Only the Lonely

By Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn
1958

Although often remembered as the greatest vocal interpreter of popular song, Frank Sinatra also had a number of memorable songs written specifically for him, and this may have been the very most memorable. As he often did, the Chairman turned to close friends Van Heusen and Cahn to write for him a title song for his new ballad album in 1958, an album that would otherwise be filled with long-popular old chestnuts like "One for My Baby", "Willow Weep for Me" and "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry". This stark and wistful number was the perfect title track for what many consider Sinatra's greatest album--and one that has recently gotten a stellar new 60th anniversary re-release.

Lyrics: 

Each place I go only the lonely go
Some little small cafè
The songs I know only the lonely know
Each melody recalls a love that used to be

The dreams I dream only the lonely dream
Of lips as warm as may
That hopeless scheme only the lonely scheme
That soon somewhere you'll find the one that used to care

And you recall each fun time
Those picnics at the beach when love was new
It well could be the one time
A hopeless little dream like that comes true

If you find love hang on to each caress
And never let love go
For when it's gone you'll know the loneliness
The heartbreak only the lonely know

Recorded By:

Aretha Franklin
Shirley Horn
Iggy Pop
Tierney Sutton
Diana Krall

Swingin' on a Star

By Jimmy Van Heusen & Johnny Burke
1944

An infectious classic composed specifically for Bing Crosby to sing in the 1944 film Going My Way, for which is won the Academy Award. The origin of the concept lay in a visit composer Van Heusen paid to Bing's house, during which the crooner rebuked his son comically for not wanting to go to school. Following Going My Way, Crosby would also have a huge hit with the song as a single recording. It would go on to become a truly beloved standard--specifically a favorite among children.

Lyrics:

Would you like to swing on a star?
Carry moonbeams home in a jar?
And be better off than you are?
Or would rather be a mule?

A mule is an animal with long, funny ears.
He kicks up at anything he hears.
His back is brawny, but his brain is weak,
He's just plain stupid, with a stubborn streak.
And by the way, if you hate to go to school,
You may grow up to be a mule!

Or would you like to swing on a star?
Carry moonbeams home in a jar?
And be better off than you are?
Or would you rather be a pig?

A pig is an animal with dirt on his face.
His shoes are a terrible disgrace.
He has no manners when he eats his food,
He's fat and lazy, and extremely rude.
So if you don't care a feather or a fig,
You may grow up to be a pig.

Or would you like to swing on a star?
Carry moonbeams home in a jar?
And be better off than you are?
Or would rather be a fish?

A fish won't do anything but swim in a brook,
He can't write his name or read a book.
To fool the people is his only thought,
And though he 's slippery, he still gets caught.
But then, if that sort of life is what you wish,
You may grow up to be a fish.

And all the monkeys aren't in the zoo--
Everyday you meet quite a few.
So you see, it's all up to you.
You could be better than you are--
You could be swingin' on a star.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Oscar Peterson
Burl Ives
Maria Muldaur
Tony Bennett

Polka Dots and Moonbeams

By Jimmy Van Heusen & Johnny Burke
1940

First recorded by the Tommy Dorsey band, this was actually the first hit record from Dorsey's new boy singer Frank Sinatra. An extremely popular jazz standard, it was covered by just about every big band of the era, and continues to be popular with modern jazz vocalists. A sweet and pleasant standard if ever there was one.

Lyrics:

A country dance was being held in a garden.
I felt a bump and heard an "Oh, beg your pardon"
Suddenly I saw polka dots and moonbeams
All around a pug-nosed dream.

The music started and was I the perplexed one.
I held my breath and said "May I have the next one?"
In my frightened arms, polka dots and moonbeams
Sparkled on a pug-nosed dream.

There were questions in the eyes of other dancers,
As we floated over the floor.
There were questions, but my heart knew all the answers,
And perhaps a few things more.

Now in a cottage built of lilacs and laughter,
I know the meaning of the words "Ever after"
And I'll always see polka dots and moonbeams
When I kiss the pug-nosed dream.

Recorded By:

Diana Krall
Bill Evans
Sarah Vaughan
Count Basie
Lester Youn

Moonlight Becomes You

By Jimmy Van Heusen & Johnny Burke
1942

This particular Van Heusen/Burke tune comes from one of the classic Bing Crosby/Bob Hope "Road" comedies. In this case, it was Road to Morocco, in which the song was introduced by Crosby himself. To this day, Crosby's version remains the benchmark.

