Someone to Watch Over Me

By George and Ira Gershwin
1926

For this, the momentous 500th post here at Standard of the Day, let's fondly recall one of the absolutely unparalleled gems of the Great American Songbook, from the incomparable brothers Gershwin. George originally envisioned the melody as uptempo, but after playing around with it, he thankfully realized it would work much better as a ballad (to say the least!) Ira's lyric is an anthem of longing and fragility, traditionally associated with a female voice ever since being introduced by Gertrude Lawrence in the Broadway musical, Oh, Kay!

Lyrics:

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 lad I've had in mind

Looking everywhere, haven't found him yet
He's the big affair I cannot forget
Only man I ever think of with regret

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

There's a somebody I'm longin' to see
I hope that he 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 he may not be the man

Some girls think of as handsome
To my heart he carries the key

Won't you tell him please to put on some speed
Follow my lead, oh, how I need
Someone to watch over me.

Recorded By:
Frank Sinatra
Chris Connor
Sarah Vaughan
Sammy Davis Jr.
Ray Coniff

I Wanna Be Loved By You

By Herbert Stothart, Harry Ruby and Bert Kalmar
1928

An iconic number for the original "Boop-Boop-a-Doop" girl Helen Kane, who first performed it in the Broadway musical Good Boy, this infectiously cute number was the product of the legendary Ruby/Kalmar team (pictured) that had written for the Marx Brothers, among many others. Kane's rendition propelled her to superstardom, and was copied many times since, including by Betty Boop, the cartoon character she inspired, and by Marilyn Monroe, who memorably performed it in Billy Wilder's classic comedy Some Like It Hot. A young Debbie Reynolds, portraying Helen Kane in the 1950 Ruby/Kalmar biopic Three Little Words, also took a crack at this late Roaring '20s anthem.

Lyrics:

I wanna be loved by you,
just you and nobody else but you
I wanna be loved by you
alone--Boop Boop a Doop!
I wanna be kissed by you
just you, nobody else but you
I wanna be loved by you
alone

I couldn't aspire
To anything higher
Then to fill a desire
to make you my own

I wanna be loved by you,
just you and nobody else but you
I wanna be loved by you
alone

I couldn't aspire
To anything higher
Then to fill a desire
to make you my own
tada tada ta tada

I wanna be loved by you
just you, nobody else but you
I wanna be loved by you
Alone
Boop Boop a Doop!

Recorded By:

Annette Hanshaw
Sinead O'Connor
Frank Sinatra
Barry Manilow
Tina Louise

Yes! We Have No Bananas

By Frank Silver and Irving Cohn
1923

On January 1, for the first time in 20 years, a motherlode of intellectual property entered the public domain--books, songs, movies, etc. from 1923 are now available to use for free. Among them is this charming novelty song that was number one on the charts for five weeks in its original recording by Billy West. Interestingly, the melody has been identified by some as a combination of Handel's Hallelujah chorus, "My Bonnie", and a few other tunes. The lyric supposedly was written by Cohn as a tribute to a Greek fruit seller he knew who began every statement with, "Yes!" Despite not really being recorded much in the past 50 years, the song remains a part of popular culture, and has been referenced in The Simpsons, The Muppet Show, The English Patient and Mel Brooks' Dracula: Dead and Loving It ("Yes! We have Nosferatu. We have Nosferatu today!")

Lyrics:

There's a fruit store on our street
It's run by a Greek.
And he keeps good things to eat
But you should hear him speak!
When you ask him anything, he never answers "no".
He just "yes"es you to death, and as he takes your dough
He tells you
"Yes, we have no bananas
We have-a no bananas today.
We've string beans, and onions
Cabbageses, and scallions,
And all sorts of fruit and say
We have an old fashioned to-mah-to
A Long Island po-tah-to
But yes, we have no bananas.
We have no bananas today."

Business got so good for him that he wrote home today,
"Send me Pete and Nick and Jim; I need help right away."
When he got them in the store, there was fun, you bet.
Someone asked for "sparrow grass" and then the whole quartet
All answered
"Yes, we have no bananas
We have-a no bananas today.
Just try those coconuts
Those walnuts and doughnuts
There ain't many nuts like they.
We'll sell you two kinds of red herring,
Dark brown, and ball-bearing.
But yes, we have no bananas
We have no bananas today."

