My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua, Hawaii

By Johnny Noble, Bill Cogswell and Tommy Harrison
1933

A classic example of the hapa haole song genre that combines American jazz style and Hawaiian instrumentation, this wonderful song epitomized the Hawaiian music and cultural craze that gripped America during much of the early 20th century. The original melody and lyrics were written by American transplants Cogswell and Harrison as a parody of the 1924 song, "Back in Hackensack, New Jersey", intended to be used for the Kona Independence Day celebration of 1933. Popular Hawaii-based bandleader Johnny Noble further adapted it to make it distinct from "Hackensack", and it became a runaway hit with tourists and natives alike. It was introduced on record by the Noelani Hawaiian Orchestra, but it was Ted Fio Rito's version that rocketed to the top of the Billboard charts for 14 week in early 1934. To this day, it can be heard in many movies and TV shows as an instant evocation of the beautiful 50th state.

Lyrics:

I want to go back to my little grass shack in Kealakekua, Hawaii
I want to be with all the kanes and wahines that I knew long ago
I can hear old guitars a playing, on the beach at Hoonaunau
I can hear the Hawaiians saying "Komomai no kaua ika hale welakahao"

It won't be long 'til my ship will be sailing back to Kona
A grand old place that's always fair to see
I'm just a little Hawaiian and a homeside Island boy
I want to go back to my fish and poi
I want to go back to my little grass shack in Kealakekua, Hawaii
Where the Humuhumu, Nukunuku a puaa goes swimming by
Where the Humuhumu, Nukunuku a puaa goes swimming by!

Recorded By:

Martin Denny
Les Paul and Mary Ford
Bing Crosby
Leon Redbone and Ringo Starr
Lisa Loeb

We're in the Money (The Gold Diggers' Song)

By Harry Warren and Al Dubin
1933

What became an anthem of the Great Depression was written as a song of hope by the legendary team of Warren & Dubin, signaling a wished-for end to the economic catastrophe, even though that was still years away. Written for the film Gold Diggers of 1933, in which it was introduced by Ginger Rogers, the song had its first commercial release simultaneously, in a recording by Art Kahn and his Orchestra. With a most recognizable and catchy tune, it soon started popping up everywhere, including a 1933 Warner Bros. cartoon of the same name.

Lyrics:

We're in the money, we're in the money;
We've got a lot of what it takes to get along!
We're in the money, that sky is sunny,
Old Man Depression you are through, you done us wrong.

We never see a headline about breadlines today.
And when we see the landlord we can look that guy right in the eye

We're in the money, come on, my honey,
Let's lend it, spend it, send it rolling along!

Recorded By:

Bing Crosby
Dick Powell
Connie Francis
Jessica Molaskey
Dick Hyman Trio

What Is There to Say?

By Vernon Duke & E.Y. "Yip" Harburg
1933

A classic theater song of the 1930s, this sophisticated treasure was written for the Ziegfeld Follies of 1934--the first Ziegfeld revue produced after the legendary impresario's death two years prior. It was introduced on stage by Jane Froman and Everett Marshall, and soon after recorded by Emil Coleman and His Riviera Orchestra (the hotel band for the Waldorf Astoria). Reportedly, without Ziegfeld at the helm, behind the scenes politics raged, involving Ziegeld's widow Billie Burke (the future Glinda of The Wizard of Oz), show star Fanny Brice and even the Schubert Theatre where the show was being put on. This reportedly led to the demise of the Duke (pictured)/Harburg partnership, which has also produced "April in Paris" the year before.

Lyrics: 

What is there to say
and what is there to do
The dream I've been seeking
has practically speaking come true

What is there to say
and how will I pull through
I knew in a moment
contentment and wholement, just you

You are so lovable
So livable
Your beauty is just unforgivable
You're made to marvel at
and words to that effect

So what is there to say
and what is there to do
My heart's in a deadlock
I'd even face wedlock with you

Recorded By:

Mel Torme
Ella Fitzgerald
Sonny Rollins
Nat King Cole
Gerry Mulligan

Let's Fall in Love

By Harold Arlen & Ted Koehler

1933

A major hit from the powerhouse duo of composer Arlen and lyricist Koehler (pictured, Koehler on the right), most popularly known for "Stormy Weather" and other early Cotton Club tunes. It was introduced by Eddy Duchin as a lilting ballad, but later turned into a swinging number when it became more of a jazz standard in the 1950s.

