Lullaby of Broadway

Harry Warren and his Oscar

By Harry Warren and Al Dubin
1935

In light of last night's Academy Awards, today we're taking a look at the second tune to ever win the Oscar for Best Original Song (the first being "The Continental" in 1934). Introduced by Wini Shaw in Gold Diggers of 1935, "Lullaby of Broadway" was such an instant classic that later it was even used as background music in the Bette Davis film, Special Agent. With a peppy melody and lyrics that celebrate the wild Broadway nightlife, it's no wonder it captured the attention of Academy voters--even if Irving Berlin's "Cheek to Cheek" may have been the more deserving nominee that year...

Lyrics:

Come on along and listen to
The lullaby of Broadway
The hip hooray and ballyhoo
The lullaby of Broadway
The rumble of a subway train
The rattle of the taxis
The daffodils who entertain
At Angelo's and Maxi's

When a Broadway baby says good night
It's early in the morning
Manhattan babies don't sleep tight
Until the dawn

Good night, baby
Good night, the milkman's on his way
Sleep tight, baby
Sleep tight, let's call it a day

The band begins to go to town
And everyone goes crazy
You rock a bye your baby round
'Til everything gets hazy
Hush a bye, I'll buy you this and that
You hear a daddy saying
And baby goes home to her flat
To sleep all day

Good night, baby
Good night, the milkman's on his way
Sleep tight, baby
Sleep tight, let's call it a day

Listen to the lullaby 
Of old Broadway!

Recorded By:

Tony Bennett
Ella Fitzgerald
Bette Midler
The Andrew Sisters
Doris Day

Top Hat, White Tie and Tails

By Irving Berlin
1935

For the fifth time here at Standard of the Day, I'm spotlighting a song from Irving Berlin's Top Hat--and if that's not a testament to the film's greatness, I don't know what is. This time it's the movie's title number, performed with gusto by Fred Astaire, as so many Berlin gems were. With its internal rhyme and clever wordplay, the lyric is one of Berlin's most memorable, and became an iconic theme for the legendary Astaire, greatest of the on-screen dancers and the man who wore the attire better than anybody.

Lyrics:

I just got an invitation through the mails
"Your presence requested this evening
It's formal, a top hat, a white tie and tails"
Nothing now could take the wind out of my sails
Because I'm invited to step out this evening
With top hat and white tie and tails.

I'm puttin' on my top hat
Tyin' up my white tie
Brushin' off my tails
I'm dudin' up my shirt front
Puttin' in the shirt studs
Polishin' my nails

I'm steppin' out, my dear
To breathe an atmosphere 
That simply reeks with class
And I trust that you'll excuse my dust
When I step on the gas
For I'll be there
Puttin' down my top hat
Mussin' up my white tie
Dancin' in my tails!

Recorded By:

Louis Armstrong
Tony Bennett
Ella Fitzgerald
Mel Torme
The Boswell Sisters

Summertime

By George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin & DuBose Heyward
1935

Often considered the finest song in the American musical theater, this is more than a song: It's an aria, composed by Gershwin using the words of original librettist Heyward to mimic the African American folk spirituals of the day. It was introduced on stage in Gershwin's operatic masterpiece Porgy & Bess by Abbie Mitchell, who also performed the first recorded version of it (with Gershwin himself on accompanying piano). Billie Holiday was the first to have a big hit with it, and it has since become a jazz standard of the highest caliber.

Lyrics:

Summertime,
And the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin'
And the cotton is high

Oh, Your daddy's rich
And your mamma's good lookin'
So hush little baby
Don't you cry

One of these mornings
You're going to rise up singing
Then you'll spread your wings
And you'll take to the sky

But until that morning
There's a'nothing can harm you
With your daddy and mammy standing by

Recorded By:

Janis Joplin
Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
Sam Cooke
John Coltrane
Nina Simone

No Strings (I'm Fancy Free)

By Irving Berlin
1935

Was there ever a greater working agreement in pop music than that between Berlin and Fred Astaire? Here we have another 3-minute masterpiece written by Berlin for Astaire and Ginger Rogers, to be used in their 1935 film Top Hat (the best Astaire/Rogers teamup, for my money). Filled with Berlin compositions, Top Hat is a thrill from beginning to end, and this joyous tune is without a doubt one of the highlights.

