Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend

By Jule Styne and Leo Robin
1949

Although today connected permanently with Marilyn Monroe thanks to her performance in the 1953 film version of Gentleman Prefer Blondes, this playful number was introduced by Carol Channing, who played the original Lorelei Lee on stage in 1949. It later became a standard among female vocalists, and was even alluded to by Madonna in the music video for her 1984 hit, "Material Girl", and performed by Nicole Kidman in the 2001 musical, Moulin Rouge.

Lyrics:

The French are glad to die for love,

They delight in fighting duels,

But I prefer a man who lives and gives
Expensive jewels.

A kiss on the hand maybe quite continental

But diamonds are a girl's best friend

A kiss may be grand.. but it won't pay the rental on your humble flat

Or help you at the automat



Men grow cold as girls grow old

And we all lose our charms in the end

But square cut or pear shape these rocks don't lose there shape 

Diamonds are a girl's best friend



... Tiffany's!
... Cartiea!
Black, Starr, Frost Gorham

Talk to me Harry Winston tell me all about it!

There may come a time when a lass needs a lawyer

But diamonds are a girl's best friend

There may come a time when a hard boiled employer thinks you're awful nice

But get that ice or else no dice



He's your guy when stocks are high but beware when they start to descend

Because that's when those louses go back to their spouses

Diamonds are a girl's best friend

I've heard of affairs that are strictly platonic

But diamonds are a girl's best friend

And I think affairs that you must keep the masonic are better bets

If little girls get big bagettes

Time rolls on and youth is gone and you can't straighten up when you bend

But stiff back or stiff knees you stand straight at.. Tiffany's...

diamonds... diamonds... I don't mean rhinestones.. but diamonds... are a girls best... best friend.

Recorded By:

Lena Horne
Jo Stafford
Julie London
Eartha Kitt
Ethel Merman

April in Paris

By Vernon Duke and E.Y. "Yip" Harburg
1932

Once referred to by renowned composer and music scholar Alec Wilder as the "perfect theater song," this sweeping, evocative number was written by Duke and frequent Harold Arlen collaborator Harburg for the stage production Walk a Little Faster, and introduced in a hit recording by Freddy Martin. Perhaps the most well-known recording would be Count Basie's jazzy rendition, typified by trumpeter Thad Jones' unforgettable solo and the Count's exhortations to his band of "one more time" and "one more once!" Basie's version was also memorably featured in the 1974 Mel Brooks comedy Blazing Saddles.

Lyrics:

April in Paris, chestnuts in blossom
Holiday tables under the trees
April in Paris, this is a feeling
No one can ever reprise

I never knew the charm of spring
Never met it face to face
I never new my heart could sing
Never missed a warm embrace

Till April in Paris
Whom can I run to
What have you done to my heart?

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong
Billie Holiday
Thelonious Monk
Dinah Shore

Someone to Watch Over Me

By George and Ira Gershwin
1926

For this, the momentous 500th post here at Standard of the Day, let's fondly recall one of the absolutely unparalleled gems of the Great American Songbook, from the incomparable brothers Gershwin. George originally envisioned the melody as uptempo, but after playing around with it, he thankfully realized it would work much better as a ballad (to say the least!) Ira's lyric is an anthem of longing and fragility, traditionally associated with a female voice ever since being introduced by Gertrude Lawrence in the Broadway musical, Oh, Kay!

Lyrics:

There's a saying old, says that love is blind
Still we're often told, seek and ye shall find
So I'm going to seek a certain lad I've had in mind

Looking everywhere, haven't found him yet
He's the big affair I cannot forget
Only man I ever think of with regret

I'd like to add his initial to my monogram
Tell me, where is the shepherd for this lost lamb

There's a somebody I'm longin' to see
I hope that he turns out to be
Someone who'll watch over me

I'm a little lamb who's lost in the wood
I know I could, always be good
To one who'll watch over me

Although he may not be the man

Some girls think of as handsome
To my heart he carries the key

Won't you tell him please to put on some speed
Follow my lead, oh, how I need
Someone to watch over me.