Yes, we are very sorry to inform you
That we are entirely out of the fruit in question
The afore-mentioned vegetable
Bearing the cognomen "Banana".
We might induce you to accept a substitute less desirable,
But that is not the policy at this internationally famous green 
grocery.
I should say not. No no no no no no no.
But may we suggest that you sample our five o'clock tea
Which we feel certain will tempt your pallet?
However we regret that after a diligent search 
Of the premises
By our entire staff
We can positively affirm without fear of contradiction
That our raspberries are delicious; really delicious
Very delicious
But we have no bananas today.

Yes, we gotta no banana
No banana
We gotta no banana today.
I sella you no banana.
Hey, Marianna, you gotta no banana?
Why this man, he no believe-a what I say.
Now whatta you want mister?
You wanna buy twelve for a quarter?
No? well, just a oneofadozen?
I'm-a gonna calla my daughter.
Hey, Marianna
You gotta piana
Yes, banana, no
No, yes, no bananas today
We gotta no bananas.
Yes, we gotta no bananas today.

Recorded By:

Eddie Cantor
Louis Prima
Benny Goodman
Spike Jones
Anthony Newley

Button Up Your Overcoat

By Ray Hernderon, B.G. DeSylva and Lew Brown
1928

Although Ruth Etting was the first to record this song, it was the version recorded a few months later by Helen Kane, the cutesy-voiced singer who inspired Betty Boop, that made the song a major hit. It would also be featured in the 1929 Broadway musical Follow Thru, as well as the film of the following year. Although it would always be identified as a song very much of the 1920s, it would be regularly brought back as a nostalgia piece by artists of later decades.

Lyrics: 

Listen, big boy
Now that you got me made
Goodness, but I'm afraid
Somethin's gonna happen to you

Listen, big boy
You gotta be hooked, and how
I would die if I should lose you now

Button up your overcoat
When the wind is free
Take good care of yourself
You belong to me

Eat an apple every day
Get to bed by three
Oh, take good care of yourself
You belong to me

Be careful crossing streets, ooh, ooh
Cut out sweets, ooh, ooh
Lay off meat, ooh, ooh
You'll get a pain and ruin your tum-tum

Wear your flannel underwear
When you climb a tree
Oh, take good care of yourself
You belong to me

Button up your overcoat
When the wind is free
Oh, take good care of yourself
You belong to me
Boop-boop-a-doop

When you sass a traffic cop
Use diplomacy
Just take good care of yourself
You belong to me

Beware of frozen funds, ooh, ooh
Stocks and bonds, ooh, ooh
Dockside thugs, ooh, ooh
You'll get a pain and ruin your bankroll

Keep the spoon out of your cup
When you're drinking tea
Oh, take good care of yourself
You belong to me

Don't sit on hornet's tails, ooh, ooh
Or on nails, ooh, ooh
Or third rails, ooh, ooh
You'll get a pain and ruin your tum-tum

Keep away from bootleg hooch
When you're on a spree
Oh, take good care of yourself
You belong to me

Recorded By:

Sarah Vaughan
Paul Whiteman
Connie Francis
Johnny Mercer
Bing Crosby

Mean to Me

By Fred E. Ahlert and Roy Turk
1929

From the tail end of the Roaring '20s comes this sad, plaintive ballad with a clever lyric by Roy Turk which plays on the double meaning of the word "mean". It was introduced by Annette Hanshaw (pictured), considered in the early '30s to be the female equivalent of Bing Crosby. Ruth Etting also scored a major hit with it later that year. The melody would also be featured that year in the Krazy Kat cartoon "Ratskin", the first animated short produced by Columbia Pictures.

Lyrics: 

You're mean to me
Why must you be mean to me?
Gee, honey, it seems to me
You love to see me cryin'
I don't know why
I stay home each night
When you say you phone
You don't and I'm left alone.

