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

There's No Business Like Show Business

By Irving Berlin
1946

The ultimate ode to the glitz and glamor of stage and screen, penned by one of America's most cherished composers, and a man who knew its allure perhaps better than just about anyone. The song was the centerpiece of Berlin's musical Annie Get Your Gun, in which it was introduced by Ray Middleton, Marty May and of course the great Ethel Merman in the starring role of Annie Oakley. It has since become one of Berlin's most cherished standards, a rousing anthem to the business of entertainment.

Lyrics:

There's no business like show business like no business I know
Everything about it is appealing, everything that traffic will allow
Nowhere could you get that happy feeling when you are stealing that extra bow

There's no people like show people, they smile when they are low
Even with a turkey that you know will fold, you may be stranded out in the cold
Still you wouldn't change it for a sack of gold, let's go on with the show

The butcher, the baker, the grocer, the clerk
Are secretly unhappy men because
The butcher, the baker, the grocer, the clerk
Get paid for what they do but no applause.
They'd gladly bid their dreary jobs goodbye for anything theatrical and why?

There's no business like show business and I tell you it's so
Traveling through the country is so thrilling, standing out in front on opening nights
Smiling as you watch the theater filling, and there's your billing out there in lights

There's no people like show people, they smile when they are low
Angels come from everywhere with lots of jack, and when you lose it, there's no attack
Where could you get money that you don't give back? Let's go on with the show

(There's no business like show business like no business I know)
You get word before the show has started that your favorite uncle died at dawn
Top of that, your pa and ma have parted, you're broken-hearted, but you go on

(There's no people like show people, they smile when they are low)
Yesterday they told you you would not go far, that night you open and there you are
Next day on your dressing room they've hung a star, let's go on with the show!!

Recorded By:

Bernadette Peters
Judy Garland
Susannah McCorkle
Betty Hutton
Frank Sinatra

A Sunday Kind of Love

By Barbara Belle, Anita Leonard, Stan Rhodes & Louis Prima
1946

A major hit of the latter years of the Big Band era, this song was the collaboration of several different composers, including bandleader, vocalist and all-around pop culture icon Louis Prima (also responsible for such songs as "Sing, Sing, Sing"). It was introduced by the Claude Thornhill orchestra, with vocalist Fran Warren. It has proven to be a very resilient standard, surviving the classic pop era and continuing to be recorded into the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and beyond.

Lyrics:

I want a Sunday kind of love,
A love to last past Saturday night.
And I'd like to know it's more than love at first sight.
I want a Sunday kind of love.

I want a love that's on the square,
Can't seem to find somebody to care.
And I'm on a lonely road that leads to nowhere,
I want a Sunday kind of love.

I do my Sunday dreaming,
And all my Sunday scheming,
Every minute, every hour, every day.
I'm hoping to discover
A certain kind of lover
Who will show me the way.

My arms need someone to enfold,
To keep me warm when Mondays and Tuesday grow cold.
Love for all my life, to have and to hold.
I want a Sunday kind of love.

Recorded By:

Etta James
Jo Stafford
Ella Fitzgerald
Frankie Laine
Dinah Washington

Come Rain or Come Shine

By Harold Arlen & Johnny Mercer
1946

One of the all-time classic songs Arlen composed with various partners for African-American musical revues, this one was written for St. Louis Woman. However, it was actually introduced on record by the Tommy Dorsey orchestra (Sy Oliver vocalist) two months before the show opened. Martin Scorsese would twist the Mercer lyric into an ode to obsessive fandom for his 1983 film The King of Comedy.

Lyrics:

I'm gonna love you,
Like nobody's loved you,
Come rain, or come shine.
Happy together, unhappy together,
Now won't that be fine?

Days may be cloudy or sunny,
We're in or we're out of the money,
But I'm with you always,
I'm with you, come rain or shine.

I'm gonna love,
Like nobody's loved you,
Come rain, or come shine.
High as a mountain, deep as a river,
Now won't that be fine?

I guess when you met,
It was just one of those things.
But don't ever bet me,
Cause I'm gonna be true, if you let me.

You're gonna love me,
Like nobody's loved me,
Come rain, or come shine.
Happy together, unhappy together,
And won't it be fine?

Days may be cloudy or sunny,
We're in or we're out of the money,
But I'll love you always,
I'm with you, rain or shine.

Recorded By:

Billie Holiday
Frank Sinatra
Ray Charles
Dinah Washington
Dexter Gordon

Crazy, He Calls Me

By Bob Russell & Carl Sigman
1946

Elling and Sigman had the enviable benefit of having this song introduced by the one and only Billie Holiday. Sigman (pictured) was a lyricist who had collaborated with many, and is also responsible for songs like "Pennsylvania 6-5000" and "Enjoy Yourself". He was a protege of Johnny Mercer, perhaps the greatest lyricist of them all.

