It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

By Meredith Wilson
1951

A warm and fuzzy holiday classic from the idyllic '50s, this tune was introduced by Perry Como, joined by the Fontane Sisters and the Mitchell Ayres Orchestra. It's original title was "It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas". Legend has it that writer Wilson was inspired to write the song by a stay at the Grand Hotel in Yarmouth, Novia Scotia. The Johnny Mathis version became very popular in more recent years thanks to its inclusion in the 1992 movie Home Alone 2. Today it remains one of the most ubiquitous modern-day secular carols.

Lyrics:

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Ev'rywhere you go;
Take a look in the five and ten glistening once again
With candy canes and silver lanes aglow.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Toys in ev'ry store
But the prettiest sight to see is the holly that will be
On your own front door.

A pair of hopalong boots and a pistol that shoots
Is the wish of Barney and Ben;
Dolls that will talk and will go for a walk
Is the hope of Janice and Jen;
And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Ev'rywhere you go;
There's a tree in the Grand Hotel, one in the park as well,
The sturdy kind that doesn't mind the snow.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas;
Soon the bells will start,
And the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing
Right within your heart.

Recorded By:

Alvin & The Chipmunks
Michael Buble
Johnny Mathis
Bing Crosby
Perry Como

Just You, Just Me

By Jesse Greer & Raymond Klages 
1929 

A film musical number with understated grace, gentle simplicity and sublime beauty, it's no wonder that this song has become especially popular amongst jazz instrumentalists dating back to the Big Band era. It was introduced by Chaplin paramour Marion Davies and Lawrence Grey in the film Marianne (pictured), and was even later performed by Liza Minelli in the 1976 Martin Scorsese musical New York, New York, as well as by Edward Norton as a serenade to Drew Barrymore in the 1996 Woody Allen musical Everyone Says I Love You.

Lyrics:

Just you, just me
Let's find a cozy spot
To cuddle and woo.
Just us, just we
I've missed an awful lot
My trouble is you.

Oh, gee!
What are your charms for?
What are my arms for?
Use your imagination!

Just you, just me
I'll tie a lover's knot
Around wonderful you.

Recorded By:

Bing Crosby
Artie Shaw
Judy Garland
Lester Young
Duke Ellington

Mona Lisa

By Ray Evans & Jay Livingston
1950

Best known for the timeless recording by Nat King Cole, this beloved favorite was written for the film Captain Carey, USA, in which Cole introduced it along with the orchestra of exotica maven Les Baxter (and for which it won the Oscar). It's believed that Frank Sinatra was offered the song as well, but turned it down. Nevertheless, the song has become ubiquitous, and although several other artists have recorded it over the years, it remains Cole's version that rises head and shoulders above the rest.

Lyrics:

Mona Lisa, Mona Lisa, men have named you. 
You're so like the lady with the mystic smile. 
Is it only 'cause you're lonely, they have blamed you  
For that Mona Lisa strangeness in your smile?
 
Do you smile to tempt a lover, Mona Lisa? 
Or is this your way to hide a broken heart?  
Many dreams have been brought to your doorstep.  
They just lie there and they die there.
Are you warm, are you real, Mona Lisa? 
Or just a cold and lonely, lovely work of art?
 
Do you smile to tempt a lover, Mona Lisa?  
Or is this your way to hide a broken heart?  
Many dreams have been brought to your doorstep.  
They just lie there and they die there.
Are you warm, are you real, Mona Lisa?  
Or just a cold and lonely, lovely work of art?  

Recorded By:

Elvis Presley

Don Cherry

Harry James

Doris Day

Willie Nelson

Andy Williams 1927-2012

He was known as "Mr. Christmas". And you can't possibly hear Henry Mancini's "Moon River" without thinking of him. Andy Williams may have been considered somewhat milk-toast by some, but regardless of that, he was was an example of someone who kept the traditional pop vocalist role alive just as rock and roll bands were taking over the mainstream limelight.

