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

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

I'm Yours

By Johnny Green & E.Y. "Yip" Harburg
1930

For the 400th post here at Standard of the Day, I give you this warm and innocent ballad, written by one-time Ethel Merman accompanist, bandleader and pianist Johnny Green (pictured), who dedicated it to his wife Bonnie. His lyricist was long-time Harold Arlen collaborator E.Y. Harburg. Green is best known for "Body and Soul", which along with this song was one of his first two compositions, written at age 22 after deciding to disobey his father, drop out of military school and pursue music. It was introduced by the great Ruth Etting.

Lyrics:

Ask the sky above
And ask the earth below
Why I'm so in love
And why I love you so
Couldn't tell you though I tried do
Just why I'm yours.

When you went away
You left a glowing spark
Trying to be gay as
Whistling in the dark
I am only what you make me
Come take me
I'm yours

How can I happy
I would be to beg or borrow
For sorrow
With you
Even though I knew
Tomorrow
You'd say we were through.

If we drift apart
Then I'll be lost and alone
Though you use my heart
Just for a steppin' stone
How can I help dreaming of you
I love you
I'm yours

Recorded By:

Ruth Etting
Billie Holiday
Bert Lown Orchestra
Artie Shaw Orchestra
Dean Martin

It's Only a Paper Moon

By Harold Arlen, E.Y. "Yip" Harburg & Billy Rose
1933

Initially written for the 1933 Broadway flop The Great Magoo, this Arlen/Harburg gem was included in the film Take a Chance later that same year. It also received its first recording courtesy of the Paul Whiteman orchestra. It didn't really pick up steam until the World War II years, when it became a standard thanks to versions by Ella Fitzgerald and Nat Cole. It has become a jazz improvisation favorite, and was notably included in Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire. A light and airy tune with a lovely, whimsical lyric.

Lyrics:

It is only a paper moon
hanging over a cardboard sea,
But it wouldn't be make believe
If you believed in me.

It is only a canvas sky
sailing over a muslin tree,
But it wouldn't be make believe
If you believed in me.

Without your love,
It's a honky-tonk parade.
Without your love,
It's a melody played in a penny arcade.

It's a Barnum and Bailey world,
Just as phony as it can be,
But it wouldn't be make believe
If you believed in me.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Nat King Cole
Ella Fitzgerald
Tony Bennett
Coleman Hawkins

Last Night When We Were Young

By Harold Arlen & E.Y. Harburg
1935

Specifically written for the singing actor Lawrence Tibbett by Arlen (pictured) and his frequent associate Harburg, it was introduced by Tibbett in the film Metropolitan. Harburg's powerful lyric deals with a couple who fall in love at the wrong time in their lives. Legend has it then when the bombastic Tibbett heard Sinatra's version 20 years later, he exclaimed, "Oooohhh...I see," as if to say, "So that's how it's supposed to be sung!"

Lyrics:

Last night when we were young
Love was a star, a song unsung
Life was so new, so real so right
Ages ago last night

Today the world is old
You flew away and time grew cold
Where is that star that shone so bright
Ages ago last night?

To think that spring had depended
On merely this: a look, a kiss
To think that something so splendid
Could slip away in one little daybreak

So now, let's reminisce
And recollect the sighs and the kisses
The arms that clung

When we were young last night.

Recorded By:

Judy Garland
Carly Simon
Tony Bennett
Sarah Vaughan
Tierney Sutton

Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe

By Harold Arlen & E.Y. "Yip" Harburg
1940

The same duo that composed the score for The Wizard of Oz wrote this song the following year for another MGM musical, this time the first all-black musical committed to the silver screen. It was written for Ethel Waters, the dependable, matronly protagonist who must secure Eddie "Rochester" Anderson from the temptations of the beguiling Lena Horne.

Lyrics:

It seem like happiness is just a thing called Joe.
He's got a smile that makes the lilacs want to grow.
He's got a way that makes the angels heave a sigh
When they know little Joe's passing by.

Sometimes the cabin's gloomy and the table's bare,
But then he'll kiss me and it's Christmas everywhere.
Troubles fly away and life is easy go.
Does he love me good? That's all I need to know.
Seems like happiness is just a thing called Joe.

Recorded By:

Rosemary Clooney
Peggy Lee
Bette Midler
Ella Fitzgerald
Nancy Wilson