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

The Lady Is a Tramp

By Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart

1937

Just this past Saturday, I'm proud to say that Standard of the Day celebrated its fourth birthday. In honor of this event, tonight I'm presenting what is truly one of the most recognizable and beloved (not to mention gorgeous) standards of all time. Rodgers & Hart composed the tune for their stage musical Babes in Arms, in which it was introduced by Mitzi Green. Hart's lyrics in particular are quite clever and have led to much speculation--they're basically a cheeky lampoon of New York society, about a woman rejected because she refuses to adhere to their mores.

The song is absolutely timeless, and has become one of the most recorded ever. Specifically, Frank Sinatra made it one of his signature tunes thanks to his performance of it in the 1950s film version of Pal Joey. Many others have made it their own as well, as recently as the high-profile duet of Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga.

Lyrics:

She gets too hungry for dinner at eight,
She loves the theater but she never comes late.  
She never bothers with people she'd hate, 
That's why the lady is a tramp.
 
She doesn't like crap games with barons and earls, 
Won't go to Harlem in ermine and pearls, 
She won't dish the dirt with the rest of those girls. 
That's why the lady is a tramp!
 
She loves the free, fresh wind in her hair, 
Life without care  
She's broke, but it's oke!  
She hates California, it's crowded and damp, 
That's why the lady is a tramp!
 
She goes to Coney, the beach is divine.
She loves the Yankees, and the bleachers are fine, 
She follows Winchell, and reads every line, 
That's why the lady is a tramp! 

She loves a prize fight that isn't a fake,  
She loves to go rowing on Central Park Lake, 
She goes to the opera and stays wide awake,
That's why the lady is a tramp!
 
She likes the green grass under her shoes,
What can she lose?  
No dough! Oh, no! 
She's all alone when she lowers her lamp, 
That's why the lady is a tramp!

Recorded By:

Buddy Greco

Lena Horne

Tommy Dorsey

Ella Fitzgerald

Shirley Bassey

Though tempted to include the Sinatra Pal Joey footage, in honor of SOTD's fourth birthday, I give you my own daughter Layla's impromptu rendition of the song from March 2011 (she was 9 at the time)...

There's a Small Hotel

By Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart
1936

According to lyricist Lorenz Hart's autobiography, this song was inspired by a visit to the historic Stockton Inn in New Jersey. Hart reportedly hated he melody and enjoyed taunting Rodgers by ad-libbing raunchy verses for it. Nevertheless, it is a true Rodgers & Hart charmer, written originally for their musical Billy Rose's Jumbo, but used instead for On Your Toes. It was introduced by Ray Bolger and Doris Carson.

Lyrics:

There's a small hotel
With a wishing well...
I wish that we were there, together.

There's a bridal suite,
One room bright and neat...
Complete for us to share, together.

Looking through the window,
You can see that distant steeple.
Not a sign of people -- who wants people?

When the steeple bell says,
"Good night, sleep well,"
We'll thank the small hotel, together.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Ella Fitzgerald
Benny Goodman
Della Reese
Chet Baker

Some Enchanted Evening

By Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II
1949

One of the most recognized of all Rodgers & Hammerstein compositions, it was introduced in the classic musical South Pacific by Italian operatic bass Ezio Pinza, who became a mainstream American favorite because of it. Hammerstein's lyric expresses a carpe diem attitude through a series of action verbs, and Rodgers melody is gorgeous as usual. A touch on the schmaltzy side, but then again, that's Rodgers & Hammerstein, after all.

Lyrics:

Some enchanted evening
You may see a stranger,
you may see a stranger
Across a crowded room
And somehow you know,
You know even then
That somewhere you'll see her
Again and again.

Some enchanted evening
Someone may be laughin',
You may hear her laughin'
Across a crowded room
And night after night,
As strange as it seems
The sound of her laughter
Will sing in your dreams.

Who can explain it?
Who can tell you why?
Fools give you reasons,
Wise men never try.

Some enchanted evening
When you find your true love,
When you feel her call you
Across a crowded room,
Then fly to her side,
And make her your own
Or all through your life you
May dream all alone.

Once you have found her,
Never let her go.
Once you have found her,
Never let her go!

Recorded By:

Perry Como
Frank Sinatra
Jo Stafford
Bing Crosby
Al Jolson

Bali Ha'i

By Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II
1949

Written for the musical South Pacific, the song was meant to evoke the dreamlike, exotic quality of the fictional volcanic island for which it is named. The island was inspired by the real Pacific island of Ambae, mentioned by James Michener in the novel on which the play was based. It was performed by Juanita Hill on stage and in the film version, and first recorded by Perry Como. In the 1950s, it would become predictably popular during the exotica movement, thanks to its Oriental, mystical sound.

