tune for the most part. She gave King & Stewart equal credit in exchange for their promotional work. And successful work it was, as the song was recorded by a multitude of artists in its first year alone. It began life as a country song by Sue Thompson, but it was Jo Stafford's version that became the standard. It would later become adopted by the world of rock n' roll, as epitomized by the Gene Vincent rendition.

Lyrics:

See the pyramids along the Nile,
Watch the sunrise from a tropic isle,
Just remember, darling, all the while,
You belong to me.

See the marketplace in old Algiers,
Send me photographs and souvenirs,
Just remember, when a dream appears,
You belong to me.

I'd be so alone without you,
Maybe you'd be lonesome too,
And blue.

Fly the ocean in a silver plane,
See the jungle when it's wet with rain,
Just remember, till you're home again,
You belong to me.

Recorded By:

Dean Martin
Patsy Cline
The Duprees
Bob Dylan
Tori Amos

Dream Dancing

By Cole Porter
1941

Still on the Fred Astaire kick today. This one was written by Porter for Astaire's movie You'll Never Get Rich. Ironically, it was introduced in the film as an instrumental; still Astaire was the first to subsequently record it with lyrics, accompanied by the Delta Rhythm Boys.

Lyrics:

When day is gone and night comes on,
Until the dawn what do I do?
I clasp your hand and wander through slumber land,
Dream dancing with you.

We dance between a sky serene
And fields of green sparkling with dew.
It's joy sublime whenever I spend my time
Dream dancing with you.

Dream dancing,
Oh, what a lucky windfall,
Touching you, clutching you,
All the night through.

So say you love me, dear,
And let me make my career
Dream dancing, dream dancing with you.

Recorded By:

Ella Fitzgerald
Mel Torme & George Shearing
Tony Bennett
Stacey Kent
Ray Anthony

They Can't Take That Away from Me

By George & Ira Gershwin
1937

For my 100th post here at SOTD, I'm spotlighting one of the most famous, and rightly beloved standards of all time. It's a song for which George Gershwin was posthumously nominated for the Academy Award. He and his brother had composed it for the Astaire-Rogers film Shall We Dance, but George passed away mere months after the movie's release. A poignant mixture of quiet sadness and confident joy, it perfectly expresses the feelings of two lovers parting--in a subtle and sublime manner that is rare to find, indeed.

Lyrics:

Our romance won't end on a sorrowful note,
Though by tomorrow, you're gone.
The song is ended, but as the songwriter wrote,
The melody lingers on.
They may take you from me--
I'll miss your fond caress,
But, though they take you from me,
I'll still possess...

The way you wear your hat,
The way you sip your tea,
The memory of all that--
No, no, they can't take that away from me.

The way your smile just beams,
The way you sing off-key,
The way you haunt my dreams--
No, no, they can't take that away from me.

We may never, never meet again
On the bumpy road to love,
Still, I'll always, always keep the memory of...

The way you hold your knife,
The way we dance till three,
The way you changed my life--
No, no, they can't take that away from me,
No--they can't take that away from me.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Ella Fitzgerald
Billie Holiday
Charlie Parker
Anita O'Day

I Wish I Were in Love Again

By Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart
1937

Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland would make a hit with it in the 1948 movie Words and Music, but Rodgers & Hart had written the tune for Grace McDonald and Rolly Pickert in the original Broadway production of Babes in Arms--the same show that produced "The Lady Is a Tramp", "Where or When?" and "My Funny Valentine". It's worth noting that the song has come under attack over the years for being misogynistic in its glorified portrayal of a woman who seemingly enjoys being abused by men.

Lyrics:

You don't know that I felt good
When we up and parted.
You don't know I knocked on wood,
Gladly broken-hearted.
Worrying is trought,
I sleep all night,
Appetite and health restored.
You don't know how much I'm bored!

The sleepless nights,
The daily fights,
The qick toboggan when you reach the heights--
I miss the kisses, and I miss the bites.
I wish I were in love again!