Lyrics:

Moonlight becomes you, it goes with your hair.
You certainly know the right thing to wear.
Moonlight becomes you, I'm thrilled at the sight.
And I could get so romantic tonight.

You're all dressed up to go dreaming,
Now don't tell me I'm wrong.
And what a night to go dreaming--
Mind if I tag along?

If I say I love you, I want you to know
It's not just because there's moonlight,
Although, moonlight becomes you so.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Chet Baker
Willie Nelson
Ella Fitzgerald
Glenn Miller

But Beautiful

By Jimmy Van Heusen & Johnny Burke

1947

This ballad was written for the Bing Crosby/Bob Hope vehicle Road to Rio, and quickly became a favorite of jazz singers, who changed its structure a bit from its original composition. Nancy Wilson used it as the title song for one of her albums.

Lyrics:

Love is funny, or it's sad,
Or it's quiet, or it's mad.
It's a good thing, or it's bad,
But beautiful...

Beautiful to take a chance
And if you fall, you fall,
And I'm thinking, 
I wouldn't mind at all.

Love is tearful, or it's gay,
It's a problem, or it's play.
It's a heartache either way,
But beautiful...

And I'm thinking, if you were mine,
I'd never let you go.
And that would be but beautiful,
I know.

Recorded By:

Barbra Streisand

Johnny Hartman

Stan Getz

Bill Evans

Billie Holiday

Here's That Rainy Day

By Jimmy Van Heusen & Johnny Burke
1953

A famous favorite of Frank Sinatra's this sublime ballad has its origins in the stage musical Carnival in Flanders, in which it was introduced by Dolores Gray. It was also the very favorite song of Johnny Carson, and the TV legend sang an impromptu duet of it with Bette Medler on his second-to-last Tonight Show. I've embedded the video of it below, and if you can watch it without getting at least a little misty...well, then you're reading the wrong blog.

Lyrics:

Maybe I should have saved
Those leftover dreams.
Funny, but here's that rainy day.

Here's that rainy day
They told me about.
And I laughed at the thought
That it might turn out this way.

Where is that worn out wish
That I threw aside,
After it brought my love so near?

Funny how love becomes
A cold rainy day.
Funny, that rainy day is here.

Recorded By:

Lena Horne
Tony Bennett
Jack Jones
Astrud Gilberto
Billy Eckstine

All My Tomorrows

By Sammy Cahn & Jimmy Van Heusen
1959

The winning team of Cahn and Van Heusen, a favorite of Frank Sinatra's, composed this tune for the Chairman's Frank Capra picture A Hole in the Head. Sinatra sang the song over the credits of the film. He also recorded it as a single, but it was the release of the other Cahn/Van Heusen song from the soundtrack, "High Hopes", that became a monster hit for Frank.

Lyrics:

Today I may not have a thing at all,
Except for just a dream or two.
But I've got lots of plans for tomorrow,
And all my tomorrows belong to you.

Right now it may not seem like spring at all.
We're drifting and the laughs are few.
But I've got rainbows planned for tomorrow,
And all my tomorrows belong to you.

No one knows better than I
That luck keeps passing me by... that's fate.
But with you there at my side,
I'll soon be turrning the tide... just wait.

As long as I've got arms that cling at all,
It's you that I'll be clinging to.
And all the dreams I dream, beg, or borrow
On some bright tomorrow, they'll all come true.
And all my bright tomorrows belong to you.

Recorded By:

Nancy Wilson
Shirley Horn
Jack Jones
Crystal Gayle
Tony Bennett

Darn That Dream

By Jimmy Van Heusen & Eddie DeLange
1939

One of the most disastrous Broadway flops of the era was Swingin' the Dream, a jazzy send-up of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream that ran for a total of 13 performances--despite featuring the likes of Louis Armstrong (pictured), Maxine Sullivan, Bill Bailey, Dorothy Dandridge, Vivian Dandridge and Etta Jones. All of these performers took turns with this song--the show's sole hit--during the initial production. It didn't become a hit until Benny Goodman recorded it in 1940 with singer Mildred Bailey.

Lyrics:

Darn that dream I dream each night.
You say you love me and hold me tight,
But when I awake and you're out of sight,
Oh, darn that dream.

Darn your lips and darn your eyes,
They lift me high above the moonlit sky,
Then I tumble out of paradise--
Oh, darn that dream.

Darn that one-track mind of mine,
It can't understand that you don't care.
Just to change the mood I'm in,
I'd welcome a nice old nightmare.