Lyrics:

Most people live on a lonely island,
lost in the middle of a foggy sea
most people long for another island
one where they know they would like to be.

Bali Ha'i may call you,
Any night, any day,
In your heart you'll hear it call you,
"Come away, come away . . ."

Bali Ha'i will whisper,
On the wind of the sea,
"Here am I your special island"
"Come to me, come to me . . ."

Your own special hopes,
Your own special dreams,
Bloom on the hillside,
And shine in the streams . . .

If you try you'll find me
Where the sky meets the sea
Here am I your special island
Come to me, come to me . . .

Bali Ha'i
Bali Ha'i
Bali Ha'i

Someday you'll see me,
Floating in the sunshine,
My head sticking out from a low flying cloud . . .

You'll hear me call you,
Singing through the sunshine
Sweet and clear as can be . . .

"Come to me, here am I"
"Come to me"
"Come to me"

Bali Ha'i . . .

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Martin Denny
Stacey Kent
Tak Shindo
Perry Como

To Keep My Love Alive

By Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart
1943

This was the final song ever co-written by the legendary lyricist Lorenz Hart with his tunesmith partner Richard Rodgers. It was composed for the 1943 revival of A Connecticut Yankee, a show originated by Rodgers & Hart in 1927. It was introduced on stage by Vivienne Segal. Detailing the methods a serial widow has used to bump off her husbands, it is a classic example of the witty Hart touch. The lyricist died shortly thereafter of pneumonia.

Lyrics:

I've been married and married,
and often I've sighed,
I'm never a brides-maid,
I'm always the bride,
I never divorced them,
I hadn't the heart,
Yet, remember those sweet words,
"Till death do us part."

I married many men, a ton of them, and yet I was untrue to none of them,
because I bumped off ev'ry one of them to keep my love alive.

Sir Paul was frail, he looked a wreck to me.
At night he was a horse's nect to me,
so I performed an appendectomy,
to keep my love alive!

Sir Thomas had insomnia,
he couldn't sleep at night,
I bought a little arsenic,
he's sleeping now all right.

Sir Philip played the harp, I cussed the thing.
I crowned him with his harp to bust the thing,
and now he plays where harps are just the thing,
to keep my love alive, to keep my love alive.

I thought Sir George had possibilites,
but his flirtations made me ill at ease,
and when I'm ill at ease, I kill at ease
to keep my love alive.

Sir Charles came from a sanatorium,
and yelled for drinks in my emporium.
I mixed one drink, he's in memoriam,
to keep my love alive!

Sir Francis was a singing bird,
a night-in-gale,
That's why I tossed him off my balcony
to see if he could fly.

Sir Athelstane indulged in fratricide,
he killed his dad and that was patricide.
One night I stabbed him by my mattress side,
to keep my love alive, to keep my love alive.

Recorded By:

Ella Fitzgerald
Blossom Dearie
Ray Charles
Pearl Bailey
Sophia Loren

Glad to Be Unhappy

By Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart
1936

An example of a song which was not an instant hit, but rather took off decades later. It was originally composed for Rodgers and Hart's stage production On Your Toes, in which it was introduced by Doris Carson & David Morris. But it was not recorded very often at all until the 1950s, possibly having to do with a popular Broadway revival in 1954. Sinatra recorded it immediately after on his In the Wee Small Hours album, and the rest is history. A charming tune with one of the most enjoyable Rodgers and Hart verses.

Lyrics:

Look at yourself,
If you had a sense of humor you would laugh to beat the band.
Look at yourself,
Do you still believe the rumor that romance is simply grand?
Since you took in on the chin,
You have lost that toothpaste grin.
Your mental state is all a-jumble,
You sit at home and sadly mumble.

Fools rush in, so here I am,
Very glad to be unhappy.
I can't win, but here I am,
More than glad to be unhappy.

Unrequited love's a bore,
And I've got it pretty bad.
But for someone you adore,
It's a pleasure to be sad.

Like a straying baby lamb
With no mammy and no pappy,
I'm so unhappy, but oh, so glad.

Recorded By:

The Mamas & The Papas
Billie Holiday
Lena Horne
Nancy Wilson
Carmen McRae

Ev'rything I've Got Belongs to You

By Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart

1942

One of the catchiest tunes to ever come out of the vaunted Rodgers/Hart collaboration, this one comes from the show By Jupiter, in which it was introduced by Ray Bolger (The Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz) and Benay Venuta. This was the same show that also gave us, "Wait Till You See Her."