Andy Williams left us late last month after a brief battle with bladder cancer that began in 2011. He had been largely quiet for most of the past 30 years, his easy-listening style eventually shouted down by the new forms of popular music that were being born just as his career was also hitting its stride. But from the mid 1950s through the mid 1970s, he was without a doubt one of America's premiere practitioners of popular song.

The Williams Brothers

Williams actually got his start in the 1940s as part of a boy singing group with his brothers Bob, Don and Dick. They can be heard on Bing Crosby's hit 1944 recording of "Swingin' on a Star", and achieved major success after World War II touring with nightclub entertainer Kay Thompson, who had discovered the boys during her time as former head of vocal talent at MGM. They were among the first major Vegas attractions.

Despite a 20-year age difference, Andy and Kay became romantically involved, and by the 1950s, Andy had gone his separate way from his brothers. It was Kay's show-biz connections that helped kick-start his solo career in the mid 1950s, landing him a regular singing spot on the original Tonight Show with Steve Allen, as well as his first record contract.

Williams shared the same label as early rock 'n rollers like The Everly Brothers and The Chordettes, and even dabbled in a lot of teeny-bopper bubble gum pop during those years as well. However, he also cherished a great deal of traditional-style pop as well, and by the 1960s was one of America's top vocalists, just as the rock era was firmly entrenching itself as the mainstream in American music. Williams remained a unique aberration during those years, representing the last gasps of the old guard in a lot of ways.

He developed an interesting working relationship with composer Henry Mancini, regularly performing his songs at the Oscars, including "Moon River" and "Days of Wine and Roses". Although he never had hit singles with them, he did record them, and it was "Moon River" in particular with which he would become most identified for the rest of his career and life. It was also during the 1960s that Williams developed his deep friendship with Robert and Ethel Kennedy--Williams was with Kennedy when he was assassinated in 1968, and even sang at RFK's funeral.

Williams' heyday of the 1960s also saw him become a regular fixture on TV, a role for which he is still fondly remembered by so many--both the World War II generation who loved him for carrying the torch, and their baby boomer children who consider him something a kitsch reminder of their childhood. Williams' highly successful variety show ran through the 1960s and into the early 1970s. His beloved Christmas specials ran regularly into the mid 1970s, and even sporadically into the 1980s and 1990s. His recording of "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" is a holiday staple.

More than anything, Andy Williams was a feel-good entertainer. He may not have had the artistic chops of other practitioners of popular song, or the respect of the musical elite, but he kept the tradition alive during an era that made singers like him seem progressively more "uncool" in the eyes of mainstream America. His warm, earnest voice will be greatly missed.

Reaching for the Moon

By Irving Berlin
1930

We wrap up the week-long celebration of Irving Berlin's 125th birthday with this bonus post about a song he composed for a movie musical of the same name. At the time, musicals were temporarily out of favor, and most of Berlin's songs for the film were actually cut. This song, in fact, wound up only being used as background music, which is a shame. Ironically, it would become one of the biggest hits of the year, and was recorded by artists at every major record label.

Watch the film in its entirety below!

Lyrics:

The moon and you appear to be
So near and yet so far from me
And here am I on a night in june
Reaching for the moon and you.

I wonder if we'll ever meet
My song of love is incomplete
I'm just the words, looking for the tune
Reaching for the moon and you. 

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Ella Fitzgerald
Lizz Wright & Regina Carter
Holly Cole
Ruth Etting

Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning

By Irving Berlin
1918

Perhaps the song most associated with Berlin as a performer. He composed this strictly for his own amusement, after being drafted into the Army near the end of World War I. The song was so popular with the men, however, that his commanding officer used it for fundraising purposes, and before the end of the year, it appeared in the Zeigfeld Follies. Berlin himself performed it during the next World War, in the 1943 film This Is the Army.

Lyrics:

Oh! How I Hate To Get Up In The Morning,
Oh! How I'd love to remain in bed
For the hardest blow of all is to hear the bugler call:
'You've got to get up, you've got to get up,
You've got to get up this morning!'

Someday I'm going to murder the bugler
Someday they're going to find him dead
I'll amputate his reveille and stomp upon it heavily
And spend the rest of my life in bed!