Recorded By:
Frank Sinatra
Chris Connor
Sarah Vaughan
Sammy Davis Jr.
Ray Coniff

I Wanna Be Loved By You

By Herbert Stothart, Harry Ruby and Bert Kalmar
1928

An iconic number for the original "Boop-Boop-a-Doop" girl Helen Kane, who first performed it in the Broadway musical Good Boy, this infectiously cute number was the product of the legendary Ruby/Kalmar team (pictured) that had written for the Marx Brothers, among many others. Kane's rendition propelled her to superstardom, and was copied many times since, including by Betty Boop, the cartoon character she inspired, and by Marilyn Monroe, who memorably performed it in Billy Wilder's classic comedy Some Like It Hot. A young Debbie Reynolds, portraying Helen Kane in the 1950 Ruby/Kalmar biopic Three Little Words, also took a crack at this late Roaring '20s anthem.

Lyrics:

I wanna be loved by you,
just you and nobody else but you
I wanna be loved by you
alone--Boop Boop a Doop!
I wanna be kissed by you
just you, nobody else but you
I wanna be loved by you
alone

I couldn't aspire
To anything higher
Then to fill a desire
to make you my own

I wanna be loved by you,
just you and nobody else but you
I wanna be loved by you
alone

I couldn't aspire
To anything higher
Then to fill a desire
to make you my own
tada tada ta tada

I wanna be loved by you
just you, nobody else but you
I wanna be loved by you
Alone
Boop Boop a Doop!

Recorded By:

Annette Hanshaw
Sinead O'Connor
Frank Sinatra
Barry Manilow
Tina Louise

Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat

By Frank Loesser
1950

With all the recent hullabaloo over the Frank Loesser song "Baby, It's Cold Outside" (whose entry you can find here), I thought today I'd spotlight a different Loesser tune, this time from his masterpiece musical, Guys and Dolls. Introduced by the irrepressible Stubby Kaye in the original run of the stage show as well as the 1955 movie, it's a spirited and catchy number that epitomizes the spirit of that classic show. As recently as 1993, this song also charted when recorded in a slowed-down version by ex-Eagle Don Henley, for the soundtrack of the Steve Martin film Leap of Faith.

Lyrics:

I dreamed last night I got on the boat to heaven
And by some chance I had brought my dice along
And there I stood, and I hollered, "Someone fade me"
But the passengers they knew right from wrong

For the people all said
"Sit down, sit down you're rockin' the boat"
The people all said
"Sit down, sit down you're rockin' the boat
And the devil will drag you under
By the sharp lapel of your checkered coat
Sit down, sit down, sit down, sit down
Sit down you're rocking the boat"

I sailed away on that little boat to heaven
And by some chance found a bottle in my fist
And there I stood nicely passin' 'round the whiskey
But the passengers were bound to resist

For the people all said
"Beware you're on a heavenly trip"
The people all said
"Beware, beware you'll scuttle the ship
And the devil will drag you under
By the fancy tie 'round your wicked throat
Sit down, sit down, sit down, sit down
Sit down you're rockin' the boat"

And as I laughed at those passengers to heaven
A great big wave came and washed me overboard
And as I sank, and I hollered, "Someone save me"
That's the moment I woke up, thank the Lord

And I said to myself
"Sit down, sit down you're rocking the boat"
Said to myself
"Sit down, sit down you're rocking the boat
For the devil will drag you under
With a soul so heavy you'd never float
Sit down, sit down, sit down, sit down
Sit down you're rockin' the boat"

Recorded By:

Sammy Davis Jr.
Louis Armstrong
Don Henley
The Four Lads
Rebecca Kilgore & Dave Frishberg

You and the Night and the Music

By Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz
1934

With today being the birthday of the legendary songwriter Arthur Schwartz (father of longtime radio legend Jonathan Schwartz), it seems only right to spotlight a classic Schwartz song. This is one of the most famous collaborations Schwartz made with his regular lyricist partner, Howard Dietz. Although today it's considered one of Schwartz' great triumphs, the song came from a show that was mostly unremarkable: Revenge with Music, in which it was introduced by Georges Metaxa and Libby Holman. But there was certainly something special about the haunting tune, which was later brought back in the 1953 movie musical The Band Wagon, which featured a cavalcade of Schwartz/Dietz songs.