Lyrics:

I have a feeling, it's a feeling,
I'm concealing, I don't know why
It's just a mental, incidental, sentimental alibi
But I adore you
So strong for you
Why go on stalling
I am falling
Our love is calling
Why be shy?

Let's fall in love
Why shouldn't we fall in love?
Our hearts are made of it
Let's take a chance
Why be afraid of it

Let's close our eyes and make our own paradise
Little we know of it, still we can try
To make a go of it

We might have been meant for each other
To be or not be
Let our hearts discover

Let's fall in love
Why shouldn't we fall in love
Now is the time for it, while we are young
Let's fall in love!

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Ella Fitzgerald
Shirley Bassey
Diana Krall
Lee Wiley

 

 

Moonglow

By Will Hudson, Irving Mills & Eddie DeLange
1933

An early '30s Tin Pan Alley chestnut that soon became a popular jazz standard after being introduced by Joe Venuti and his orchestra. It has the kind of structure and chord progression that just latches on to you and doesn't let go, whether played mellow--as it usually is--or even upbeat. It was featured prominently in the Scorsese film The Aviator, and I've always wondered why Sinatra never included it on his Moonlight Sinatra album...

Lyrics:

It must have been moonglow, way up in the blue
It must have been moonglow that led me straight to you
I still hear you sayin', "Dear one, hold me fast"
And I keep on prayin', "Oh Lord, please let this last"

We seemed to float right through the air
Heavenly songs seemed to come from everywhere

And now when there's moonglow, way up in the blue
I'll always remember, that moonglow gave me you

Recorded By:

Benny Goodman
Tony Bennett & k.d. lang
Artie Shaw
Ethel Waters
Louis Prima

It's Only a Paper Moon

By Harold Arlen, E.Y. "Yip" Harburg & Billy Rose
1933

Initially written for the 1933 Broadway flop The Great Magoo, this Arlen/Harburg gem was included in the film Take a Chance later that same year. It also received its first recording courtesy of the Paul Whiteman orchestra. It didn't really pick up steam until the World War II years, when it became a standard thanks to versions by Ella Fitzgerald and Nat Cole. It has become a jazz improvisation favorite, and was notably included in Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire. A light and airy tune with a lovely, whimsical lyric.

Lyrics:

It is only a paper moon
hanging over a cardboard sea,
But it wouldn't be make believe
If you believed in me.

It is only a canvas sky
sailing over a muslin tree,
But it wouldn't be make believe
If you believed in me.

Without your love,
It's a honky-tonk parade.
Without your love,
It's a melody played in a penny arcade.

It's a Barnum and Bailey world,
Just as phony as it can be,
But it wouldn't be make believe
If you believed in me.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Nat King Cole
Ella Fitzgerald
Tony Bennett
Coleman Hawkins

Easter Parade

By Irving Berlin
1933

By the same man who gave us the ultimate Christmas standard, Irving Berlin, came this tune--which has become the ultimate Easter standard. Originally written for the Broadway revue As Thousands Cheer, in which it was introduced by Marilyn Miller and Clifton Webb, it later gained even more notoriety thanks to being sung by Bing Crosby in the film Holiday Inn, and in 1948 an entire musical film was built around it, starring Fred Astaire and Judy Garland. A true holiday classic from one of America's most cherished composers.

Lyrics:

In your Easter bonnet,
With all the frills upon it,
You'll be the grandest lady in the Easter Parade.

I'll be all in clover,
And when they look you over,
I'll be the proudest fellow in the Easter Parade.

On the avenue,
Fifth Avenue.
The photographers will snap us,
And you'll find that you're in the rotogravure.

Oh, I could write a sonnet
About your Easter bonnet,
And of the girl I'm taking to the Easter Parade.

Recorded By:

Al Jolson
Bing Crosby
Fred Astaire
Jimmy Lunceford
Perry Como

Close Your Eyes

By Bernice Petkere
1933

Ironically, although this melodic ballad was composed by the American songwriter Petkere, it was actually introduced by British crooner Al Bowlly (pictured) and the Ray Noble orchestra. With its beautifully romantic lyric and hummable tune, it has remained in favor by practitioners of the Songbook ever since.

Lyrics:

Music play
Something dreamy for dancing
While we're here romancing
It's love's holiday
And Love will be our guide
Close your eyes
When you open them dear
I'll be right hear by your side.

