Great Lyrics: Standards

"Mona Lisa"

Are you warm, are you real, Mona Lisa?
Or just a cold and lonely, lovely work of art?

"Ain't Misbehavin"

I don't stay out late, no place to go
I'm home about eight, just me and my radio
Ain't misbehavin', savin' all of my love for you

 

I'm dreaming of a white christmas
just like the ones I used to know
where the treetops glisten
and children listen
to hear sleighbells in the snow

I'm dreaming of a white christmas
with every christmas card I write
may your days be merry and bright
and may all your christmases be white​

I got goosebumps and a little teary just writing those out, you know. it's not just about christmas, it's about nostalgia and that pang you get in your chest when you remember times past with since-departed family members in places that are no longer.

it's one of the greatest songs of the twentieth century. thanks, Mr Berlin.

(I'd do 'somewhere over the rainbow' too, but then I really would cry.)

 

Best post I've read in the forum. Thanks for that drasil.

 

For me this is Berlin's masterpiece. The street life atmosphere -- worrying about how much money a cheap date will cost -- is something you'd never get from Cole Porter:

Have you seen the well to do
Up on Lennox Avenue
On that famous thoroughfare
With their noses in the air
High hats and narrow collars
White spats and fifteen dollars
Spending every dime
For a wonderful time

If you're blue, and you don't know where to go to
Why don't you go where Harlem sits? Puttin' on the Ritz

Spangled gowns upon the bevy of high browns
From down the levy, all misfits, puttin' on the Ritz

That's where each and every lulu-belle goes
Every Thursday evening* with her swell beaus
Rubbin' elbows

If you're blue, and you don't know where to go to
Why don't you go where Harlem sits? Puttin' on the Ritz

Spangled gowns upon the bevy of high browns
From down the levy, all misfits, puttin' on the Ritz

Reuben treats his sweetie to
Highbrow drinks and oyster stew
Though he knows quite well his dash
Means six days on beans and hash
Five spots he'll have to borrow
Dry spots can come tomorrow
But nobody cares
Tonight they're all millionaires!

If you're blue, and you don't know where to go to
Why don't you go where Harlem sits?
Puttin' on the Ritz

Come with me and we'll attend their jubilee
And see them spend their last two bits
Puttin' on the Ritz

* In the houses of the wealthy, Thursday was traditionally the maid's night off


A thread about songwriting that could use some traffic:

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/words-music-which-came-first.447536/

 

It doesnt get much better than this!


"Over The Rainbow"

Somewhere over the rainbow way up high
There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby
Somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true

Someday I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far
Behind me
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
Away above the chimney tops
That's where you'll find me

Somewhere over the rainbow bluebirds fly
Birds fly over the rainbow. Why then, oh, why can't I?

If happy little bluebirds fly
Beyond the rainbow why, oh, why can't I?

 

Bicycle Built For Two

 

"A Nightingale Sang on Berkeley Square"

That certain night, the night we met
There was magic abroad in the air
There were Angels dinin' at the Ritz
And a nightingale sang in Berkeley Square

I may be right, may be wrong
But I'm perfectly willing to swear
That when you turned and smiled at me
A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square

 

I've always loved "My Funny Valentine" (lyrics by Lorenz Hart). It's possibly my favourite love song of all time.

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

 

Mark Steyn on "My Funny Valentine":

http://www.steynonline.com/6804/my-funny-valentine

----

That's all there is. First they sat down. Then they wrote a song. And we'll never know the process by which Lorenz Hart decided he could use a six-syllable word in a romantic ballad and make it sound utterly natural:

Your looks are laughable
Unphotographable ...

In his book Finishing The Hat, Stephen Sondheim can't resist a big queeny sneer:

Talk about missing the point.

 

That's a brilliant article. Thanks for pointing me to it. But it's funny, I've always thought of the song as Chet Baker's. Not that he wrote it, but that it was his performance (namely the 1954 vocal one) that defined it, or 'owned' it. I prefer his rendition to Sinatra's on Songs For Young Lovers, for example. But what's funny is, I've never thought of it specifically as a woman's song, or a song to be sung from the point of view of a woman addressing a man (even if the lyrics do imply that, and the versions by vocalists like Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, for example, are stellar). I suppose, for me, Baker's rendition has just overshadowed everything (and everyone) else. So it's interesting to learn that it was in fact written (in Babes In Arms) to be sung by a female character. I suppose the lesson is, truly great lyrics are universal, and have enough subtext and nuance that you can apply them to all sorts of scenarios (but are precise enough to apply to just one).

 

More amazing Lorenz Hart:

It Never Entered My Mind

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.

I Wish I Were In Love Again

The sleepless nights,
the daily fights
the qick toboggan when you reach the heights
I miss the kisses and I miss the bites
I wish I were in love again!

The broken dates,
the endless waits,
the lovely loving and the hateful hates,
the conversations with the flying plates
I wish I were in love again!

No more pain
no more strain
now I'm sane but ...
I would rather be gaga!
The pulled-out fur
of cat and cur
the fine mismating of a him and her
I've learned my lesson, but I wish I were
in love again!

The furtive sight
the blackened eye,
the words "I'll love you till the day I day"
the self-deception the belives the lie
I wish I were in love again!

When love congeals
it soon reveals
the faint aroma of performing seals
the double-crossong ps a pair of heels.
I wish I were in love again!

No more care
no despair
I'm all there now
But I'd rather be punch-drunk!
Belive me sir
I much prefer
the classic battle of a him and her.
I don't like quiet and
I wish I were in love again!

 

Someone To Watch Over Me


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 girl I've had in mind

Looking everywhere, haven't found her yet
She's the big affair I cannot forget
Only girl I ever think of with regret

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

There's a somebody I'm longing to see
I hope that she 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 I may not be the man some
Girls think of as handsome
To her heart I'll carry the key
Won't you tell her please to put on some speed
Follow my lead, oh, how I need
Someone to watch over me.

 

GREAT thread. Thank you!

 

Bumpuses! Keep 'em coming!

 

Thanks, hoping we get some more lyrics in the thread during the Holiday seasons. Keep your ears open for great lyrics from crooners. I need to play some more Nat King Cole, and Bobby Darin, and dig through my collection to see what else I have. Also hoping to get some inspiration for additions to my music collection.

 

Johnny Mercer



---------------

Them city folks and we'uns
Are pretty much alike
Though they ain't used to living in the sticks
We don't like stone or cement
But we is in agreement
When we get started talking politics

The country's in the very best of hands
The best of hands
The best of hands

The treasury says the national debt
Is climbing to the sky
And government expenditures
Have never been so high
It makes a fellow get a
Gleam of pride of pride within his eye
To see how our economy expands
The country's in the very best of hands

The country's in the very best of hands
The best of hands
The best of hands

You oughtta hear the senate
When their drawing up a bill
Whereases and to-wits are crowded in each codicil
Such legal terminology
Would give your heart a thrill
There's phrases there that no one understands
The country's in the very best of hands

The building boom, they say
Is getting bigger every day
And when I asked a feller
How could everybody pay
He come up with an answer
That made everything okay
Supplies are getting greater than demands
The country's in the very best of hands

Don't you believe them congressmen
And senators are dumb
When they run into problems
That is tough to overcome
They just declare something
They call the moratorium
The upper and the lower house disbands
The country's in the very best of hands

Ford Motors is connected to the nominee
The nominee's connected to the treasury
When he ain't connected to the treasury
He sits around on his thigh bone

He sits around in this place they got
This big congressional parking lot
Just sits around on his you know what
Up there they calls it their thigh bone

Them bones, them bones
Gonna rise again
Gonna exercise the franchise again
Gonna tax us up to our eyes again
When they gets up off of their thigh bone

The country's in the very best of hands
The best of hands
The best of hands

The farm bill should be
Eight-nine percent parity
Another fellow recommends
It should be ninety-three
But eighty, ninety-five percent who cares about degree
It's parity that no one understands
The country's in the very best of hands

Them GOP's and democrats
Each hates the other one
They's always criticizing
How the country should be run
But neither tell the public
What the others gone and done
As long as no one knows
Where no one stands
The country's in the very best of hands