Lyrics:

You and the night and the music
Fill me with flaming desire
Setting my being completely on fire
You and the night and the music
Thrill me but will we be one
After the night and the music are done?

Until the pale light of dawning and daylight 
Our hearts will be throbbing guitars
Morning may come without warning
And take away the stars

If we must live for the moment
Love till the moment is through
After the night and the music die
Will I have you?

Recorded By:

Mel Torme
Frank Sinatra
Julie London
Jackie Gleason Orchestra
Vic Damone

Ten Cents a Dance

By Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart
1930

This song tells the melancholy tale of a "taxi dancer"--women who were employed in the early 20th century in dance halls in which male customers paid to dance with them. It was introduced by the legendary Ruth Etting in the Florenz Ziegfeld-produced stage musical Simple Simon. Etting replaced Lee Morse, the actress for whom the song was written, when Morse showed up to the Boston premiere intoxicated. Etting later had a major hit with the song, and the following year it inspired a film starring Barbara Stanwyck. Doris Day performed the song in the 1955 Etting biopic, Love Me or Leave Me.

Lyrics: 

I work at the Palace ballroom, but gee that palace is cheap
When I get back to my chilly hall room, I'm much too tired to sleep
I'm one of those lady teachers, a beautiful hostess you knowOne that the palace features, at exactly a dime a throw.

Ten cents a dance, that's what they pay me
Gosh how they weigh me down.Ten cents a dance, pansies and rough guys, tough guys who tear my gown.

Seven to midnight I hear drums, loudly the saxophone blows,
Trumpets are tearing my ear-drums, customers crush my toes.
Sometimes I think, I've found my hero
But it's a queer romanceAll that you need is a ticket,
Come on big boy, ten cents a dance.

Fighters and sailers and bow-legged tailors
Can pay for their tickets & rent me
Butchers and barbers and rats from the harbor
Are sweethearts my good luck has sent me
Thought I've a chorus of elderly bows
Stockings are porous with holes at the toes
I'm here till closing time
Dance and be merry it's only a dime
Sometimes I think, I've found my hero
But it's a queer romance

All that you need is a ticket.
Come on, come on big boy, ten cents a dance.

Recorded By:

Ella Fitzgerald
Anita O'Day
Shirley Horn
Twiggy
Ralph Sharon Trio

They Didn't Believe Me

By Jerome Kern and Herbert Reynolds

1914

One of the most influential songs in the history of popular music, "They Didn't Believe Me" helped usher in a new era in musical comedy, and marked a significant break from the classical European songwriting tradition, making way for what became known as the Great American Songbook. When producer Charles Frohman was importing the successful London musical The Girl from Utah to the Broadway stage, he brought in the unknown Kern and Reynolds to punch it up with a few distinctly American numbers. This particular song helped make Kern into the first breakout star songwriter of the modern era. The composition, introduced on stage by Julia Sanderson and Donald Brian (pictured), featured plain, everyday language, as opposed to the flowery prose of previous love ballads; it also departed from the European waltz style, embracing the syncopation and ragtime flavor that was all the rage in American dance halls. It would have a profound impact on Broadway love ballads for the next half-century.