A bugler in the army is the luckiest of men
He wakes the boys at five and then goes back to bed again
He doesn't have to blow again until the afternoon
If ev'rything goes well with me I'll be a bugler soon!

Oh! How I Hate To Get Up In The Morning,
Oh! How I'd love to remain in bed
For the hardest blow of all is to hear the bugler call:
'You've got to get up, you've got to get up,
You've got to get up this morning!'

Oh, boy! The minute the battle is over
Oh, boy! The minute the foe is dead
I'll put my uniform away and move to Philadelphia
And spend the rest of my life in bed!

Recorded By:

Arthur Fields
Alice Faye & Ethel Merman
Dick Robertson
Irving Berlin
Jessica Molaskey

Let's Face the Music and Dance

By Irving Berlin
1936

Berlin had a long-standing relationship with Fred Astaire, and wrote many of his songs specifically for him. In Follow the Fleet, Astaire introduced this Berlin classic, along with others such as "I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket". A very sophisticated number for the often more populist Berlin, this one has really stood the test of time. It's been a favorite of cabaret singers for decades, and the Astaire version was even used in the film Pennies from Heaven, in which it was lip-synched by Steve Martin.

Lyrics:

There may be trouble ahead
But while there's moonlight and music
And love and romance
Let's face the music and dance

Before the fiddlers have fled
Before they ask us to pay the bill
And while we still
Have the chance
Let's face the music and dance

Soon
We'll be without the moon
Humming a diff'rent tune
And then

There may be teardrops to shed
So while there's moonlight and music
And love and romance
Let's face the music and dance
Dance
Let's face the music and dance!

Recorded By:

Mel Torme
Frank Sinatra
Diana Krall
Doris Day
Nat King Cole

How Deep Is the Ocean?

By Irving Berlin
1932

One of the rare Berlin tunes to debut on the radio and not on stage, this song was written at a particularly low point in the composer's personal and professional life, which may account for the bittersweet, melancholy yet hesitantly hopeful melody and lyric. It was introduced by the Paul Whiteman orchestra. I hope you enjoy it today, as our celebration of Berlin's 125th birthday continues...

Lyrics:

How can I tell you what is in my heart?
How can I measure each and every part?
How can I tell you how much I love you?
How can I measure just how much I do?

How much do I love you?
I'll tell you no lie
How deep is the ocean?
How high is the sky?

How many times a day do I think of you?
How many roses are sprinkled with dew?

How far would I travel
To be where you are?
How far is the journey
From here to a star?

And if I ever lost you
How much would I cry?
How deep is the ocean?
How high is the sky?

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Aretha Franklin
Ella Fitzgerald
Dexter Gordon
Eric Clapton

Anything You Can Do

By Irving Berlin
1946

We continue the week-long 125th birthday celebration of Berlin with one of his most enduring hits, a classic number from Annie Get Your Gun (one of many!) Written as an ornery duet between Ethel Merman and Ray Middleton, it has lived on in countless versions over the years, ranging from Barbara Walters and Howard Cosell on SNL to Merman and Miss Piggy on The Muppet Show. Even rapper J. Cole used the famous opening verse in a recent recording. A truly transcendent example of the power of Berlin as a composer. Not just a duet, this is the duet.

Lyrics: 

Anything you can do,
I can do better.
I can do anything
Better than you.

No, you can't.
Yes, I can. No, you can't.
Yes, I can. No, you can't.
Yes, I can,
Yes, I can!

Anything you can be
I can be greater.
Sooner or later,
I'm greater than you.

No, you're not. Yes, I am.
No, you're not. Yes, I am.
No, you're NOT!. Yes, I am.
Yes, I am!

I can shoot a partridge
With a single cartridge.
I can get a sparrow
With a bow and arrow.
I can live on bread and cheese.
And only on that?
Yes.
So can a rat!
Any note you can reach
I can go higher.
I can sing anything
Higher than you.
No, you can't. (High)
Yes, I can. (Higher) No, you can't. (Higher)
Yes, I can. (Higher) No, you can't. (Higher)
Yes, I can. (Higher) No, you can't. (Higher)
Yes, I can. (Higher) No, you can't. (Higher)
Yes, I CAN! (Highest)

Anything you can buy
I can buy cheaper.
I can buy anything
Cheaper than you.