The broken dates,
The endless waits,
The lovely loving and the hateful hates,
The conversations with the flying plates--
I wish I were in love again!

No more pain,
No more strain.
Now I'm sane but ...
I would rather be ga-ga!

The pulled-out fur
Of cat and cur,
The fine mismating of a him and her--
I've learned my lesson, but I wish I were
In love again!

The furtive sighs,
The blackened eyes,
The words "I'll love you till the day I die",
The self-deception the believes the lie--
I wish I were in love again!

When love congeals,
It soon reveals
The faint aroma of performing seals,
The double-crossong of a pair of heels--
I wish I were in love again!

No more care,
No despair.
I'm all there now,
But I'd rather be punch-drunk!

Belive me sir,
I much prefer
The classic battle of a him and her.
I don't like quiet and
I wish I were in love again!

Recorded By:

Julie Andrews
Ella Fitzgerald
Joni Mitchell
Frank Sinatra
Judy Garland

Once Upon a Time

By Charles Strouse & Lee Adams
1962

This late standard originated in the Broadway show All American, about a fictional university. Strouse & Adams were coming off their previous smash hit Bye, Bye Birdie, and enlisted a little-known TV writer named Mel Brooks to pen the libretto for their new production. Ray Bolger & Eileen Herlie would introduce this song in the original production.

Lyrics:

Once upon a time,
A girl with moonlight in her eyes
Put her hand in mine
And said she loved me so.
But that was once upon a time,
Very long ago.

Once upon a time,
We sat beneath a willow tree,
Counting all the stars
And waiting for the dawn.
But that was once upon a time,
Now the tree is gone.

How the breeze ruffled up her hair,
How we always laughed as though tomorrow wasn't there.
We were young and didn't have a care,
Where did it go?

Once upon a time,
The world was sweeter than we knew.
Everything was ours,
How happy we were then.
But somehow once upon a time
Never comes again.

Recorded By:

Tony Bennett
Bobby Darrin
Jack Jones
Al Martino
Vic Damone

A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square

By Manning Sherwin, Jack Strachey & Eric Maschwitz
1940

This popular British standard refers to a tree-filled park in the upscale Mayfair section of London. It became a very popular tune in the UK after being introduced by Judy Campbell in the show New Faces, and subsequently recorded by Ray Noble and Vera Lynn.

Lyrics:

That certain night,
The night we met,
There was magic abroad in the air.
There were angels dining at the Ritz,
And a nightingale sang in Berkeley Square.

I may be right, I may be wrong,
But I'm perfectly willing to swear
That when you turned and smiled at me,
A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square.

The moon that lingered over Londontown,
Poor puzzled moon, he wore a frown.
How could he know that we two were so in love?
The whole darn world seemed upside down.

The streets of town were paved with stars,
It was such a romantic affair.
And as we kissed and said goodnight,
A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square.

When dawn came stealing up, all gold and blue,
To interrupt our rendezvous,
I still remember how you smiled and said,
"Was that a dream? Or was it true?"

Our homeward step was just as light
As the tap dancing feet of Astaire,
And like an echo far away,
A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square.

Recorded By:

Nat King Cole
Bobby Darrin
Mel Torme
Blossom Dearie
Frank Sinatra

They Say It's Wonderful

By Irving Berlin
1946

One of Berlin's most enduring musicals, Annie Get Your Gun featured this charming duet--sung in the original production by Ethel Merman and Ray Middleton. It was most recently put under the spotlight once again when Kirsten Dunst sang it quite impressively (with her own voice) in last year's Spider-Man 3.

Lyrics:

They say that falling in love is wonderful.
It's wonderful,
So they say.

And with a moon up above it's wonderful.
It's wonderful,
So they tell me.

I can't recall who said it,
I know I never read it,
I only know that falling in love is grand.

And the thing that's known as romance
Is wonderful, wonderful
In every way,
So they say.