Lyrics:

Got the cutest little way
Like to watch you all the day
And it certainly seems fine
Just to think that you'll be mine
When I see your pretty smile
Makes the living worth the while
So I've got to run around
Telling people what I've found

And when I told them how beautiful you are
They didn't believe me, they didn't believe me
Your lips, your eyes, your cheeks, your hair
Are in a class beyond compare
You're the loveliest girl that one could see
And when I tell them
And I certainly am goin' to tell them
That I'm the man whose wife one day you'll be
They'll never believe me, they'll never believe me
That from this great big world you've chosen me

Don't know how it happened quite
May have been the summer night
May have been; well, who can say?
Things just happen any way
All I know is I said "yes"
Hesitating more or less
And you kissed me where I stood
Just like any fellow would

And when I told them how wonderful you are
They didn't believe me, they didn't believe me
Your lips, your eyes, your curly hair
Are in a class beyond compare
You're the loveliest thing that one could see
And when I tell them
And I certainly am goin' to tell them
That I'm the girl whose boy one day you'll be
They'll never believe me, they'll never believe me
That from this great big world you've chosen me

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Johnny Hartman
Bing Crosby
George Sanders
Harry Belafonte

What Is There to Say?

By Vernon Duke & E.Y. "Yip" Harburg
1933

A classic theater song of the 1930s, this sophisticated treasure was written for the Ziegfeld Follies of 1934--the first Ziegfeld revue produced after the legendary impresario's death two years prior. It was introduced on stage by Jane Froman and Everett Marshall, and soon after recorded by Emil Coleman and His Riviera Orchestra (the hotel band for the Waldorf Astoria). Reportedly, without Ziegfeld at the helm, behind the scenes politics raged, involving Ziegeld's widow Billie Burke (the future Glinda of The Wizard of Oz), show star Fanny Brice and even the Schubert Theatre where the show was being put on. This reportedly led to the demise of the Duke (pictured)/Harburg partnership, which has also produced "April in Paris" the year before.

Lyrics: 

What is there to say
and what is there to do
The dream I've been seeking
has practically speaking come true

What is there to say
and how will I pull through
I knew in a moment
contentment and wholement, just you

You are so lovable
So livable
Your beauty is just unforgivable
You're made to marvel at
and words to that effect

So what is there to say
and what is there to do
My heart's in a deadlock
I'd even face wedlock with you

Recorded By:

Mel Torme
Ella Fitzgerald
Sonny Rollins
Nat King Cole
Gerry Mulligan

Let's Misbehave

By Cole Porter
1927

One of the signature, defining tunes of the Roaring '20s, and yet it almost didn't see the light of day. Porter composed this ode to free-wheeling sexuality for his first major Broadway revue, Paris, but it was substituted at the last minute with another Porter gem, "Let's Do It" (it was eventually included in the 1962 revival of Anything Goes). Nevertheless, the star of Paris, Irene Bordoni, made a recording of it that became an instant hit. It has since become a song that instantly conjures up those Jazz Age days, and thus has appeared in many films over the years. The 1928 Irving Aaronson version alone has been featured in two Woody Allen films, was danced to by Christopher Walken in Pennies from Heaven, and most recently appeared in Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby. Elvis Costello also performed it in the Cole Porter biopic, De-Lovely.

Lyrics:

You could have a great career,
And you should;
Yes you should.
Only one thing stops you dear:
You're too good;
Way too good!

If you want a future, darlin',
Why don't you get a past?
'Cause that fateful moment's comin' at last...

We're all alone, no chaperone
Can get our number
The world's in slumber--let's misbehave!!!

There's something wild about you child
That's so contagious
Let's be outrageous--let's misbehave!!!

When Adam won Eve's hand
He wouldn't stand for teasin'.
He didn't care about those apples out of season.

They say that Spring means just one little thing to little lovebirds
We're not above birds--let's misbehave!!!

It's getting late and while I wait
My poor heart aches on
Why keep the breaks on? Let's misbehave!!!

I feel quite sure affaire d'amour
Would be attractive
While we're still active, let's misbehave!

You know my heart is true
And you say you for me care...
Somebody's sure to tell,
But what the heck do we care?

They say that bears have love affairs
And even camels
We're men and mammals--let's misbehave!!!