Sing the blues and sighin'
You treat me coldly each day in the year
You always scold me
Whenever somebody is near, dear
I must be great fun to be mean to me
You shouldn't, for can't you see
What you mean to me

Recorded By:

Dean Martin
Robert Goulet
Ella Fitzgerald
Billie Holiday
Anita O'Day

Mississippi Mud

By Harry Barris

1927

Harry Barris, composer of this joyous Roaring '20s tune, was a member of the Rhythm Boys, the vocal group that accompanied Paul Whiteman's orchestra and also included a very young Bing Crosby. The Rhythm Boys introduced the song with Whiteman's band, also featuring the legendary Bix Beiderbecke on cornet. It remained popular in later years, although with the original derogatory term "darkies" changed to "people". It appeared in an early episode of M*A*S*H, and has even proven a popular children's song, performed by The Muppets and Alvin & The Chipmunks.

Lyrics:

When the sun goes down, the tide goes out, 
The people gather 'round and they all begin to shout,
"Hey! Hey! Uncle Dud,
It's a treat to beat your feet on the Mississippi Mud.
It's a treat to beat your feet on the Mississippi Mud".

What a dance do they do!
Lordy, how I'm tellin' you
They don't need no band
They keep time by clappin' their hand
Just as happy as a cow chewin' on a cud,
When the darkies beat their feet on the Mississippi Mud.

Lordy, how they play it!
Goodness, how they sway it!
Uncle Joe, Uncle Jim,
How they pound the mire with vigor and vim!
Joy! that music thrills me!
Boy! it nearly kills me!
What a show when they go!
Say! they beat it up either fast or slow.

When the sun goes down, the tide goes out,
The people gather 'round and they all begin to shout,
"Hey! Hey! Uncle Dud,
It's a treat to beat your feet on the Mississippi Mud.
It's a treat to beat your feet on the Mississippi Mud".

What a dance do they do!
Lordy, how I'm tellin' you
They don't need no band
They keep time by clappin' their hand.
Just as happy as a cow chewin' on a cud.
When the darkies beat their feet on the Mississippi Mud.

Recorded By:

Dean Martin
Ray Charles
The Lennon Sisters
Eydie Gorme
Dinah Shore

Let's Misbehave

By Cole Porter
1927

One of the signature, defining tunes of the Roaring '20s, and yet it almost didn't see the light of day. Porter composed this ode to free-wheeling sexuality for his first major Broadway revue, Paris, but it was substituted at the last minute with another Porter gem, "Let's Do It" (it was eventually included in the 1962 revival of Anything Goes). Nevertheless, the star of Paris, Irene Bordoni, made a recording of it that became an instant hit. It has since become a song that instantly conjures up those Jazz Age days, and thus has appeared in many films over the years. The 1928 Irving Aaronson version alone has been featured in two Woody Allen films, was danced to by Christopher Walken in Pennies from Heaven, and most recently appeared in Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby. Elvis Costello also performed it in the Cole Porter biopic, De-Lovely.

Lyrics:

You could have a great career,
And you should;
Yes you should.
Only one thing stops you dear:
You're too good;
Way too good!

If you want a future, darlin',
Why don't you get a past?
'Cause that fateful moment's comin' at last...

We're all alone, no chaperone
Can get our number
The world's in slumber--let's misbehave!!!

There's something wild about you child
That's so contagious
Let's be outrageous--let's misbehave!!!

When Adam won Eve's hand
He wouldn't stand for teasin'.
He didn't care about those apples out of season.

They say that Spring means just one little thing to little lovebirds
We're not above birds--let's misbehave!!!

It's getting late and while I wait
My poor heart aches on
Why keep the breaks on? Let's misbehave!!!

I feel quite sure affaire d'amour
Would be attractive
While we're still active, let's misbehave!

You know my heart is true
And you say you for me care...
Somebody's sure to tell,
But what the heck do we care?

They say that bears have love affairs
And even camels
We're men and mammals--let's misbehave!!!

Recorded By:

Irving Aaronson and His Commanders
Cole Porter
Elvis Costello
Cybill Shepherd
Ethel Merman

Ain't Misbehavin'

By Fats Waller, Harry Brooks & Andy Razaf

1929

Standard of the Day continues its fifth anniversary celebration this month with another signature tune, this time from the great Fats Waller. Fats claimed to have written the song while in prison, which partly inspired the title. He introduced it in 1929, and it was an instant hit, being recorded by several other artists in that year alone, and of course countless times over the decades since. It was the title tune for a 1978 Broadway musical based around Waller's songs, and was also performed by Leon Redbone during the first season of Saturday Night Live. It was also adopted as a theme song by comedian George Burns. More than any other, this song captured the irresistible charm and enthusiasm of the inimitable genius Fats Waller.