So...
Close your eyes
Rest your head on my shoulder and sleep
Close your eyes
And I will close mine.

Close your eyes
Let's pretend that we're both counting sheep
Close your eyes
This is divine.

From: http://www.musicbabylon.com

Recorded By:

Harry Belafonte
Tony Bennett
Stacey Kent
Doris Day
Peggy Lee

Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?

By Harry Revel & Mack Gordon
1933

An irresistible charmer written for Bing Crosby, who at the time was the single hugest pop phenomenon to ever hit the nation since the dawn of recorded music. It was so popular that an entire Fleischer Studios Popeye cartoon was themed around it the following year. It was also the closing credits theme for A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2--a nice touch.

Lyrics:

Something very strange & mystic happened to me.
Something realistic & as weird as can be.
Something that I fear is somehow now endeared to me.
What a funny feeling,odd & yet so true.
Did a thing like this ever happen to you?

Did you ever see a dream walking?
Well, I did.
Did you ever hear a dream talking?
Well, I did.

Did you ever have a dream thrill you
With "Will you be mine?"
Oh, it's so grand,
And it's too, too divine!

Did you ever see a dream dancing?
Well, I did.
Did you a ever see a dream romancing?
Well, I did!

Did you ever see heaven right in your arms,
Saying, "I love you, I do!"
Well, the dream that was walking,
And the dream that was talking,
The heaven in my arms was you.

Recorded By:

Eddy Duchin
Guy Lombardo
Ray Noble
Les Brown
Fats Domino

It's the Talk of the Town

By Jerry Livingston, Marty Symes & Al J. Neigburg
1933

A moving ballad whose lyrics is concerned with the gossip and shame that follows a canceled wedding after the invitations have already gone out, this song was introduced by the Glen Gray orchestra, one of many acts to record it in its debut year. The melody is a powerful one, moving up the scale with repeated notes, and then dramatically dropping as it approaches the title phrase.

Lyrics:

I can't show my face,
Can't go anyplace,
People stop an' stare,
It's so hard to bare,
Everybody knows you left me,
It's the talk of the town . . .

Every time we meet,
My heart skips a beat,
We don't stop to speak,
'Though it's just a week,
Everybody knows you left me,
It's the talk of the town . . .

We send out invitations,
To friends and relations,
Announcing our weddin' day
Friends and our relations,
Gave congratulations,
How can you face them?
What can you say?

Let's make up sweetheart,
We can't stay apart,
Don't let foolish pride,
Keep you from my side,
How can love like ours be ended?
It's the talk of the town . . .

Recorded By:

Bing Crosby
Perry Como
Joe Williams
Fletcher Henderson
Rebecca Kilgore

How Could We Be Wrong?

By Cole Porter1933

A song which works equally well as a foxtrot or a heartbreaking ballad, it was introduced by Gertrude Lawrence in the Porter musical, "Nymph Errant". Not one of Porter's best known compositions, but an extremely powerful one, nonetheless. For anyone who's ever found that someone with whom to sing life's duet.
Lyrics:

The moment I saw you and you looked my way,
That moment of moments, I started to say:
"Could this be my long lost dream come true?"
The moment we touched, I knew.

How could we be wrong,
When we both are so set on it?
how could we be wrong?

Our love is so strong,
I'd be willing to bet on it.
How could we be wrong?

Why should it ever die?
Darling, you and I
Are too wonderfully happy today
To throw it away.

Now, life is a song.
If we build a duet on it,
How could we be wrong?
Recorded By:

Ray Noble w/Al Bowlly
Bobby Short
Maude Maggart
Billy Paul Williams
Charlotte McKinnon

You're My Thrill

By Jay Gorney & Sidney Clare
1933

Gorney (pictured) wrote this tune just one year after his most famous piece, "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?", which became an anthem of the Great Depression. A collaboration with "Good Ship Lollipop" lyricist Clare, "You're My Thrill" was introduced by trombonist Ward Silloway. It can most recently by heard on Diana Krall's newest album, Quiet Nights, released earlier this month.

Lyrics:

Youre my thrill,
You do something to me.
You send chills right through me
When I look at you,
'Cause you're my thrill.

Youre my thrill--
How my pulse increases,
I just go to pieces
When I look at you,
'Cause you're my thrill.

Nothing seems to matter--
Here's my heart on a silver platter!

Where's my will?
Why this strange desire
That keeps morning higher?
When I look at you,
I can't keep still.
You're my thrill.