Recorded By:

Irving Aaronson and His Commanders
Cole Porter
Elvis Costello
Cybill Shepherd
Ethel Merman

Swanee

By George Gershwin & Irving Caesar
1919

Despite all his later accomplishments, this career-making hit for Gershwin would remain the biggest hit of his entire life. Written on a train ride with Caesar one New York afternoon as a parody of Stephen Foster's "Old Folks at Home", it was introduced in the Broadway revue Demi-Tasse. But it wasn't until the legendary Al Jolson heard it played by Gershwin at a party and incorporated it into his show Sinbad that it really took off. The song wound up selling over a million copies of sheet music, and Jolson's recording was number one for nine weeks. The money Gershwin made from it allowed him to leave Tin Pan Alley and focus on an illustrious Broadway career.

Lyrics:

I've been away from you a long time
I never thought I'd miss 'ya so
Somehow I feel, your love is real
Near you I wanna be.

The Birds are singing it is songtime
The banjos strumming soft and low
I know that you yearn for me too, Swanee you're calling me

Swanee - how I love ya, how I love ya 
My dear old Swanee. 
I'd give the world to be 
Among the folks in D-I-X-I-E-ven though my mammy's waiting for me,
Praying for me down by the Swanee. 
The folks up north will see me no more, when I get to that Swanee shore!

Recorded By:

Al Jolson
Judy Garland
Rufus Wainwright
The Muppets
The Temptations

Summertime

By George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin & DuBose Heyward
1935

Often considered the finest song in the American musical theater, this is more than a song: It's an aria, composed by Gershwin using the words of original librettist Heyward to mimic the African American folk spirituals of the day. It was introduced on stage in Gershwin's operatic masterpiece Porgy & Bess by Abbie Mitchell, who also performed the first recorded version of it (with Gershwin himself on accompanying piano). Billie Holiday was the first to have a big hit with it, and it has since become a jazz standard of the highest caliber.

Lyrics:

Summertime,
And the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin'
And the cotton is high

Oh, Your daddy's rich
And your mamma's good lookin'
So hush little baby
Don't you cry

One of these mornings
You're going to rise up singing
Then you'll spread your wings
And you'll take to the sky

But until that morning
There's a'nothing can harm you
With your daddy and mammy standing by

Recorded By:

Janis Joplin
Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
Sam Cooke
John Coltrane
Nina Simone

I Get a Kick Out of You

By Cole Porter
1934

Five years ago today, I kicked off the Standard of the Day blog with Cole Porter's "Cheek to Cheek". And today, I celebrate that anniversary with another Porter song, which became a signature tune for the Chairman of the Board, Frank Sinatra. Of course, 20 years before Frank famously recorded it for his Swing Easy album, it was introduced in the Broadway musical Anything Goes, by Ethel Merman. The song is quintessential Porter, with a soaring melody that is matched perfectly by its wry, yet poignant lyric. It's original lyrical reference to cocaine was controversial for the time, and later substituted with other lyrics (even by Merman and Sinatra themselves). Yet Porter's sophistication is so irresistible that such substitution is silly and unnecessary. This is one of the very best from possibly the best of the giants of American popular song, and thus fitting that it would become so identified with Sinatra, perhaps the greatest interpreter of popular song. And of course, it perfectly sums up what Standard of the Day is all about.

Thanks for continually supporting this labor of love, and I hope to continue to bring great music to you for many more years! I sure do get a kick out of it...

Lyrics:

My story is much to sad to be told,
But practically everything leaves me totally cold.
The only exception I know is the case
When we're out on a quiet spree,
Fighting vainly the old ennui,
And I suddenly turn and see
Your fabulous face...

I get no kick from champagne.
Mere alcohol doesn't thrill me at all,
So tell me why should it be true
That I get a kick out of you?

Some they may go for cocaine.
I'm sure that if I took even one sniff
It would bore me terrifically too.
Yet I get a kick out of you.

I get a kick everytime I see you standing there before me.
I get a kick, though it's clear to see
You obviously don't adore me.

I get no kick in a plane.
Flying too high with some guy in the sky
Is my idea of nothing to do.
But I get a kick out of you!