Lyrics:

I wake up every morning with a smile on my face
Everything in it's place as it should be
I start out every morning just as free as the breeze
My cares upon the shelf
Because I find myself with

No strings and no connections
No ties to my affections
I'm fancy free and free for anything fancy

No dates that can't be broken
No words that can't be spoken
Especially when I am feeling romancy

Like a robin upon a tree
Like a sailor that goes to sea
Like an unwritten melody
I'm free, that's me

So bring on the big attraction
My decks are cleared for action
I'm fancy free and free for anything fancy

Recorded By:

Fred Astaire
Ella Fitzgerald
Peter Mintun
Ginger Rogers
Peter Skellern

My Romance

By Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart
1935
A stirringly beautiful ballad by the incomparable Rodgers & Hart team, this one came from Jumbo, the very same show that also gave us "Little Girl Blue" and "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World." It was performed in the 1962 film version of the show by the one and only Doris Day, and also used in a memorable commercial for the Ralph Lauren fragrance, Romance. It has also come to be closely associated with theater organs of the kind traditionally seen in old-school movie palaces.

Lyrics:

My romance doesn't have to have a moon in the sky.
My romance doesn't need a blue lagoon standing by.

No month of may, no twinkling stars.
No hide away, no softly guitars.

My romance doesn't need a castle rising in Spain.
Nor a dance to a constantly surprising refrain.

Wide awake I can make my most fantastic dreams come true.
My romance doesn't need a thing but you.

Recorded By:

Ella Fitzgerald
Frank Sinatra
Mel Torme
Rosemary Clooney
Art Blakey

Isn't This a Lovely Day (To Be Caught in the Rain)?

By Irving Berlin
1935

One of several American pop classics to have been derived from the sublime Berlin cinematic musical Top Hat, this number was of course written for Fred Astaire, who sings it for Ginger Rogers in the film. Since then, it's gently lilting melody and warm, carefree lyric have made it an unquestioned standard, favored by purveyors of light/piano jazz in particular. The essence of Astaire and Rogers, from the best of their RKO days.

Lyrics:

The weather is frightening,
The thunder and lightning
Seem to be having their way,
But as far as I'm concerned,
It's a lovely day.
The turn in the weather
Will keep us together
So I can honestly say
That as far as I'm concerned,
It's a lovely day and everythings ok.

Isn't this a lovely day to be caught in the rain?
You were going on your way,
Now you've got to remain.

Just as you were going,
Leaving me all at sea,
The clouds broke, they broke,
And oh what a break for me.

I can see the sun up high,
Though we're caught in a storm.
I can see where you and I could be cozy and warm.

Let the rain pitter patter,
But it really doesn't matter
If the skies are grey.
Long as I can be with you,
It's a lovely day.

Recorded By:

Tony Bennett
Ella Fitzgerald
Diana Krall
Jeri Southern
Oscar Peterson

The Most Beautiful Girl in the World

By Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart
1935

The classic songwriting duo of Rodgers & Hart originally composed this tune for their stage production, Jumbo, in which it was introduced by Donald Novis and Gloria Grafton. It is the epitome of the 1930s standard--a warm, poignant expression of loving awe from a man to a woman. As with all the best Rodgers & Hart compositions, the lilting Rodgers melody blends perfectly with the witty, layered Hart lyric. This is songwriting at its very best.

Lyrics:

We used to spend the spring together
Before we learned to walk;
We used to laugh and sing together
Before we learned how to talk.
With no reason for the season,
Spring would end as it would start.
Now the season has a reason
And there's springtime in my heart.

The most beautiful girl in the world
Picks my ties out,
Eats my candy ,
Drinks my brandy-
The most beautiful girl in the world.

The most beautiful star in the world
Isn't Garbo, isn't Dietrich,
But the sweet trick
Who can make me believe it's a beautiful world.

Social-not a bit,
Nat'ral kind of wit,
She' d shine anywhere,
And she hasn't got platinum hair.

The most beautiful house in the world
Has a mortgage-
What do I care?
It's goodbye care
When my slippers are next to the ones that belong
To the one and only beautiful girl in the world!

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Dorsey Brothers Orchestra
Sonny Rollins
Les & Larry Elgart
Percy Faith

The Piccolino

By Irving Berlin
1935

An infectious dance number written by Berlin for the superb musical comedy film Top Hat, which featured a suite of top flight songs danced to by none other than Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Astaire himself sings it in the movie, as part of one of the picture's most elaborate dance numbers.

Lyrics:

By the Adriatic waters,
Venetian sons and daughters
Are strumming a new tune upon their guitars.

It was written by a Latin,
A gondolier who sat in
His home out in Brooklyn and gazed at the stars.

He sent his melody across the sea to Italy,
And we know they wrote some words to fit that catchy bit,
And christened it the Piccolino.

And we know that it's the reason
Why ev'ryone this season
Is strumming and humming a new melody.

Come to the Casino,
And hear them play the Piccolino.
Dance with your bambino
To the strains of the catchy Piccolino.