Lyrics:

No one to talk with, all by myself
No one to walk with, but I'm happy on the shelf
Ain't misbehavin', I'm savin' my love for you.

I know for certain the one you love
I'm through with flirtin', it's just you I'm thinkin' of
Ain't Misbehavin', I'm savin' my love for you.

Like Jack Horner in the corner
don't go nowhere, what do I care
Your kisses are worth waitin' for . . . Believe me.

I don't stay out late, don't care to go
I'm home about 8, just me and my radio
Ain't Misbehavin', I'm savin' my love for you.

Recorded By:

Billie Holiday
Ella Fitzgerald
Eartha Kitt
Django Reinhardt
Johnnie Ray

Honeysuckle Rose

By Fats Waller & Andy Razaf
1929

One of the most mainstream of all the compositions of Waller and Razaf (pictured), this song made its way into the lexicon of pop and jazz not long after its introduction by Fats' own ensemble. The infectious, syncopated melody is amongst Waller's best, and Razaf's lyric is playfully flirtatious, setting up the object of his love as a viable sugar substitute (who needs Splenda?) A joyful standard that has brought joy to music fans for generations.

Lyrics: 

Ev'ry honeybee.... fills with jealousy
When they see you out with me
I don't blame them....goodness knows
Honeysuckle rose

When you're passin' by....flowers drop and sigh
And I know the reason why
You're much sweeter....goodness knows
Honeysuckle rose

Don't buy sugar....you just have to touch my cup
You're my sugar....it's so sweet when you stir it up

When I'm taking sips...from your tasty lips
Seems the honey fairly drips
You're confection.....goodness knows
Honeysuckle rose.

Recorded By:

Louis Armstrong
Eva Cassidy
Jane Monheit
Anita O'Day
Lena Horne

Yes Sir, That's My Baby

By Walter Donaldson & Gus Kahn
1925

An infectious tune that originated in the Roaring '20s, legend has it that the song was inspired by a visit composers Donaldson and Kahn made to the home of the immensely popular entertainer Eddie Cantor. When Cantor's daughter introduced her favorite wind-up toy, which produced a beguiling two-note melody, this led the two men to write the song based around those two notes. It was an instant hit, introduced by Ace Brigode, and has remained beloved ever since.

Lyrics:

Yes sir, that's my baby
No sir, I don't mean maybe
Yes sir, that's my baby now

Yes, ma'm, we've decided
No ma'm, we won't hide it
Yes, ma'm, you're invited now

By the way, by the way
When we meet the preacher I'll say

Yes sir, that's my baby
No sir, I don't mean maybe
Yes sir, that's my baby now


Recorded By:


Frank Sinatra
Ricky Nelson
Eddie Cantor
Lee Morse
Gene Austin

Just You, Just Me

By Jesse Greer & Raymond Klages 
1929 

A film musical number with understated grace, gentle simplicity and sublime beauty, it's no wonder that this song has become especially popular amongst jazz instrumentalists dating back to the Big Band era. It was introduced by Chaplin paramour Marion Davies and Lawrence Grey in the film Marianne (pictured), and was even later performed by Liza Minelli in the 1976 Martin Scorsese musical New York, New York, as well as by Edward Norton as a serenade to Drew Barrymore in the 1996 Woody Allen musical Everyone Says I Love You.

Lyrics:

Just you, just me
Let's find a cozy spot
To cuddle and woo.
Just us, just we
I've missed an awful lot
My trouble is you.

Oh, gee!
What are your charms for?
What are my arms for?
Use your imagination!

Just you, just me
I'll tie a lover's knot
Around wonderful you.

Recorded By:

Bing Crosby
Artie Shaw
Judy Garland
Lester Young
Duke Ellington

After You Get What You Want, You Don't Want It

By Irving Berlin
1920

Yesterday marked the 125th anniversary of the birth of Irving Berlin, and we're celebrating all week with spotlights on some of Berlin's most cherished tunes. This early smash hit for the Jewish-American songwriter was introduced by the popular vocal duo of Van & Schenck, whose recording spent six weeks at the number-two position on the charts. Just yesterday, on Berlin's 125th birthday, I picked up this record in an antique shop in its original 78 format, and it was a pleasure to listen to it at home in all its glory. You might also recognize this song from its use in the season 2 opener of HBO's Boardwalk Empire.

