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

I Don't Want to Walk Without You

By Jule Styne & Frank Loesser

1942

Loesser collaborated with Styne to compose a bunch of tunes for the 1942 Paramount film Sweater Girl, with this innocent confection being the big hit. Bettie Jane Rhodes sang it in the film, and it was recorded immediately after by the Harry James orchestra with Helen Forrest, resulting in a number one record. As recently as 30 years ago, it was taken back to the Billboard charts by Barry Manilow.

Lyrics:

All our friends keep knocking at the door
They've asked me out a hundred times or more
But all I say is, "Leave me in the gloom"
And here I stay within my lonely room
'Cause...

I don't want to walk without you, Baby
Walk without my arm about you, Baby
I thought the day you left me behind
I'd take a stroll and get you right off my mind
But now I find that

I don't want to walk without the sunshine
Why'd you have to turn off all that sunshine?
Oh, Baby, please come back or you'll break my heart for me
'Cause I don't want to walk without you
No, siree

Recorded By:

Phyllis McGuire
Artie Shaw
Jo Stafford
Jerry Vale
Joe Holt

Make Someone Happy

By Jule Styne, Betty Comden & Adolph Green
1960

A wonderful, infectious life-affirming love ballad from the 1960 Broadway production Do Re Mi, in which it was introduced by John Henry Wheeler and Tilda Mullen. It is perhaps best known to modern listeners thanks to the Jimmy Durante version, used during the closing credits of Sleepless in Seattle, and during a 2008 car commercial. A typically gorgeous Styne melody married to the simple, stirring words of Comden & Green.

Lyrics:

Make someone happy,
Make just one someone happy;
Make just one heart the heart you sing to.
One smile that cheers you,
One face that lights when it nears you,
One girl you're ev'rything to.

Fame if you win it,
Comes and goes in a minute.
Where's the real stuff in life to cling to?
Love is the answer,
Someone to love is the answer.
Once you've found her, build your world around her.

Make someone happy,
Make just one someone happy,
And you will be happy, too.

Recorded By:

Barbra Streisand
Perry Como
Frank Sinatra
Chris Botti
Sammy David Jr.

The Christmas Waltz

By Sammy Cahn & Jule Styne
1957

"And this song of mine, in three-quarter time..."
This sweet modern Christmas carol was originally written for Sinatra's Capitol Records Christmas album, A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra, by his dear friends and accomplished songwriters Cahn & Styne--who also wrote "Mistletoe & Holly" for the same album. Since Frank introduced, it has become a cherished holiday standard.

Lyrics:

Frosted windowpanes,
Candles gleaming inside,
Painted candy-canes on the tree.
Santa's on his way,
He's filled his sleigh with things,
Things for you, and for me.

It's that time of year
When the world falls in love,
Every song you hear
Seems to say,
Merry Christmas,
May your New Year's dream come true.

And this song of mine,
In three-quarter time,
Wishes you and yours,
The same thing, too.

Recorded By:

Nancy Wilson
Peggy Lee
Harry Connick Jr.
Jane Monheit
Doris Day

Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry

By Jule Styne & Sammy Cahn
1945

A melodic, romantic favorite by Styne & Cahn, it was introduced at the end of World War II by the Harry James orchestra, and later became a favorite of adult pop singers in the 1950s and beyond. Of particular note is Frank Sinatra's breathtaking rendition on his landmark 1958 album Only the Lonely.

Lyrics:

The torch I carry is handsome.
It's worth its heartache in ransom.
Now when that twilight steals,
I know how the lady in the harbor feels.

When I want rain, I get sunny weather.
I'm just as blue, blue as the sky.
Since love has gone, I can't get myself together.
Guess I'll hang my tears out to dry.

My friends ask me out, but I tell them I'm busy.
I've got to get a new alibi.
I hang around at home, and ask myself: "Where is she?"
Guess I'll hang my tears out to dry.

Dry little tear drops, my little tear drops,
Moving on a stream of dreams.
My little memories, those precious memories
Remind me of our crazy schemes.

Then somebody says, just forget about her.
But I gave that treatment a try.
Strangely enough, I got along without her,
Then one day she passed me right by - oh well,
I guess I'll hang my tears out to dry.

Recorded By:

Dexter Gordon
Sarah Vaughan
Jack Jones
Ray Charles
Mel Torme

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

Just in Time

By Jule Styne, Betty Comden & Adolph Green
1956

One of Styne's (pictured) most well-known compositions, it was introduced by Judy Holliday and Sydney Chaplin in the musical Bells Are Ringing. Tony Bennett had a major hit with it the same year, and that version remains the breezy, upbeat song's definitive recording.

Lyrics:

Just in time,
You've found me just in time.
Before you came my time
Was running low.

I was lost.
The losing dice were tossed.
My bridges all were crossed,
Nowhere to go.

Now you're here,
And now I know just where I'm going.
No more doubt or fear--
I've found my way.

For love came just in time.
You found me just in time,
And changed my lonely life that lovely day.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Nina Simone
Barbra Streisand
Dean Martin
Rosemary Clooney

I Fall in Love Too Easily

By Jule Styne & Sammy Cahn
1944

A heartbreaking expression of unrequited love, this song was introduced by Frank Sinatra in the classic MGM musical Anchors Aweigh, in which he sings at the piano in a deserted Hollywood Bowl. Sinatra had personally requested that Styne & Cahn write the songs for the film. The duo would team up for another big hit for the Chairman, "Time After Time". Cahn later was the lyricist for Sinatra standards like "Come Fly With Me" and "In the Wee Small Hours".

Lyrics:

I fall in love too easily,
I fall in love too fast.
I fall in love too terribly hard
For love to ever last.

My heart should be well schooled,
‘Cause I’ve been fooled in the past.
But still I fall in love so easily,
I fall in love too fast.

Recorded By:

Chet Baker
Billie Holiday
Jimmy Roselli
Miles Davis
Shirley Horn