Drink your glass of Vino,
And when you've had your plate of Scallopino,
Make them play the Piccolino, the catchy Piccolino.
And dance to the strains of that new melody, the Piccolino.

Recorded By:

Fred Astaire
Mel Torme
Harry Roy & His Band
Rosey Miyano

Alone

By Nacio Herb Brown & Arthur Freed
1935

The only hit song to ever emerge from a Marx Brothers movie, this Brown/Freed composition was introduced in the film A Night at the Opera by Kitty Carlisle and Allan Jones (father of crooner Jack Jones). That same movie would also include a piano rendition by Chico Marx of another recent Brown song, "All I Do Is Think of You". "Alone" would be performed by Judy Garland five years later in the movie "Andy Hardy Meets Debutante".

Lyrics:

Alone,
Alone with a sky of romance above.
Alone,
Alone on a night that was meant for love.

There must be someone waiting
who feels the way I do.
Whoever you are, are you, are you

Alone,
Alone on this night that we two could share.
Alone,
Alone with a kiss that could make me care.

And when you come I promise
to be your very own!
Alone,
Alone with a heart meant for you.

And when you come I promise
to be your very own!
Alone,
Alone with a heart meant for you.

Alone.

Recorded By:

Johnny Hartman
Judy Garland
Tommy Dorsey
Nat King Cole
Allan Jones

It's Easy to Remember

By Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart
1935

Another immortal Rodgers & Hart ballad written for a film that is far less remembered. In this case, the movie was Mississippi, starring W.C. Fields and Bing Crosby. Bing introduced the sophisticated lament both in the film, and with a hit recording later the same year. A fine example of the work of a sublime songwriting team.

Lyrics:

Your sweet expression,
The smile you gave me,
The way you looked when we met.
It's easy to remember,
But so hard to forget.

I hear you whisper,
"I'll always love you."
I know it's over, and yet,
It's easy to remember,
But so hard to forget.

So I must dream
To have your hand caress me,
Fingers press me tight.
I'd rather dream
Than have that lonely feeling
Stealing through the night.

Each little moment
Is clear before me,
And though it brings me regret,
It's easy to remember,
But so hard to forget.

Recorded By:

Billie Holiday
Frank Sinatra
John Coltrane
Mel Torme
Johnny Hartman

I'm in the Mood for Love

By Jimmy McHugh & Dorothy Fields
1935

The great McHugh/Fields songwriting team gave us this one, a thinly veiled ode to the libido introduced by Frances Langford in the film Every Night at Eight. It's better known, however, as the quasi-theme song of Alfalfa, who famously sang it in his trademark cracked voice in the 1936 Our Gang short "The Pinch Singer". For the record, this was a favorite of mine as a kid--knew it by heart and could even play it on my uncle's organ. I probably could still figure out the keys if I tried...

Lyrics:

I'm in the mood for love,
Simply because you're near me.
Funny but when you're near me,
I'm in the mood for love.

Heaven is in your eyes,
Bright as the stars we're under,
Oh, is it any wonder,
I'm in the mood for love?

Why stop to think of whether
This little dream might fade?
We've put our hearts together -
Now we are one, I'm not afraid.

If there's a cloud above,
If it should rain, we'll let it.
But for tonight forget it,
I'm in the mood for love.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Julie London
Nat King Cole
Spike Jones
Barbra Streisand

Last Night When We Were Young

By Harold Arlen & E.Y. Harburg
1935

Specifically written for the singing actor Lawrence Tibbett by Arlen (pictured) and his frequent associate Harburg, it was introduced by Tibbett in the film Metropolitan. Harburg's powerful lyric deals with a couple who fall in love at the wrong time in their lives. Legend has it then when the bombastic Tibbett heard Sinatra's version 20 years later, he exclaimed, "Oooohhh...I see," as if to say, "So that's how it's supposed to be sung!"

Lyrics:

Last night when we were young
Love was a star, a song unsung
Life was so new, so real so right
Ages ago last night

Today the world is old
You flew away and time grew cold
Where is that star that shone so bright
Ages ago last night?

To think that spring had depended
On merely this: a look, a kiss
To think that something so splendid
Could slip away in one little daybreak

So now, let's reminisce
And recollect the sighs and the kisses
The arms that clung

When we were young last night.

Recorded By:

Judy Garland
Carly Simon
Tony Bennett
Sarah Vaughan
Tierney Sutton

Lulu's Back in Town

By Harry Warren & Al Dubin
1935

The incomparable Dick Powell and The Mills Brothers introduced this buoyant tune in the musical film Broadway Gondolier. There were also additional lyrics added for a British version by lyricist Charles Dunn. Fats Waller would make a big hit with it not long after the movie.