Lyrics:

I have eyes for you to give you dirty looks.
I have words that do not come from children's books.
There's a trick with a knife I'm learning to do,
And ev'rything I've got belongs to you.

I've a powerful anesthesia in my fist,
And the perfect wrist to give your neck a twist.
There are hammerlock holds, I've mastered a few,
And ev'rything I've got belongs to you.

Share for share, share alike,
You get struck each time I strike.
You for me- me for me-
I'll give you plenty of nothing.

I'm not yours for better but for worse,
And I've learned to give the well-known witches' curse.
I've a terrible tongue, a temper for two,
And ev'rything I've got belongs to you.

Recorded By:

Ella Fitzgerald
Blossom Dearie
Jane Monheit
Ed Kuepper
Charlie Byrd

My Romance

By Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart
1935
A stirringly beautiful ballad by the incomparable Rodgers & Hart team, this one came from Jumbo, the very same show that also gave us "Little Girl Blue" and "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World." It was performed in the 1962 film version of the show by the one and only Doris Day, and also used in a memorable commercial for the Ralph Lauren fragrance, Romance. It has also come to be closely associated with theater organs of the kind traditionally seen in old-school movie palaces.

Lyrics:

My romance doesn't have to have a moon in the sky.
My romance doesn't need a blue lagoon standing by.

No month of may, no twinkling stars.
No hide away, no softly guitars.

My romance doesn't need a castle rising in Spain.
Nor a dance to a constantly surprising refrain.

Wide awake I can make my most fantastic dreams come true.
My romance doesn't need a thing but you.

Recorded By:

Ella Fitzgerald
Frank Sinatra
Mel Torme
Rosemary Clooney
Art Blakey

My Funny Valentine

By Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart
1937

One of the absolutely timeless Rodgers & Hart compositions, and a perfect example of how the best old standards expressed true, honest emotion without resorting to trite cliche. It was written for the show Babes in Arms, and introduced on stage by Mitzi Green. Accompanied by a lush and thoughtful Rodgers melody, Hart's lyric recounts a love for an individual who may not be perfect, but has captured the author's heart nevertheless. What a difference from contemporary culture's stress on perfection--and a perfect sentiment to keep in mind this Valentine's Day as you spend time with your own funny Valentine...

Lyrics:

My funny Valentine,
Sweet comic Valentine,
You make me smile with my heart.
Your looks are laughable,
Unphotographable,
Yet you're my favorite work of art.

Is your figure less than Greek?
Is your mouth a little weak?
When you open it to speak,
Are you smart?

But don't change a hair for me,
Not if you care for me,
Stay, little Valentine, stay...
Each day is Valentine's Day.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Chet Baker
Sarah Vaughan
Bobby Darrin
Miles Davis

The Most Beautiful Girl in the World

By Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart
1935

The classic songwriting duo of Rodgers & Hart originally composed this tune for their stage production, Jumbo, in which it was introduced by Donald Novis and Gloria Grafton. It is the epitome of the 1930s standard--a warm, poignant expression of loving awe from a man to a woman. As with all the best Rodgers & Hart compositions, the lilting Rodgers melody blends perfectly with the witty, layered Hart lyric. This is songwriting at its very best.

Lyrics:

We used to spend the spring together
Before we learned to walk;
We used to laugh and sing together
Before we learned how to talk.
With no reason for the season,
Spring would end as it would start.
Now the season has a reason
And there's springtime in my heart.

The most beautiful girl in the world
Picks my ties out,
Eats my candy ,
Drinks my brandy-
The most beautiful girl in the world.

The most beautiful star in the world
Isn't Garbo, isn't Dietrich,
But the sweet trick
Who can make me believe it's a beautiful world.

Social-not a bit,
Nat'ral kind of wit,
She' d shine anywhere,
And she hasn't got platinum hair.

The most beautiful house in the world
Has a mortgage-
What do I care?
It's goodbye care
When my slippers are next to the ones that belong
To the one and only beautiful girl in the world!

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Dorsey Brothers Orchestra
Sonny Rollins
Les & Larry Elgart
Percy Faith

With a Song in My Heart

By Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart
1929

A sweepingly melodious ballad from the Rodgers & Hart musical Spring Is Here, introduced on stage by John Hundley and Lillian Taiz. It was featured in numerous film musicals for decades after, but firstly in the full-length film version of Spring Is Here in 1930 (pictured).