Darn that dream, and bless it, too.
Without that dream I'd never have you.
But it haunts me, and it won't come true,
Oh, darn that dream.

Recorded By:

Billie Holiday
Tommy Dorsey
Doris Day
Miles Davis
Thelonious Monk

The Second Time Around

By Jimmy Van Heusen & Sammy Cahn
1960

One of Blake Edwards' early comedies, High Time starred Bing Crosby as an older man going back to college, and featured this Oscar-nominated tune. Although it didn't win ("Never on a Sunday" from the Greek film of the same name took home that honor), the song of middle-aged love--as introduced by Crosby in the film--became an instant favorite, and one of the most successful standards of the late "songbook period". An example of a time when not all songs were written for teenagers.

Lyrics:

Love is lovelier,
The second time around.
Just as wonderful,
With both feet on the ground.

It's that second time you hear your love song sung
Makes you think, perhaps, that love, like youth,
Is wasted on the young.

Love's more comfortable
The second time you fall.
Like a friendly home,
The second time you call.

Who can say what brought us to this miracle we've found?
There are those who'd bet
Love comes but once--and yet,
I'm oh so glad we met
The second time around.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Tony Bennett
Nancy Wilson
Michael Bolton & Nicolette Sheridan (?!)
Mel Torme

Deep in a Dream

By Jimmy Van Heusen & Eddie DeLange
1938

Van Heusen and band leader DeLange (pictured) were introduced in 1938 by Tin Pan Alley song plugger Charlie Warren, and the result was this song, along with tunes like "All This and Heaven Too" and "Darn that Dream". It was first recorded by Connee Boswell, recently gone solo after her successful sister act. It was also featured in the 1939 Chuck Jones-directed Warner Bros. cartoon Naughty but Mice.

Lyrics:

I dim all the lights and I sink in my chair.
The smoke from my cigarette climbs through the air.
The walls of my room fade away in the blue,
And I'm deep in a dream of you.

The smoke makes a stairway for you to descend;
You come to my arms, may this bliss never end,
For we love anew just as we used to do
When I'm deep in a dream of you.

Then from the ceiling, sweet music comes stealing;
We glide through a lover's refrain, you're so appealing
That I'm soon revealing my love for you over again.

My cigarette burns me, I wake with a start;
My hand isn't hurt, but there's pain in my heart.
Awake or asleep, ev'ry mem'ry I'll keep
Deep in a dream of you.

Recorded By:

Chet Baker
Artie Shaw
Frank Sinatra
Dave Brubeck
Cab Calloway

Call Me Irresponsible

By Jimmy Van Heusen & Sammy Cahn
1963

From the tail end of the "popular standards" era comes this Academy Award-winning tune from the Jackie Gleason vehicle Papa's Delicate Condition, in which it was introduced by the Great One himself. The story goes that it was originally written for Judy Garland to sing at a dinner, as a comic reference to her well-known "issues". Garland wound up later singing the song on her short-lived TV show.

Lyrics:

Call me irresponsible.
Call me unreliable.
Throw in undependable, too.

Do my foolish alibis bore you?
Well I'm not too clever, I just adore you.

Call me unpredictable.
Tell me I'm impractical.
Rainbows I'm inclined to pursue.

Call me irresponsible.
Yes, I'm unreliable.
But it's undeniably true--
I'm irresponsibly mad for you.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Michael Buble
Bobby Darin
Julie London
Jack Jones

I Thought About You

By Jimmy Van Heusen & Johnny Mercer
1939

Among the first collaborations by Jimmy Van Heusen & Johnny Mercer, the song came about when Van Heusen played Mercer the music, right before Mercer caught his train to Chicago, where he was appearing on a radio show with Benny Goodman. Inspired by the ride, Mercer wrote the exceptional words to the tune. It would be none other than Goodman, with Mildred Bailey on vocals, who introduced the song in 1939 with a record that went to #17.

Lyrics:

Seems that I read, or somebody said,
That out of sight is out of mind.
Maybe that's so, but I tried to go
And leave you behind, what did I find...

I took a trip on the train,
And I thought about you.
I passed a shadowy lane,
And I thought about you.

Two or three cars
Parked under the stars,
A winding stream.
Moon shining down
On some little town,
And with each beam,
The same old dream.

At every stop that we made,
I thought about you.
But when I pulled down the shade,
Then I really felt blue.

I peeked through the crack,
And looked at the track--
The one going back to you.
And what did I do?
I thought about you.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Nancy Wilson
Diana Krall
Billie Holiday
Johnny Hartman