Fifty cents?
Forty cents! Thirty cents?
Twenty cents! No, you can't!
Yes, I can,
Yes, I can!
Anything you can say
I can say softer.
I can say anything
Softer than you.
No, you can't. (Softly)
Yes, I can. (Softer) No, you can't. (Softer)
Yes, I can. (Softer) No, you can't. (Softer)
Yes, I can. (Softer)
YES, I CAN! (Full volume)
I can drink my liquor
Faster than a flicker.
I can drink it quicker
And get even sicker!
I can open any safe.
Without bein' caught?
Sure.
That's what I thought--
you crook!
Any note you can hold
I can hold longer.
I can hold any note
Longer than you.

No, you can't.
Yes, I can No, you can't.
Yes, I can No, you can't.
Yes, I can
Yes, I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I No, you C-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-N'T--
CA-A-A-A-N! (Cough, cough!)
Yes, you ca-a-a-an!

Anything you can wear
I can wear better.
In what you wear
I'd look better than you.
In my coat?
In your vest! In my shoes?
In your hat! No, you can't!
Yes, I can
Yes, I CAN!
Anything you say
I can say faster.
I can say anything
Faster than you.
No, you can't. (Fast)
Yes, I can. (Faster) No, you can't. (Faster)
Yes, I can. (Faster) Noyoucan't. (Faster)
YesIcan! (Fastest)
I can jump a hurdle.
I can wear a girdle.
I can knit a sweater.
I can fill it better!
I can do most anything!
Can you bake a pie? No.
Neither can I.
Anything you can sing
I can sing sweeter.
I can sing anything
Sweeter than you.
No, you can't. (Sweetly)
Yes, I can. (Sweeter) No, you can't. (Sweeter)
Yes, I can. (Sweeter) No, you can't. (Sweeter)
Yes, I can. (Sweeter) No, you can't, can't, can't (sweeter)
Yes, I can, can, can (Sugary)

Yes, I can! No, you can't!

Recorded By:

Doris Day & Robert Goulet
Bing Crosby & Rosemary Clooney
Bernadette Peters & Tom Wopat
Mary Martin & John Raitt
Judy Garland & Howard Keel

After You Get What You Want, You Don't Want It

By Irving Berlin
1920

Yesterday marked the 125th anniversary of the birth of Irving Berlin, and we're celebrating all week with spotlights on some of Berlin's most cherished tunes. This early smash hit for the Jewish-American songwriter was introduced by the popular vocal duo of Van & Schenck, whose recording spent six weeks at the number-two position on the charts. Just yesterday, on Berlin's 125th birthday, I picked up this record in an antique shop in its original 78 format, and it was a pleasure to listen to it at home in all its glory. You might also recognize this song from its use in the season 2 opener of HBO's Boardwalk Empire.

Lyrics:

Listen to me, honey dear 
Something's wrong with you I fear
It's getting harder to please you 
Harder and harder each year 
I don't want to make you blue 
But you need a talking to 
Like a lot of people I know 
Here's what's wrong with you...

After you get what you want, you don't want it 
If I gave you the moon, you'd grow tired of it soon. 
You're like a baby 
You want what you want when you want it 
But after you are presented 
With what you want, you're discontented 

You're always wishing and wanting for something 
When you get what you want 
You don't want what you get 
And tho' I sit upon your knee 
You'll grow tired of me 
'Cause after you get what you want 
You don't want what you wanted at all!

Recorded By:

Nat King Cole
Marilyn Monroe
Red Nichols
Van & Schenck
Joyce Breach

 

When Did You Leave Heaven?

By Richard Whiting & Walter Bullock
1936

A schmaltzy yet irresistible number from the 20th Century Fox musical Sing, Baby, Sing--in which it was introduced by the recently departed Tony Martin, making his film debut at the time. The song became an instant favorite of the big band orchestras of the day. In later decades, it became a lesser heard but beloved standard among a wide range of performers.