Recorded By:

Billie Holiday
Lena Horne
Peggy Lee
Ella Fitzgerald
Joni Mitchell

Stormy Weather

By Harold Arlen & Ted Koehler
1933

One of the giants of American popular song, it was written for Ethel Waters to perform at the Cotton Club. However, it would go on to be most closely associated with Lena Horne, after she recorded it (for the first of five times) in 1941. The blues-tinged standard is a flawless expression of disappointment and longing.

Lyrics:

Don't know why there's no sun up in the sky.
Stormy weather--
Since my man and I ain't together,
Keeps rainin' all the time.

Life is bare, gloom and mis'ry everywhere.
Stormy weather--
Just can't get my poor self together,
I'm weary all the time.
So weary all the time.

When he went away, the blues walked in and met me.
If he stays away, old rockin' chair will get me.
All I do is pray the Lord above will let me
Walk in the sun once more.

Cant go on, ev'ry thing I had is gone.
Stormy weather--
Since my man and I ain't together,
Keeps rainin' all the time.

Recorded By:

Billie Holiday
Etta James
Frank Sinatra
Judy Garland
Django Reinhardt

Yesterdays

By Jerome Kern & Otto Harbach
1933

One of several hits to emerge from Kern & Harbach's Broadway smash Roberta. With its roots in Kern's operetta background, the song was introduced on stage by Fay Templeton (pictured), once a beloved young starlet of the 19th century who was now at the end of her career. The first recording of the tune was by Leo Reisman's orchestra (vocal by Frank Luther). It would also be included in the 1935 film version of the show.

Lyrics:

Yesterdays, yesterdays,
Days are new as happy sweet
Sequestered days.

Olden days,
Golden days,
Days of mad romance and love.

Then gay youth was mine.
Truth was mine,
Joyous be, and flaming life,
And sooth was mine.

Sad am I,
Glad am I,
For today I'm dreaming of
Yesterdays.

Recorded By:

Billie Holiday
Ella Fitzgerald
Frank Sinatra
Buddy Rich & Max Roach
Charles Mingus

I Cover the Waterfront

By Johnny Green & Edward Heyman
1933

Journalist Max Miller's 1932 book I Cover the Waterfront was an instant hit, filled as it was with Miller's captivating reminiscences of the San Diego waterfront from his days on the San Diego Sun. The book proved so popular that just a year later, it had inspired both a pop song and a movie, made independently of each other (although Reliance Pictures had the foresight to include the tune in its Claudette Colbert vehicle). A heap of artists recorded it that first year, with the initial hit belonging to Joe Haymes' orchestra.

Lyrics:

Away from the city that hurts and knocks,
I'm standing alone by the desolate docks.
In the still and the chill of the night
I see the horizon, the great unknown.
My heart has an ache,
Its as heavy as stone.
With the dawn coming on, make it last.

I cover the waterfront.
I'm watching the sea.
Will the one I love
Be coming back to me?

I cover the waterfront,
In search of my love.
And I'm covered
By a starlit sky above.

Here am I,
Patiently waiting.
Hoping and longing--
Oh, how I yearn.
Where are you?
Are you forgetting?
Will you remember?
Will you return?

Will the one I love
Be coming back to me?

Recorded By:

Billie Holiday
Eddy Duchin
Sam Cooke
Louis Armstrong
Lester Young, Nat Cole & Buddy Rich

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

By Jerome Kern & Otto Harbach
1933

Along with "Yesterdays", this is one of two major standards to emerge from the 1933 operetta Roberta, in which it was introduced by Tamara Drasin. Irene Dunne performed it in the 1935 film adaptation, and the first commercial recording came from the Paul Whiteman orchestra. Although The Platters' 1958 doo-wop version hit the top of the charts, it is typically derided by purists for lacking the emotional depth and nuance such a piece requires. Those same purists hail the song for its melodic simplicity, built on an ascending and descending scale.

Lyrics:

They asked me how I knew
My true love was true.
I, of course, replied,
"Something here inside
Cannot be denied."

They said someday you'll find
All who love are blind.
When your heart's on fire,
You don't realize
Smoke gets in your eyes.

So I chaffed, and I gaily laughed
To think they would doubt my love.
Yet today, my love has flown away.
I am without my love.

Now, laughing friends deride
Tears I cannot hide.
So, I smile and say,
"When a lovely flame dies,
Smoke gets in your eyes."

