Slow Boat to China

By Frank Loesser

1947

In contrast to his many hits from shows, "Slow Boat to China" was one of Loesser's hit pop songs. It was introduced by Kay Kyser, and soon became a very enduring standard. Like so many Loesser compositions, it remains a part of our popular lexicon.

Lyrics:

I'd like to get you
On a slow boat to China,
All to myself alone.
To get you and keep you in my arms evermore,
Leave all your lovers
Weeping on the faraway shore.

Out on the briny
With the moon big and shinny,
Melting your heart of stone.
Darling, I'd love to get you
On a slow boat to China,
All to myself alone.

Recorded By:

Bette Midler & Barry Manilow
Benny Goodman
Rosemary Clooney
Ella Fitzgerald
Liza Minelli

But Beautiful

By Jimmy Van Heusen & Johnny Burke

1947

This ballad was written for the Bing Crosby/Bob Hope vehicle Road to Rio, and quickly became a favorite of jazz singers, who changed its structure a bit from its original composition. Nancy Wilson used it as the title song for one of her albums.

Lyrics:

Love is funny, or it's sad,
Or it's quiet, or it's mad.
It's a good thing, or it's bad,
But beautiful...

Beautiful to take a chance
And if you fall, you fall,
And I'm thinking, 
I wouldn't mind at all.

Love is tearful, or it's gay,
It's a problem, or it's play.
It's a heartache either way,
But beautiful...

And I'm thinking, if you were mine,
I'd never let you go.
And that would be but beautiful,
I know.

Recorded By:

Barbra Streisand

Johnny Hartman

Stan Getz

Bill Evans

Billie Holiday

It's Magic

By Jule Styne & Sammy Cahn
1947

The lovely Doris Day introduced this tune, written for her to perform in her debut motion picture, Romance on the High Seas. Ms. Day was one of five people to subsequently record the song the following year, and her version was the most successful, rising to #2 on the Billboard charts.

Lyrics:

You sigh, the song begins,
You speak and I hear violins.
It's magic.

The stars desert the skies,
And rush to nestle in your eyes.
It's magic.

Without a golden wand or mystic charms.
Fantastic things begin when I am in your arms.

When we walk hand-in-hand,
The world becomes a wonderland.
It's magic.

How else can I explain
Those rainbows when there isn't rain?
It's magic.

Why do I tell me myself
These things that happen are all really true,
When in my heart I know
The magic is my love for you?

Recorded By:

Jerry Vale
Tony Martin
Dick Haymes
Sarah Vaughan
Keeley Smith

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

Autumn Leaves

By Joseph Kosma & Johnny Mercer

1947

Yet another song of French origin, this one was first written in 1945 with French lyrics by poet Jacques Prevert. Originally titled "Les feuilles mortes" ("The Dead Leaves"), it was composed for the film Les Portes de la Nuit, in which it was introduced by Yves Montand. Nat King Cole sang the American version in the 1956 movie Autumn Leaves. One year prior, a piano version by Roger Williams became the only piano instrumental to become a number-one hit. Ah, different times...

Lyrics:

The falling leaves drift by the window,

The autumn leaves of red and gold.

I see your lips, the summer kisses,

The sun-burned hands I used to hold.

Since you went away the days grow long,

And soon I'll hear old winter's song.

But I miss you most of all, my darling,

When autumn leaves start to fall.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra

Ella Fitzgerald

Ferrante & Teicher

Eva Cassidy

Miles Davis

Midnight Sun

By Lionel Hampton, Sonny Burke & Johnny Mercer
1947

The title of this jazz composition is a reference to the phenomenon that takes place in northern Norway for one month during each summer, in which the sun does not fully set, but rather hovers over the horizon through the night. Originally an instrumental by the Hampton Orchestra, this song got its very own lyrics in 1954 when Mercer, hearing the tune on his car radio while motoring down an L.A. freeway, wrote words for it as he drove.

Lyrics:

Your lips were like a red and ruby chalice,
Warmer than the summer night.
The clouds were like an alabaster palace,
Rising to a snowy height.
Each star, its own aurora borealis,
Suddenly you held me tight.
I could see the midnight sun.

I can't explain the silver rain that found me--
Or was that a moonlit vale?
The music of the universe around me,
Or was that a nightingale?
And then your arms miraculously found me,
Suddenly the sky turned pale.
I could see the midnight sun.

Was there such a night?
It's a thrill I still don't quite believe.
But after you were gone,
There was still some stardust on my sleeve.

The flame of it may dwindle to an ember,
And the stars forget to shine.
And we may see the meadow in December,
Icy white and crystalline.
But oh, my darling always I'll remember
When your lips were close to mine.
And we saw the midnight sun.

Recorded By:

Ella Fitzgerald
Jo Stafford
Sarah Vaughan
Lionel Hampton
Carmen McRae