Lyrics:

Listen to me, honey dear 
Something's wrong with you I fear
It's getting harder to please you 
Harder and harder each year 
I don't want to make you blue 
But you need a talking to 
Like a lot of people I know 
Here's what's wrong with you...

After you get what you want, you don't want it 
If I gave you the moon, you'd grow tired of it soon. 
You're like a baby 
You want what you want when you want it 
But after you are presented 
With what you want, you're discontented 

You're always wishing and wanting for something 
When you get what you want 
You don't want what you get 
And tho' I sit upon your knee 
You'll grow tired of me 
'Cause after you get what you want 
You don't want what you wanted at all!

Recorded By:

Nat King Cole
Marilyn Monroe
Red Nichols
Van & Schenck
Joyce Breach

 

Tiptoe Through the Tulips

By Joe Burke & Al Dubin
1929

If you think it was Tiny Tim who introduced this song, then think again. This was a tried-and-true standard introduced by "The Crooning Troubadour" Nick Lucas in the movie Gold Diggers of Broadway. Lucas' version also hit number one on the pop charts and stayed for the 10 weeks. It became one of the most popular tunes of the early '30s, recorded many times. Novelty act Tiny Tim (as well as The Human Society) reintroduced it as an odd relic in the late 1960s. Tim's recording was also recently included to spooky effect in the 2011 horror film Insidious.

Lyrics:

Tiptoe through the window
By the window, that is where I'll be
Come tiptoe through the tulips with me

Oh, tiptoe from the garden
By the garden of the willow tree
And tiptoe through the tulips with me

Knee deep in flowers we'll stray
We'll keep the showers away
And if I kiss you in the garden, in the moonlight
Will you pardon me?
And tiptoe through the tulips with me

Recorded By:

Tiny Tim
The Human Society
Jean Goldkette
Johnny Marvin
Roy Fox

Make Believe

By Jerome Kern
1927

A profoundly moving duet ballad from Kern's Show Boat, usually credited as the first modern Broadway musical. It was introduced on stage by Norma Terris and Howard Marsh (pictured), and also performed to great effect by Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson in the 1951 MGM musical adaptation. It's lyrics, expressed by two people suddenly and spontaneously realizing they are in love with each other, are among the most moving in the Great American Songbook.

Lyrics:

Only make believe I love you,
Only make believe that you love me.
Others find peace of mind in pretending,
Couldn't you?
Couldn't I?
Couldn't we?
Make believe our lips are blending
In a phantom kiss, or two, or three.
Might as well make believe I love you,
For to tell the truth I do

Your pardon I pray
'Twas too much to say
The words that betray my heart.

We only pretend
You do not offend
In playing a lover's part.
The game of just supposing
Is the sweetest game I know.
Our dreams are more romantic
Than the world we see.

And if the things we dream about
Don't happen to be so,
That's just an unimportant technicality.

Though the cold and brutal fact is
You and I have never met,
We need not mind convention's P's and Q's
If we put our thoughts in practice
We can banish all regret
Imagining most anything we choose.

Only make believe I love you,
Only make believe that you love me.
Others find peace of mind in pretending,
Couldn't you?
Couldn't I?
Couldn't we?
Make believe our lips are blending
In a phantom kiss, or two, or three.
Might as well make believe I love you,
For to tell the truth I do

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Jo Stafford
Barbra Streisand
Peggy Lee & Patrice Munsel
Deanna Durbin

Stardust

By Hoagy Carmichael & Mitchell Parish
1927

In honor of my grandfather, who passed away on December 4, I give you the single most popular standard of all time, and one of his very favorite songs. Composed on an old upright piano at the Keuka Hotel on Keuka Lake in New York, this unusual melody was based by Carmichael on the idiosyncratic stylings of trumpeter Bix Beiderbecke. Carmichael himself was the first to record it, together with the Dorsey brothers. Parish joined Carmichael to come up with the lyrics two years later, making it "a love song about a love song," as Hoagy would characterize it. It was Isham Jones who turned it into a ballad in 1930, and from there it became one of the most recorded songs of all time. In fact, during the big band era, it was the most recorded pop songs, period--more than 1,500 versions are believed to exist.