Rumors fly and they often leave without,
But you've come to the right place to find out.
Ev'rything that you've heard is really so.
I've been there once or twice, and I should know.

You'll find that falling in love is wonderful,
It's wonderful,
As they say.

And with a moon up above, it's wonderful.
It's wonderful,
As they tell you.

You'll leave your house a-morning,
And without any warning,
You're stopping people, shouting that love is grand.

And to hold a man in your arms
Is wonderful, wonderful
In every way,
So they say.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Tony Bennett
Bernadette Peters
Perry Como
Johnny Mathis

My Ideal

By Richard Whiting, Newell Chase & Leo Robin
1930

A classic example of the kind of sweet love songs that populated early Hollywood musicals, this one was sung by Maurice Chevalier to Frances Dee in the rare Paramount film The Playboy of Paris. Universal bought the picture from Paramount as part of a major deal in 1958, yet never released it on video, and it is currently in the public domain. Whiting, on of the composers, was the father of vocalist Margaret Whiting.

Lyrics:

Long ago, my heart and mind
Got together and designed
The wonderful girl for me--
Oh, what a fantasy!

Thought the ideal of my heart
Can't be ordered a la carte.
I wonder if she will be
Always a fantasy?

Will I ever find the girl in my mind,
The one who is my ideal?
Maybe she's a dream, and yet she might be
Just around the corner waiting for me.

Will I recognize the light in her eyes
That no other eyes reveal?
Or will I pass her by, and never even know
That she was my ideal?

Recorded By:

Chet Baker
Wynton Marsalis
Art Tatum
John Coltrane
Dinah Washington

Dedicated to You

By Saul Chaplin, Hy Zaret & Sammy Cahn
1936

Composer Chaplin (pictured) and lyricist Cahn had previously met while members of the same orchestra, and this tune was in fact one of Chaplin's first efforts as an official member of ASCAP. It was introduced by Andy Kirk & His Twelve Clouds of Joy, but a young Ella Fitzgerald would get the big hit some months later. Chaplin was also responsible for songs like "Until the Real Thing Comes Along", "If Its the Last Thing I Do" and "Please Be Kind". He later gained acclaim in Hollywood as a producer/arranger for musicals like An American in Paris, High Society and West Side Story.

Lyrics:

If I should write a book for you,
That brought me fame and fortune, too,
That book would be, like my heart and me--
Dedicated to you.

And, if I should paint a picture, too,
That showed the loveliness of you,
My art would be, like my heart and me--
Dedicated to you.

To you,
Because your love is the beacon that lights up my way.
To you,
Because with you I know one lifetime could be just one heavenly place.

If I should find a twinkling star
One half so wondrous as you are,
That star would be, like my heart and me--
Dedicated to you.

Recorded By:

John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman
Freddie Hubbard
Carmen McRae
Sarah Vaughan
Sammy Davis Jr.

The Second Time Around

By Jimmy Van Heusen & Sammy Cahn
1960

One of Blake Edwards' early comedies, High Time starred Bing Crosby as an older man going back to college, and featured this Oscar-nominated tune. Although it didn't win ("Never on a Sunday" from the Greek film of the same name took home that honor), the song of middle-aged love--as introduced by Crosby in the film--became an instant favorite, and one of the most successful standards of the late "songbook period". An example of a time when not all songs were written for teenagers.

Lyrics:

Love is lovelier,
The second time around.
Just as wonderful,
With both feet on the ground.

It's that second time you hear your love song sung
Makes you think, perhaps, that love, like youth,
Is wasted on the young.

Love's more comfortable
The second time you fall.
Like a friendly home,
The second time you call.

Who can say what brought us to this miracle we've found?
There are those who'd bet
Love comes but once--and yet,
I'm oh so glad we met
The second time around.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Tony Bennett
Nancy Wilson
Michael Bolton & Nicolette Sheridan (?!)
Mel Torme