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Saturday, August 21, 2010

Misty

By Erroll Garner & Johnny Burke
1954

A late jazz standard, pianist Garner composed the tune, only to have words added by Burke sometime later. It became on the most successful standard compositions of the 1950s, and something of a signature tune for both Johnny Mathis and Sarah Vaughan. It also figures prominently in the 1971 Clint Eastwood film Play Misty for Me. The melody is thoroughly modern, evoking the boldness of 1950s jazz.

Lyrics:

Look at me, I'm as helpless as a kitten up a tree,
And I feel like I'm clinging to a cloud, I can't understand,
I get misty, just holding your hand.

Walk my way, and a thousand violins begin to play,
Or it might be the sound of your hello, that music I hear,
I get misty, the moment you're near.

You can say that you're leading me on,
But it's just what I want you to do,
Don't you notice how hopelessly I'm lost,
That's why I'm following you.

On my own, would I wander through this wonderland alone,
Never knowing my right foot from my left, my hat from my glove,
I'm too misty, and too much in love.
I'm too misty, and too much in love.

Recorded By:

Nat King Cole
Frank Sinatra
Julie London
Ella Fitzgerald
Ray Stevens

2 comments:

emma wallace said...

This was the first Sarah song I ever heard and I've been her devoted listener ever since! So haunting and unexpected.


And really damn hard to sing.

B-Sol said...

It is very melodically complex. You're right, not an easy one at all.

Listen to The Jonathan Station