With its gorgeous verse and a complex refrain, Stardust is the ultimate American standard, and I happily dedicate it to the memory of Anthony Salica.

Lyrics:

And now the purple dusk of twilight time steals across the meadows of my heart.
High up in the sky, the little stars climb, always reminding me that we're apart.
You wander down the lane and far away, leaving a smile that will not die.
Love is now the stardust of yesterday; the music of the years gone by...

Sometime I wonder why I spend the lonely night
Dreaming of a song.
The melody haunts my reverie,
And I am once again with you,
When our love was new, and each kiss an inspiration.
But that was long ago, and now my consolation
Is in the stardust of a song.

Beside a garden wall where stars are bright,
You are in my arms.
The nightingale tells his fairytale,
Of paradise where roses bloom.
Though I dream in vain,
In my heart you will remain,
My stardust memory...the melody of love's refrain.

Recorded By:

Louis Armstrong
Nat King Cole
Artie Shaw
John Coltrane
Ella Fitzgerald

What Is This Thing Called Love?

By Cole Porter
1929

A mournful dirge by the great Porter for the musical Wake Up and Dream, in which it was introduced in London by Elsie Carlisle (pictured). Porter was known for his bouncy, light-hearted highs and desolate lows. This would be an example of the latter, and its soulful, introspective nature made it a natural for the jazz artists who discovered it in the 1930s and beyond. In fact, several jazz compositions, including "Fifth House" by John Coltrane and "Barry's Bop" by Fats Navarro, are based on the chord structure of this song.

Lyrics:

I was a humdrum person,
Leading a life apart.
When love flew in through my window wide,
And quickened my humdrum heart.

Love flew in through my window,
I was so happy then.
But after love had stayed a little while,
Love flew out again.

What is this thing called love?
This funny thing called love?
Just who can solve its mystery?
Why should it make a fool of me?

I saw you there one wonderful day.
You took my heart, and threw it away.
That's why I ask the Lord in heaven above,
What is this thing called love?

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Billie Holiday
Ella Fitzgerald
Bill Evans
Coleman Hawkins

Ain't We Got Fun?

By Richard A. Whiting, Raymond B. Egan & Gus Kahn
1920

A classic foxtrot composition that became one of the theme songs of the Roaring '20s, as well as the Depression Era. It was introduced on stage in the revue Satires of 1920, but achieved even greater stature on the vaudeville circuit and in recordings. In particular, it has been immortalized by the recording by the great Eddie Cantor, and was even mentioned in F. Scott's Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. An uplifting ode to carefree living, it both epitomized the Jazz Decade, and raised the spirits of those who fell on hard times afterward.

Lyrics:

Bill collectors gather 'round and rather
Haunt the cottage next door
Men the grocer and butcher sent
Men who call for the rent
But within a happy chappy
And his bride of only a year
Seem to be so cheerful, here's an earful
Of the chatter you hear

Ev'ry morning, ev'ry evening
Ain't we got fun?
Not much money, Oh, but honey
Ain't we got fun?
The rent's unpaid dear
We haven't a bus
But smiles were made dear
For people like us

In the winter in the Summer
Don't we have fun
Times are bum and getting bummer
Still we have fun
There's nothing surer
The rich get rich and the poor get children
In the meantime, in between time
Ain't we got fun?

Just to make their trouble nearly double
Something happened last night
To their chimney a gray bird came
Mister Stork is his name
And I'll bet two pins, a pair of twins
Just happened in with the bird
Still they're very gay and merry
Just at dawning I heard

Ev'ry morning, ev'ry evening
Don't we have fun
Twins and cares, dear, come in pairs, dear
Don't we have fun
We've only started
As mommer and pop
Are we downhearted
I'll say that we're not

Landlords mad and getting madder
Ain't we got fun?
Times are so bad and getting badder
Still we have fun
There's nothing surer
The rich get rich and the poor get laid off
In the meantime, in between time
Ain't we got fun?

When the man who sold 'em carpets told 'em
He would take them away
They said, "Wonderful, here's our chance
Take them up and we'll dance"
And when burglars came and robbed them
Taking all their silver, they say
Hubby yelled, "We're famous, for they'll name us
In the pepers today

Night or daytime, it's all playtime
Ain't we got fun?
Hot or cold days, any old days
Ain't we got fun
If Wifey wishes
To go to a play
Don't wash the dishes
Just throw them away

Streetcar seats are awful narrow
Ain't we got fun?
They won't smash up our Pierce Arrow
We ain't got none
They've cut my wages
But my income tax will be so much smaller
When I'm laid off, I'll be paid off
Ain't we got fun?

Recorded By:

Peggy Lee
Doris Day
Eddie Cantor
Rosemary Clooney
Bing Crosby

Charmaine

By Erno Rapee & Lew Pollack
1927

A lush and charming love ballad from the roaring '20s, composed originally for the silent film classic What Price Glory? It would also be introduced on record the same year by the Guy Lombardo orchestra. Since then, it has infiltrated popular culture, with the Mantovani version being used by Monty Python and in the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. It is also featured in The Abominable Dr. Phibes. It was originally conceived as a waltz, and it is in this style that Frank Sinatra recorded it for his 1961 All Alone album.

Lyrics:

I can't forget the night we met, how bright were stars above.
That precious memory lingers yet, when you declared your love.
And then you went away, and now each night and day...

I wonder why you keep me waiting, Charmaine, my Charmaine.
I wonder when bluebirds are mating, will you come back again?
I wonder if I keep on praying, will our dreams be the same?
I wonder if you ever think of me too ..
I am waiting my Charmaine for you ...

Recorded By:

The Bachelors
Tex Beneke
Bill Haley & His Comets
The Ink Spots
The Four Freshmen

I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise

By George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin & B.G. De Slyva
1922

A boisterous, rollicking number from the Gershwins, with a little help from De Sylva, this tune was introduced in George White's Scandals of 1922, in which it was played the Paul Whiteman orchestra, conducted by future film music impresario Max Steiner. Whiteman made a recording of it soon after, helping turn the song into one of the most memorable jazz pieces of the era, as well as a Roaring '20s anthem. The song experienced new life recently thanks to its inclusion in the Martin Scorsese film, The Aviator.

Lyrics:

All you preachers
Who delight in panning the dancing teachers,
Let me tell you there are a lot of features
Of the dance that carry you through
The gates of Hea-ven.

It's madness
To be always sitting around in sadness,
When you could be learning the steps of gladness.
You'll be happy when you can do
Just six or seven;

Begin to day!
You'll find it nice,
The quickest way to paradise.
When you practise,
Here's the thing to know,
Simply say as you go...

I'll build a stairway to Paradise
With a new step ev'ry day !
I'm gonna get there at any price;
Stand aside, I'm on my way !
I've got the blues
And up above it's so fair.
Shoes ! Go on and carry me there !
I'll build a stairway to Paradise
With a new step ev'ry day.

Ev'ry new step
Helps a bit ; but any old kind of two step,
Does as well. It don't matter what step you step,
If you work it into your soul
You'll get to Heaven.
Get bu-sy ;
Dance with Maud the countess, or just plain Lizzy:
Dance until you're blue in the face and dizzy.
When you've learn'd to dance in your sleep
You're sure to win out.

In time you'll get Saint Vitus dance,
Which beats the latest thing from France.
Take no chances on this Paradise ;
Let me give you advice.

Recorded By:

Rufus Wainwright
Sarah Vaughan
Paul Whiteman
J.D. Sebastian & Dion
Corrine Devries

I'll See You in My Dreams

By Isham Jones & Gus Khan
1924

A huge hit of the mid 1920s, this beautiful love ballad has since become a standard, particularly for the guitar. This is usually credited to its later recording by the legendary Django Reinhardt. It's title was used as the title of the biopic on Kahn's life. The song was introduced by Jones (pictured) and the Ray Miller Orchestra. It is a classic example of the sentimental yet deeply endearing tunes of the era.

Lyrics:

I'll see you in my dreams
And I'll hold you in my dreams
Someone took you right out of my arms
Still I feel the thrill of your charms

Lips that once were mine
Tender eyes that shine
They will light my way tonight
I'll see you in my dreams

Oh, someone took you right out of my arms
Still I feel the thrill of your charms

Lips that once were mine
Tender eyes that shine
They will light my way tonight
I'll see you in my dreams

Recorded By:

Louis Armstrong
Jimmy Durante
Ella Fitzgerald
Mario Lanza
Tony Martin