Recorded By:

Johnny Mathis
Dinah Washington
Margaret Whiting
Tommy Dorsey
Louis Armstrong

Heat Wave

By Irving Berlin
1933

A popular Depression-era standard from Berlin, originating from his Broadway revue As Thousands Cheer, which also gave us "Easter Parade". Ethel Waters had the honor of introducing it, and Ethel Merman later brought it to the movies in 1938's Alexander's Ragtime Band. But Marilyn Monroe's torrid 1954 performance in There's No Business Like Show Business might be the most memorable.

Lyrics:

We're having a heat wave,
A tropical heat wave.
The temperature's rising,
It isn't surprising,
She certainly can can-can.

She started a heat wave
By letting her seat wave
In such a way that
The customers say that
She certainly can can-can.

Gee, her anatomy
Makes the mercury
Jump to ninety-three.

We're having a heat wave,
A tropical heat wave.
The way that she moves
That thermometer proves
That she certainly can can-can.

Recorded By:

Ella Fitzgerald
Linda Ronstadt
Bing Crosby
Art Tatum
Eddie Lang

Temptation

By Nacio Herb Brown & Arthur Freed
1933

Written for Bing Crosby to sing in his motion picture Going Hollywood, this song would actually get its most famous recording courtesy of Perry Como 12 years later. Como recorded it four different times over the course of his career. The exotic-sounding tune also made an appearance in Singin' in the Rain, almost 20 years after it was published.

Lyrics:

You came,
I was alone,
I should have known,
You were temptation!

You smiled,
Luring me on,
My heart was gone,
And you were temptation!

It would be thrilling if you were willing,
And if it can never be, pity me,
For you were born to be kissed.
I cant resist, you are temptation,
And I am yours!

Here is my heart!
Take it and say that we'll never part!
I'm just a slave, only a slave,
To you!

Temptation,
I'm your slave!

Recorded By:

Artie Shaw
The Everly Brothers
Charlie Parker
Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash
Screamin' Jay Hawkins

You Are Too Beautiful

By Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart
1933

This fittingly beautiful tune was written by Rodgers & Hart for the obscure early talkie Hallelujah, I'm a Bum, in which it was sung by the film's star, the great Al Jolson. The picture was an infamous flop for Jolson, and led to his three-picture deal with United Artists being cut short at only one. Nevertheless, the depression-era musical has a great deal of odd charm for those who love pre-code '30s cinema, with this song being a big part of it.

Lyrics:

Like all fools, I believed
What I wanted to believe.
My foolish heart conceived
What foolish hearts conceive.
I thought I found a miracle,
I thought that you'd adore me,
But it was not a miracle,
It was merely a mirage before me.

You are too beautiful, my dear, to be true,
And I'm too drunk with beauty.
Drunk with a feeling that
The arms that possess you
Really caress you, too.
 
You are too beautiful for one man alone,
One lucky fool to be with,
When there are other men
With eyes of their owm to see with.

Love cannot stand sharing,
Not if one cares.
You won't be comparing 
My ev'ry kiss with theirs.

You know I care and
I'll be faithful to you,
And through a sense of duty.
You are too beautiful,
And I am too drunk with beauty. 

["I am too drunk with beauty" later changed to the tamer "I am a fool for beauty"]

Recorded By:

Johnny Hartman & John Coltrane
Frank Sinatra
Oscar Peterson
Sonny Rollins
Thelonious Monk

Under a Blanket of Blue

By Jerry Livingston, Marty Symes & Al J. Neiburg
1933

Composed by the same songwriting team that was responsible for "The Talk of the Town" the same year, this warm little tune was introduced by Glen Gray and his Casa Loma Orchestra. Livingston (pictured) went on to form his own publishing firm and work in Hollywood, scoring Disney's Cinderella, as well as writing the TV theme for Casper the Friendly Ghost.

Lyrics:

Under a blanket of blue,
Just you and I beneath the stars.
Wrapped in the arms of sweet romance,
The night is ours.

Under a blanket of blue,
Let me be thrilled by all your charms.
Darling, I know my heart will dance
Within your arms.

A summer night's magic,
Enthralling me so.
The night would be tragic,
If you weren't here
To share it, my dear.

Covered with heaven above,
Let's dream a dream of love for two.
Wrapped in the arms of sweet romance,
Under a blanket of blue.

Recorded By:

Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
Patti Page
Frank Sinatra
Coleman Hawkins
Doris Day