Recorded By:

Tony Bennett
Charlie Parker
Artie Shaw
Louis Armstrong and Oscar Peterson
Dinah Washington

A Lifelong Pursuit of Beauty: Remembering Uncle Peter

Our first photo together? Circa 1975.

For some who have wondered just why it is that I have such a strong attachment to and knowledge of the music of an era that existed decades before I was even born, the answer is simple: I had the distinct privilege of a childhood in which I was surrounded by an extended family made up of some wonderful, eccentric, often outrageous and endlessly fascinating individuals who happened to have lived during that earlier era. They gave love to my sister and me, and also gave us a wealth of knowledge and experience beyond our years.

For most of my life I lived in Brooklyn, in very close proximity—walking distance—to the house where resided my grandparents, as well as my grandmother’s three siblings. It was one of those loud, massive Italian families you see in the movies (or maybe in your own life if you were as lucky as me). Recent years have been bittersweet, as we’ve begun bidding our fond farewells. First to my grandmother in 2007. In 2011, it was my grandfather, whom I remembered at length right on this site. And now, my beloved Uncle Peter, who passed away on March 7 at the age of 85.

Publicity headshot, 1981

Unfortunately, I no longer live within that close proximity, and so I was unable to be at my Uncle’s side on that fateful day, as I had been with my grandfather, who had already moved up to Connecticut. His memory lives within me, however, thanks to many years of close companionship—listening, learning, sharing and discovering. They’re all with me—it’s getting loud in there!—but no voice booms louder than that of Uncle Pete.  

My Uncle Pete was a man of great passions. A passion for good music. A passion for art. A passion for theater and film. A passion for performing. A passion for nature and animals. A passion for food and cooking. A passion for laughter and good conversation. A passion for life.  

He had such a zest for life, and he passed it along to everyone around him. He once told me that before he died, he wanted to make sure he left a good taste in everyone’s mouth, and everyone remembered him fondly. I think he accomplished that goal.  

He had a love for beauty, and he sought out beautiful things. He shared that with my sister and me. I can honestly say he helped shape the way I look at the world. More than anyone in my young life, he understood me, he nurtured my mind, and he helped me develop into the person I am today. I still remember him taking my sister and me out to help in his garden. I remember him taking me up to his room to play his opera records, and how he would get tears in his eyes listening to them.
 

Publicity shot, circa 1960
(he later came to despise smoking!)

He was the kind of person who could get emotional eating a delicious piece of cake. We’ll never forget the sound of his voice, or that unmistakable laugh. He enjoyed life to the fullest. He chased his dreams, and he made our world a happier place.  

As I’ve discussed in the past, my bond with my grandfather was the closest of all. But Uncle Pete was the one who was most like me—he “got” me in a way no one else did when I was growing up. One of the most valuable things you can do for a child is to validate them; to nourish who they are as people. My uncle did that for me. Whether it was buying me works of great literature to read before I even knew books didn’t need to have pictures; engaging me in discussions about science and humoring my little kid insights; trying to show me the inherent beauty of a Verdi aria or Rachmaninoff concerto even when I wasn’t always the most patient listener; or encouraging me to write from as soon as I showed the aptitude to do so, and always taking time to critique my work. In short, my uncle was the first person to make me feel intelligent, and to instill a confidence in my abilities that has never left.
 

As Earthquake McGoon in the Forestburgh
Summer Theater production of Lil' Abner,
late 1950s.

When it came to music and my interest in it, there can be no doubt that the two most influential people in my young life were my grandfather and my Uncle Pete. But whereas Grandpa fostered the love of classic crooners and traditional jazz stylists, Uncle Pete had a slightly different approach and set of interests. A very talented actor and singer, he had spent many years performing in summer stock productions, had appeared in the first national tour of Camelot, and even briefly on Broadway in the somewhat ill-fated 1965 musical, Pickwick. In short, he was a theater person, and so his love of music was very high-brow, centered on the great classic show tunes (in their original, non jazz-inflected forms)—Rodgers and Hammerstein, Noel Coward, Cole Porter, etc.