Lyrics:

I say I'll move the mountains,
And I'll move the mountains,
If he wants them out of the way.
Crazy he calls me,
Sure, I'm crazy,
Crazy in love, I say.

I say I'll go through fire,
And I'll go through fire.
As he wants it, so it will be.
Crazy he calls me,
Sure, I'm crazy,
Crazy in love, you see.

Like the wind that shakes the bough,
He moves me with a smile.
The difficult I'll do right now,
The impossible will take a little while.

I say I'll care forever,
And I mean forever,
If I have to hold up the sky.
Crazy he calls me,
Sure, I'm crazy,
Crazy in love am I.

Recorded By:

Dinah Washington
Aretha Franklin
Peggy Lee
Anita O'Day
Natalie Cole

To Each His Own

By Jay Livingston & Ray Evans
1946

One of the timeless love songs. Introduced in the classic Olivia de Havilland film, this was a huge hit in 1946. It was first recorded by Eddy Howard, and that same year saw recordings by The Ink Spots, Freddy Martin, Tony Martin, and The Modernaires. In 1990, it would be sung by Al Martino in The Godfather Part III.

Lyrics:

A rose must remain with the sun and the rain,
Or its lovely promise won't come true.
To each his own, to each his own--
And my own is you.

What good is a song if the words just don't belong,
And a dream must be a dream for two?
No good alone, to each his own--
For me there's you.

If a flame is to grow there must be a glow.
To open each door there's a key.
I need you, I know, I can't let you go.
Your touch means too much to me.

Two lips must insist on two more to be kissed,
Or they'll never know what love can do.
To each his own, I've found my own--
One and only you.

Recorded By:

The Platters
Sam Cooke
Frankie Laine
Willie Nelson
Django Reinhardt

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

(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66

By Bobby Troup
1946

A popular hit for Nat King Cole soon after its publication, the song was inspired by a trip the composer Troup made along the fabled roadway from Pennsylvania to California. Troup claimed that the catalog of town names that makes up so much of the song was put there mainly because of writer's block on his part when it came to lyrics. A very fun song.

Lyrics (complete lyrics recorded only in the Perry Como version):

Mister, you may have travelled near or far,
But you haven't seen the country,
'Till you've seen the country by car!
Mister, may I recommend a royal route?
It starts in Illinois, let me tell you boy!

If you ever plan to motor west,
Travel my way, take the highway, that's the best!
Get your kicks on Route 66!

It winds from Chicago to L.A.,
More than two thousand miles all the way!
Get your kicks on Route 66!

You go through St. Louis, Joplin, Missouri,
And Oklahoma City is a mighty purdy!
You'll see Amarillo, Gallup, New Mexico,
Flagstaff, Arizona, don't forget Winona,
Kingman, Barstow, San Bernardino!

Won't you get hip to this timely tip,
When you make that California trip?
Get your kicks on Route 66!

Springfield, Illinois, Springfield, Missouri too!
Seven states--count 'em, seven,
Spread out in front of you!

You'll like the aroma of Tulsa, Oklahoma,
Albuquerque and Tucumcari, make New Mexico extraordinary!
You'll wanna own a piece of Arizona,
Needles, Essex, Amboy, Azusa,
No one in sunny Cal is a loser.

So get hip to this timely tip,
When you make that California trip!
If any Joe tells you to go some other way,
Say nix!
Get your kicks on Route 66!

Recorded By:

Tierney Sutton
Chuck Berry
Perry Como
Bob Dylan
The Rolling Stones

Tenderly

By Walter Lloyd Gross & Jack Lawrence
1946

Back in the early '40s when it was known simply as "Walter's Melody", Gross would play this tune privately and for club audiences. But in 1946, singer Margaret Whiting introduced him to Jack Lawrence, lyricist for such hits as "If I Didn't Care" and "All or Nothing at All". Lawrence put words and a new title to the song, and after Gross asked Sarah Vaughan to make the first recording of it, the two men had a hit on their hands. It was one of Vaughan's earliest hits as a solo artist.

Lyrics:

The evening breeze caressed the trees,
Tenderly.
The trembling trees embraced the breeze,
Tenderly.

Then you and I came wandering by,
And lost in a sigh were we.

The shore was kissed by sea and mist,
Tenderly.
I can't forget how two hearts met,
Breathlessly.

Your arms opened wide and closed me inside.
You took my lips, you took my love,
So Tenderly.

Recorded By:

Chet Baker
Rosemary Clooney
Nat King Cole
Jackie Gleason
Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald