George and Ira GershwinI get this song stuck in my head every once in a while. I finally learned all the words today while looking through an old Readers' Digest piano book of my mom's. It was composed by George Gershwin with lyrics written by his brother, Ira. It was performed in the musical, "Oh, Kay!" The book of this play was written by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse (Jeeves & Wooster, anyone?). The play opened in 1926 with Gertrude Lawrence playing Kay and singing this song.
There have been many covers of this song by everyone from Julie Andrews, Etta James, and Ella Fitzgerald to Amy Winehouse and Perry Como. I prefer the more straightforward, less jazzy versions. I suppose it's because I usually prefer songs in their original form. The first time I remember hearing this song was in "Mr. Holland's Opus," performed by the lovely Jean Louisa Kelly. This is still one of my favorite versions. Julie Andrews does a lovely and characteristically effortless version in the movie "Star!" I've included YouTube videos of both performances.
I love singing this song when I'm alone. Seriously, try it. Pretend you're on a stage with a spotlight on you. You'll feel great, especially if you're in the shower. If you're a guy this might not work out as well, but give it a shot anyway. No one has to know.
Enjoy!
I tried singing it in the shower, but I don't know any of the words.
ReplyDeleteWrite the words on your body and sing them as you wash them off.
ReplyDelete