Lyrics:

When did you leave Heaven?
How could they let you go?
How's ev'rything in Heaven?
I'd like to know.

Why did you trade Heaven
For all these earthly things?
Where did you hide your halo?
Where did you lose your wings?

Have they missed you?
Can you get back in?
If I kissed you,
Would it be a sin?

I am only human,
But you are so divine.
When did you leave Heaven,
Angel mine?

Recorded By: 

Guy Lombardo Orchestra

Joe Williams

Bob Dylan

Renee Fleming

Louis Armstrong

Azure Te

By Bill Davis & Don Wolf
1952

A jazz gem that came along just as the new forms were emerging post World War II, including be bop and the nascent rhythm and blues that would lead to rock 'n roll. Wild Billy Davis was an innovative jazz pianist and organist who had done stints with the ensembles of Louis Jordan (pictured) and Duke Ellington among others, when he put this easy, supercool number together along with Don Wolf (who'd later contribute to the timeless early rock instrumental "Sleepwalk"). Jordan's band introduced the song.

Lyrics:

Gone and got the blues in Paris  
Paris blues called Azure-Te  
How can I be blue in Paris?  
It's easy 'cause you're far away  
Can't lose these blues, this Azure-Te
 
Side-walk tables filled with people  
Always happy, always gay  
Still I'm all alone in Paris  
Praying you'll return someday  
Can't lose this blues, this Azure-Te
 
Montmartre, springtime, Eiffel Tower  
Funny taxis, the kids at play  
Paris without you is lonesome  
Yearning more and more each day  
Can't lose these blues, this Azure-Te
 
If you knew how much I need you  
You'd come back to me to stay  
Having you with me in Paris Really is the only way  
You lose these blues, this Azure-Te  
These Paris blues, this Azure-Te

 

Recorded By:

 

Nat King Cole

Ella Fitzgerald

Frank Sinatra

George Shearing

Duke Ellington

Look for the Silver Lining

By Jerome Kern & B.G DeSylva
1919

Although originally written for the failed musical Zip Goes a Million, this charming early Jazz Age gem was revived in 1920 for the show Sally, in which it was properly introduced by Marilyn Miller. With a lilting melody and an uplifting lyric, it was a natural hit. The International Ladies Garment Workers Union would use it as the basis of their theme song, and it would later be embraced by modern TV viewers thanks to Chet Baker's rendition, which was often used as a theme on Turner Classic Movies.

Lyrics:

As I wash my dishes, I'll be following a plan
Til I see the brightness in every pot and pan
I am sure this point of view will ease the daily grind
So I'll keep repeating in my mind:

Look for the silver lining
Whenever a cloud appears in the blue
Remember, somewhere the sun is shining
And so the right thing to do is make it shine for you

A heart, full of joy and gladness
Will always banish sadness and strife
So always look for the silver lining
And try to find the sunny side of life

Recorded By:

Chet Baker
Aretha Franklin
Susannah McCorkle
Margaret Whiting
Judy Garland

Let's Fall in Love

By Harold Arlen & Ted Koehler

1933

A major hit from the powerhouse duo of composer Arlen and lyricist Koehler (pictured, Koehler on the right), most popularly known for "Stormy Weather" and other early Cotton Club tunes. It was introduced by Eddy Duchin as a lilting ballad, but later turned into a swinging number when it became more of a jazz standard in the 1950s.

Lyrics:

I have a feeling, it's a feeling,
I'm concealing, I don't know why
It's just a mental, incidental, sentimental alibi
But I adore you
So strong for you
Why go on stalling
I am falling
Our love is calling
Why be shy?

Let's fall in love
Why shouldn't we fall in love?
Our hearts are made of it
Let's take a chance
Why be afraid of it

Let's close our eyes and make our own paradise
Little we know of it, still we can try
To make a go of it

We might have been meant for each other
To be or not be
Let our hearts discover

Let's fall in love
Why shouldn't we fall in love
Now is the time for it, while we are young
Let's fall in love!

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Ella Fitzgerald
Shirley Bassey
Diana Krall
Lee Wiley