Lyrics:

Though I know that we meet ev'ry night
and we couldn't have change since the last time,
to my joy and delight,
it's a new kind of love at first sight.
Though it's you and it's I all the time
ev'ry meeting's marvelous pastime.
You're increasingly sweet,
so whenever we happened to met
I greet you ...

With a song in my heart
I behold your adorable face.
Just a song at the start
but it soon is a hymn to your grace.

When the music swells
I'm touching you hand
It tells that your're standing near, and ..

At the sound of your voice
heaven opens his portals to me.
Can I help but rejoice
that a song such as ours came to be?

But I always knew
I would live life through
with a song in my heart for you.

Recorded By:

Ella Fitzgerald
Perry Como
The Supremes
Doris Day
Sammy Davis Jr.

The Sweetest Sounds

By Richard Rodgers
1962

A rare example of a song Rogers composed by melody and lyrics to on his own, this one was for the musical No Strings. It was introduced by Diahann Carroll, whom Rodgers had hand-picked for the female lead. The melody is reportedly inspired by a phrase in Johannes Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2. It's complex tune and minor key gives it a unique, brooding sound.

Lyrics:

The sweetest sounds I'll ever hear
Are still inside my head.
The kindest words I'll ever know
Are waiting to be said.

The most entrancing sight of all
Is yet for me to see....
And the dearest love in all the world
Is waiting somewhere for me,
Is waiting somewhere.... somewhere for me.

Recorded By:

Sarah Vaughan
Barbra Streisand
Eydie Gorme
Brandy
Nancy Wilson

Hello, Young Lovers

By Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II
1951

A somewhat mournful, bittersweet tune written for the Rodgers & Hammerstein smash hit The King and I, in which it was sung by the character of Anna (played by Deborah Kerr but voiced by Marni Nixon.) Anna sings to the King of Siam's wives about her late husband, using some of Oscar Hammerstein's finest lyrics. One of the film's most successful songs, and an instant standard.

Lyrics:

When I think of Tom.
I think of a night,
When the earth smelled of summer
And the sky was streaked with white,
The soft mist of England
Was sleeping on a hill.

I remember this,
And I always will...
There are new lovers now
On the same silent hill,
Looking on the same blue sea.
And I know Tom and I are a part of them all --
And they're all a part of Tom an me.

Hello young lovers, whoever you are,
I hope your troubles are few.
All my good wishes go with you tonight,
I've been in love like you.

Be brave, young lovers, and follow your star,
Be brave and faithful and true,
Cling very close to each other tonight.
I've been in love like you.

I know how it feels to have wings on your heels,
And to fly down the street in a trance.
You fly down a street on the chance that you meet,
And you meet -- not really by chance.

Don't cry young lovers, whatever you do,
Don't cry because I'm alone;
All of my memories are happy tonight,
I've had a love of my own.
I've had a love of my own, like yours-
I've had a love of my own.

Recorded By:

Perry Como
Bobby Darrin
Frank Sinatra
Guy Lombardo
Marvin Gaye

It Never Entered My Mind

By Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart
1940

Rodgers & Hart were at the height of their powers when they put out Higher and Higher in 1940, and this was one of the big hits from that show--a melancholy, clever, and simply gorgeous ballad that typifies their intimate style and knack for simple, hypnotic compositions. It was introduced on-stage by long-time Bob Hope partner Shirley Ross (pictured). Frank Sinatra's rendition on the classic Capitol album In the Wee Small Hours is particularly sublime.

Lyrics:

I don't care if there's powder on my nose.
I don't care if my hairdo is in place.
I've lost the very meaning of repose.
I never put a mudpack on my face.
Oh, who'd have thought
that I'd walk in the daze now?
I never go to shows at night,
but just to matinees now.
I see the show
and home I go.

Once I laughed when I heard you saying
that I'd be playing solitaire,
uneasy in my easy chair.
It never entered my mind.

Once you told me I was mistaken,
that I'd awaken with the sun
and order orange juice for one.
It never entered my mind.

You have what I lack myself
and now I even have to scratch my back myself.

Once you warned me that if you scorned me
I'd sing the maiden's prayer again
and wish that you where there again
to get into my hair again.
It never entered my mind.

Recorded By:

Sarah Vaughan
Frank Sinatra
Miles Davis
Ella Fitzgerald
June Christy

This Can't Be Love

By Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart
1938

A fine example of the sophisticated wit and melodic gift of the Rodgers/Hart team, this song was introduced on stage by Eddie Albert and Marcy Westcott in the musical The Boys from Syracuse. Bandleaders Eddy Duchin and Benny Goodman had hits with it right after. Hart's typically clever lyric pokes fun at the traditional depictions of love in pop ballads.