They sits around and just place they're at
Where folks in congress has always sat
Just sits around on their excess fat
Up there they calls it their thigh bone

They sits around till they starts to snore
Jumps up and hollers
I has the floor
Then sits right down where they sats before
Up there they calls it their thigh bone

Them bones, them bones
Gonna cross again
So dignified and so wise again
While the budget doubles in size again
When it gets them off of their thigh bone

The country's in the very best of hands
The best of hands
The best of hands

The money that they taxes us
That's known as revenues
They compound up collateral
Subtracts the residue
Don't worry about the principal
And interest that accrues
They're shipping all that stuff to foreign lands
The country's in the very best of hands

 

On the subject of Johnny Mercer:

"Moon River"

Moon river wider than a mile
I'm crossing you in style someday
You dream maker, you heartbreaker
Wherever you're going I'm going your way
Two drifters off to see the world

There's such a lot of world to see
We're after the same rainbows end
Waiting round the band
My huckleberry friend, moon river
And me

Short, but sweet. I could have posted "One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)" too. I've always like the lyrics of "Too Marvelous For Words" as well.

 

From every single window, I see your face,
But when I reach a window, there's empty space.
The key's in the mail box the same as before,
But no one is waiting for me anymore
The end of the story is told on the door.
A cottage for sale.

Devastating...

 

More Johnny Mercer:

Do you hear that whistle down the line
I figure that it's engine number forty-nine
She's the only one that'll sound that way
On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe

 

"Changing my Tune" George Gershwin

At last the stars are bright and shiny
It's a human world once more
Yesterday's troubles are tiny
What was I worried for?

No more resentment, I'm full of contentment
Afloat on a dreamy lagoon
And I'm arranging from now
To be changing my tune

 

"Nice Work If You Can Get It" - George and Ira Gershwin

Holdin' hands at midnight
'neath a starry sky
Nice work if you can get it
And you can get it if you try

Strollin' with the one girl
Sighin' sigh after sigh
Nice work if you can get it
And you can get it if you try

 

Ira wrote the lyrics

 

You Don't Know Me

You give your hand to me
And then you say, "Hello."
And I can hardly speak,
My heart is beating so.
And anyone can tell
You think you know me well.
Well, you don't know me.
(no you don't know me)
No you don't know the one
Who dreams of you at night;
And longs to kiss your lips
And longs to hold you tight
Oh I'm just a friend.
That's all I've ever been.
Cause you don't know me.
(no you don't know me)
For I never knew the art of making love,
Though my heart aches with love for you.
Afraid and shy, I let my chance go by.
A chance that you might love me too.
(love me too)
You give your hand to me,
And then you say, "Goodbye."
I watched you walk away,
Beside the lucky guy
Oh, you'll never ever know
The one who loved you so.
Well, you don't know me
(For I never knew the art of making love, )
(Though my heart aches with love for you. )
Afraid and shy, I let my chance go by.
A chance that you might love me too.
(love me too)
Oh, you give your hand to me,
And then you say, "Goodbye."
I watched you walk away,
Beside the lucky guy
Oh, you'll never ever know
The one who loved you so.
Well, you don't know me
(you don't love me, you don't know me)

 

Please Send Me Someone to Love

Heaven please send to all mankind,
Understanding and peace of mind.
But, if it's not asking too much
Please send me someone to love.

Show all the world how to get along,
Peace will enter when hate is gone.
But, if it's not asking too much,
Please send me someone to love


I lay awake night and ponder world troubles.
My answer is always the same.
That unless men put an end to all of this Damnable sin,
Hate will put the world in a flame, (oh) what a shame.
Just because I'm in misery.
I'm not begging for no sympathy.
But if it's not asking too much,
Just send me someone to love.

 

Yes I would give my heart gladly,
But each day, when she walks to the sea
She looks straight ahead, not at me
Tall, (and) tan, (and) young, (and) lovely, the girl from Ipanema goes walking
And when she passes, I smile - but she doesn't see (doesn't see)
(She just doesn't see, she never sees me,...)

Sung with the right emotion by someone like Sinatra, that last line really hits home. Even though I'm not in that situation, I'm placed right in that guy's shoes.