Lyrics:

Where's that careless chambermaid?
Where'd she put my razor blade?
She mislaid it, I'm afraid,
It's gotta be foun'!
Ask her when she cleaned my room
What she did with my perfume;
I just can't lose it,
I've gotta use it,
'Cause Lulu's back in town.

Gotta get my old tuxedo pressed,
Gotta sew a button on my vest,
'Cause tonight I've gotta look my best,
Lulu's back in town.

Gotta get a half a buck somewhere,
Gotta shine my shoes and slick my hair,
Gotta get myself a boutonniere,
Lulu's back in town.

You can tell all my pets,
All my Harlem coquettes;
Mister Otis regrets
That he won't be aroun'.

You can tell the mailman not to call,
I ain't comin' home until the fall,
And I might not get back home at all,
Lulu's back in town.

Recorded By:

Mel Torme
Thelonious Monk
Oscar Peterson
Leon Redbone
Dave Brubeck

Little Girl Blue

By Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart
1935

A sweet mid-'30s hit for Rodgers & Hart, from the musical Jumbo, in which it was introduced on Broadway by Gloria Grafton. It became popular with both pop and jazz singers in subsequent decades, and was even used as the title song of Nina Simone's 1958 debut album.

Lyrics:

Sit there and count your fingers,
What can you do?
Old girl, you're through.
Just sit there and count your little fingers,
Unlucky little girl blue.

Just sit there and count the raindrops
Falling on you.
It's time you knew,
All you can count on
Are the raindrops
That fall on little girl blue.

No use, old girl.
You may as well surrender.
Your hopes are getting slender.
Why won't somebody send a tender blue boy
To cheer up little girl blue?

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Janis Joplin
Ella Fitzgerald
Judy Garland
Chet Baker

Begin the Beguine

By Cole Porter
1935

A drastic departure from the traditional 32-bar pop song, this 108-bar tune was introduced by June Knight in the Porter musical Jubilee. It's complexity is such that even the composer himself--who wrote the song on the piano at the Ritz Bar in Paris--claimed never to be able to perform it without the sheet music in front of him. Three years after Jubilee, Artie Shaw's had a major hit with it, and it became something of a theme song for the band.

Lyrics:

When they begin the beguine,
It brings back the sound of music so tender.
It brings back a night of tropical splendor.
It brings back a memory evergreen.

I'm with you once more under the stars,
And down by the shore an orchestra's playing.
Even the palms seem to be swaying,
When they begin the beguine.

To live it again is past all endeavor,
Except when that tune clutches my heart,
And there we are, swearing to love forever,
And promising never, never to part.

What moments divine, what rapture serene,
Till clouds come along to disperse the joys we had tasted.
And now when I hear people curse the chance that was wasted,
I know but too well what they mean.

So don't let them begin the beguine,
Let the love that was once a fire remain an ember;
Let it sleep like the dead desire I only remember,
When they begin the beguine.

Oh yes, let them begin the beguine, make them play,
Till the stars that were there before return above you,
Till you whisper to me once more, Darling, I love you!
And we suddenly know what heaven we're in,
When they begin the beguine.

Recorded By:

Ella Fitzgerald
Frank Sinatra
Sheryl Crow
Julio Iglesias
Django Reinhardt

I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter

By Fred E. Ahlert & Joe Young
1935

Fats Waller introduced this mirthful-yet-sad ode to self-pity with a big hit record in 1935. It became instantly popular, with a Boswell Sister recording following hard upon. The song also enjoyed a revival in the late 1950s, including a rock 'n' roll update by Bill Haley & His Comets.

Lyrics:

I'm gonna sit right down
And write myself a letter,
And make believe it came from you.
I'm gonna write words oh, so sweet.
They're gonna knock me off of my feet.
A lot of kisses on the bottom,
I'll be glad I got 'em.

I'm gonna smile and say,
"I hope you're feeling better,"
And close with love, the way that you do.
I'm gonna sit right down
And write myself a letter,
And make believe it came from you.

Recorded By:

Nat King Cole
Frank Sinatra & Count Basie
Scatman Crothers
Dean Martin
Bing Crosby

In a Sentimental Mood

By Duke Ellington, Irving Mills & Manny Kurtz
1935

Composed as a jazz instrumental by Ellington, the song had lyrics added by Mills and Kurtz later on. Ellington's own orchestra naturally made the first recording, but the origin of the song can reportedly be found in an after-hours party at which Ellington and company were present. To quell an argument that had broken out, Duke spontaneously broke into the tune on the spot.