Lyrics:

This can't be love, because I feel so well.
No sobs, no sorrows, no sighs.
This can't be love, I get no dizzy spells.
My head is not in the skies.

My heart does not stand still,
Just to repeat,
This is too sweet to be love.
This can't be love because I feel so well,
Yet I long to look into your eyes.

Recorded By:

Ella Fitzgerald
Nat King Cole
Diana Krall
George Shearing
Stacey Kent

It Might as Well Be Spring

By Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II
1945

A lilting, delicate melody highlights this late Rodgers composition, from his second major collaboration, that with Hammerstein. This came from State Fair, which was the only original film score the duo ever wrote. It was sung in the film by Jeanne Crain--and Dick Haymes, who also starred in the movie, had the first hit recording of it the same year.

Lyrics:

The things I used to like I don't like anymore.
I want a lot of other things I've never had before.
It's just like mother says... I sit around and mope.
Pretending I am wonderful. And knowing I'm a dope.

I'm as restless as a willow in a windstorm,
I'm as jumpy as a puppet on a string.
I'd say that I had spring fever,
But I know it isn't spring.

I'm starry-eyed and vaguely discontented
Like a nightingale without a song to sing.
Oh, why should I have spring fever
When it isn't even spring?

I keep wishing I were somewhere else,
Walking down a strange new street.
Hearing words that I have never heard
From a man I've yet to meet.

I'm as busy as a spider spinning daydreams,
I'm as giddy as a baby on a swing.
I haven't seen a crocus or a rosebud
Or a robin on the wing.

But I feel so gay,
In a melancholy way,
That it might as well be spring,
It might as well be spring.

Recorded By:

Ella Fitzgerald
Nina Simone
Frank Sinatra
Sammy Kaye
Blossom Dearie

It's Easy to Remember

By Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart
1935

Another immortal Rodgers & Hart ballad written for a film that is far less remembered. In this case, the movie was Mississippi, starring W.C. Fields and Bing Crosby. Bing introduced the sophisticated lament both in the film, and with a hit recording later the same year. A fine example of the work of a sublime songwriting team.

Lyrics:

Your sweet expression,
The smile you gave me,
The way you looked when we met.
It's easy to remember,
But so hard to forget.

I hear you whisper,
"I'll always love you."
I know it's over, and yet,
It's easy to remember,
But so hard to forget.

So I must dream
To have your hand caress me,
Fingers press me tight.
I'd rather dream
Than have that lonely feeling
Stealing through the night.

Each little moment
Is clear before me,
And though it brings me regret,
It's easy to remember,
But so hard to forget.

Recorded By:

Billie Holiday
Frank Sinatra
John Coltrane
Mel Torme
Johnny Hartman

Thou Swell

By Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart
1927

A Rodgers & Hart favorite, composed for the stage production of their musical, A Connecticut Yankee. It was first sung on stage by William Gaxton and Constance Carter, the stars of the original version. The clever lyrics are well-known for blending old-style English with 1920s slang.

Lyrics:

Thou swell! Thou witty!
Thou sweet! Thou grand!
Wouldst kiss me pretty?
Wouldst hold my hand?

Both thine eyes are cute too;
What they do to me.
Hear me holler I choose a Sweet lollapaloosa in thee.

I'd feel so rich in a hut for two;
Two rooms and a kitchen I'm sure would do;
Give me just a plot of,
Not a lot of land,
And Thou swell! Thou Witty! Thou Grand!

Recorded By:

Nat King Cole
Sarah Vaughan
Frank Sinatra
Blossom Dearie
Joe Williams

I Could Write a Book

By Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart
1940

Written for the original stage version of Pal Joey, where it was introduced by Gene Kelly and Leila Ernst. It did not make it into the Frank Sinatra film version, however. It also was used to great effect in the 1997 Woody Allen movie Deconstructing Harry. I was inspired to focus on this song today thanks to a gorgeous rendition by the remarkable Emma Wallace, which can be found here.

Lyrics:

If they asked me, I could write a book
About the way you walk, and whisper,
And look.
I could write a preface
On how we met
That the world will never forget.

And the simple secret of the plot
Is just to tell them;
That I love you, a lot.
Then the world discovers,
As my book ends,
How to make two lovers of friends.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Harry Connick Jr.
Miles Davis
Ella Fitzgerald
Mel Torme