But more than anything, music for him meant classical and opera. As a testament to that, in his room sat shelves full of fairly valuable vintage opera LPs collected over a lifetime, which he would play at maximum volume, often to the consternation of everyone else living there. I can still remember hearing him singing along upstairs--his urgent, Mario Lanza-esque baritone filling the house; or sitting in his room and watching the windows vibrate as he described how the music made the hair on his neck stand up. If this wouldn’t give you a lifelong love of music, nothing would. As I look back now, I see someone who did everything in his power to foster a sensitivity to beauty in a young person in whom he saw that same quality he had in himself. I’m glad he succeeded.  

During our regular visits to the house, my Uncle would host what he called “Songfests”, in which my sister and I would join him at the organ singing our own renditions of classic songs. These included anything from traditional chestnuts like “Polly Wolly Doodle” and “My Wild Irish Rose”, to timeless standards like “This Is My Song” and “I’m in the Mood for Love”, and of course a wealth of Christmas carols, which I was proud to be the only kid in class to already know the words to whenever we’d cart them out in school every year. Happily, he also had the foresight to record some of these sessions, the tapes of which are now treasures in my family.  

For whatever reason, music and movies played such a strong role in my childhood, which is probably why they still play such a role today. I was lucky enough to have these people who were so involved in my young life, and who had such a love for these things. In the case of Uncle Pete, he was also talented in them himself, which might have been what made him the most downright fun to us as kids. His loss will be felt profoundly--but so will the impact of his life on us.
 

Palm Sunday 2011

Just this past weekend, my girlfriend and I attended a live performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony at the Palace Theatre in Stamford. This had been a piece which my uncle specifically had delighted in playing for me, skipping ahead to the breathtaking chorus in the final movement in his eagerness to share its power with me. Thinking back to that as the live performance played before me, it was hard not to become overwhelmed by emotion. Eventually, I gave in to it. As the piece neared its conclusion, I closed my eyes, allowing the music to wash over me. And as the Ode to Joy played out its final thrilling crescendo, voices singing in ecstasy, brass blaring triumphantly, strings frenetically filling the auditorium with sound, I thought to myself:  

“Thank you, Uncle Pete.”

Rhode Island Is Famous For You

By Arthur Schwartz & Howard Dietz
1948

A ridiculously cute and catchy number from the obscure Schwartz/Dietz musical revue Inside the U.S.A. The show only ran for a few months, and only produced one hit, "Haunted Heart". Most attribute this to the ASCAP strike that prevented the recording of a proper cast album or radio version. This particular number was introduced in the show by Jack Haley, best known as the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz. Like the rest of the numbers/sketches in the show, it spotlights a particular state--although in this case, it also includes many others in a classic "list-song" format.

Lyrics: 

Copper comes from Arizona
Peaches come from Georgia
And lobsters come from Maine
The wheat fields
Are the sweet fields of Nebraska
And Kansas gets bonanzas from the grain

Old whiskey comes from old Kentucky
Ain't the country lucky
New Jersey gives us glue
And you, you come from Rhode Island
And little old Rhode Island
Is famous for you

Cotton comes from Lou-siana
Gophers from Montana
And spuds from Idaho
They plow land
In the cow land of Missour-a
Where most beef meant
For roast beef seems to grow

Grand canyons come from Colorad-a
Gold comes from Nevada
Divorces also do
And you, you come from Rhode Island
Little old Rhode Island
Is famous for you

Pencils come from Pennsylvania
Vest from Vest Virginia
And Tents from Tent-esee
They know mink where they grow
Mink in Wyo-mink
A camp chair in New Hamp-chair
That's for me

And minnows come Minnesota
Coats come from Dakota
But why should you be blue?
For you, you come from Rhode Island
Don't let them ride Rhode Island
It's famous for you

Recorded By:

John Pizzarelli
Blossom Dearie
Jack Haley
Nancy Lamott
Layla Solomon (my daughter's own rendition, which I hope you enjoy!)

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