Lyrics:

In a sentimental mood,
I can see the stars come through my room,
While your loving attitude
Is like a flame that lights the gloom.

On the wings of every kiss
Drifts a melody so strange and sweet.
In this sentimental bliss,
You make my paradise complete.

Rose petals seem to fall.
It's all I could dream to call you mine.
My heart's a lighter thing
Since you made this night a thing divine.

In a sentimental mood,
I'm within a world so heavenly,
For I never dreamt that you'd be loving sentimental me.

Recorded By:

Ella Fitzgerald
Billy Joel
John Coltrane
Art Tatum
Stan Getz

I Can't Get Started

By Vernon Duke & Ira Gershwin
1935

A charming ballad written for the Broadway musical Ziegfeld Follies of 1936, in which it was introduced by Bob Hope. Bunny Berigan's recording of it the following year became a top 10 hit, and instantly put the song on the map for all time. Its clever lyric tells of the woe of someone who, despite many amazing accomplishments, can't impress the girl he's crazy about.

Lyrics:

I'm a glum one, it's explainable.
I've met someone unattainable.
Life's a bore,
The world is my oyster no more.
All the papers where I led the news
With my capers, now will spread the news:
"Superman Turned Out to Be Flash-in-the-Pan"

I've flown around the world in a plane,
I've settled revolutions in Spain,
The North Pole I have charted--
But I can't get started with you.

Around the golf course I'm under par,
And all the movies want me to star.
I've built a house and show place,
But I can't get no place with you.

You're so supreme,
Lyrics I write of you.
Scheme, just for a sight of you.
And I dream both day and night of you,
And what good does it do.

In 1929, I sold short,
In London, I'm presented at court,
But you've got me down hearted,
Cause I can't get started with you.

Recorded By:

Rosemary Clooney
Frank Sinatra
Keely Smith
Chet Baker
Carmen McRae

Just One of Those Things

By Cole Porter
1935

A classic example of the style and sophistication that characterized much of the standards era, this extremely popular song was originally composed by Porter for the musical Jubilee. Doris Day included it in two of her 1950s movies, Lullaby of Broadway and Young at Heart, and Nat Cole named a 1957 album for it. A mature reflection on an ended love affair, the song also features prominently in The Catcher in the Rye, in which it is a favorite of Holden Caulfield. Can you imagine a contemporary pop song referencing Abelard and Heloise?

Lyrics:

As Dorothy Parker once said to her boyfriend,
Fare thee well.
As Columbus announced, when he nearly was bounced,
It was swell, Isabelle, swell.
As Abelard said to Heloise,
Don't forget to drop a line to me, please.
As Juliet cried in her Romeo's ear,
"Romeo, why not face the fact, my dear?"

It was just one of those things,
Just one of those crazy flings.
One of those bells that now and then rings,
Just one of those things.

It was just one of those nights,
Just one of those fabulous flights.
A trip to the moon on gossamer wings,
Just one of those things.

If we'd thought a bit
By the end of it,
When we started painting the town,
We'd have been aware
That our love affair
Was too hot not to cool down.

So good-bye, dear, and amen,
Here's hoping we meet now and then.
It was great fun,
But it was just one of those things.

Recorded By:

Ella Fitzgerald
Maurice Chevalier
Frank Sinatra
Peggy Lee
Louis Prima

These Foolish Things

By Harry Link, Holt Marvell & Jack Strachey
1935

Written for the London stage revue Spread It Around, this achingly melancholy love song was introduced in the show by British musical comedy actress Judy Campbell. Lyricist Marvell (real name Eric Maschwitz) apparently composed the words after leaving his great love, Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong (pictured), to return to England. The rarely sung final verse, which contains the phrase, "The song that Crosby sings," was ironically changed when Bing himself first recorded the song.

Lyrics:

A cigarette that bears a lipstick's traces,
An airline ticket to romantic places,
And still my heart has wings--
These foolish things remind me of you.

A tinkling piano in the next apartment,
Those stumbling words that told you what my heart meant,
A fairground's painted swings--
These foolish things remind me of you.

You came, you saw, you conquered me.
When you did that to me,
I knew somehow this had to be.

The winds of March that make my heart a dancer,
A telephone that rings but who's to answer?
Oh, how the ghost of you clings--
These foolish things remind me of you.

The smile of Turner and the scent of roses,
The waiters whistling as the last bar closes,
The song that Crosby sings--
These foolish things remind me of you.

Recorded By:

• The Nat King Cole Trio
• Billie Holiday
• Frank Sinatra
• Ella Fitzgerald
• Benny Goodman