Songs of the "Phony" War

Speranza

Songs of the "Phony" War

1939
Songs
from
1939-1945

1939
"Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye" is a song by Harry Parr-Davies, made popular during the Second World War by Gracie Fields. It appeared in Fields' 1939 film Shipyard Sally. Its use in the film is patriotic, Stephen C. Shafer argues, although the song in this context did not reference the war as the film was released prior to its outbreak.[1] Over the years it has been performed and recorded by many artists, including Vera Lynn, Elsie Carlisle, Chas & Dave, Cyril Grantham and Jack Hylton.[2] It also featured in the film The History Boys.
WISH ME LUCK AS YOU WAVE ME GOODBYE
Cheerio, here I go, on my way
wish me luck as you wave me goodbye
not a tear, but a cheer, make it gay
give me a smile I can keep all the while
in my heart while I'm away
'Till we meet once again, you and I
wish me luck as you wave me goodbye




1939

[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/n/norman_blake/you_are_my_sunshin
YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE my only sunshine
you make me happy when skies are gray
you'll never know dear how much I love you
please don't take my sunshine away

I'll always love you & make you happy
If you will only say the same
But if you leave me to love another
You'll regret it all someday
The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping
I dreamed I held you in my arms
When I awoke, dear, I was mistaken
And I hung my head & cried













1939
Kiss me goodnight, Sergeant-Major
Tuck me in my little wooden bed
We all love you, Sergeant-Major,
even when your neck grows rather red (‘when we hear you bawling, show a leg)
Don't forget to wake me in the morning
And bring me 'round a nice hot cup of tea
Kiss me goodnight Sergeant-Major
Sergeant-Major, be a mother to me












1939
Connor/Pola


For a while we must part
But remember me sweetheart
TILL THE LIGHTS OF LONDON SHINE AGAIN.
And while I’m over there
Think of me in every prayer
TILL THE LIGHTS OF LONDON SHINE AGAIN


I’ll keep your picture near me
A tender souvenir
Now hold me close and kiss me
And may God bless you dear
don’t you cry when I’m gone
wear a smile and carry on
TILL THE LIGHTS OF LONDON SHINE AGAIN




1939
All or nothing at all











1939
Kiss me goodnight sergeant major


1939
Perfidia









1939
Moonglith serenade






1939
Cole Porter.
When they begin the beguine








1939
“The Wizard of Oz”. Judy Garland

Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly
Blue birds fly over the rainbow
So why tell me why can’t I.



1939


if a grey haired lady says
how’s yer father?
that’ll be mademoiselle
if she smiles & says
how’s yer father
that’ll be mademoiselle
if she says, parley voo
tout suit tell me do
how is he after all these years
if a grey-haired lady says
don’t tell your mother
that’s mademoiselle from Armentieres





1939
Michael Carr/ Jimmy Kennedy. Recorded by: Arthur Askey; Chas & Dave; Flanagan & Allen; The Two Leslies.
WE’RE GONNA HANG OUT THE WASHING
ON THE SIEGFRIED LINE
have you any dirty washing, mother dear?
WE’RE GONNA HANG OUT THE WASHING
ON THE SIEGFRIED LINE
‘cause the washing day is here.
whether the weather may be wet or fine
we'll just ride along without a care
WE’RE GONNA HANG OUT THE WASHING
ON THE SIEGFRIED LINE
if that Siegfried line's still there.
Mother dear I'm writing you from somewhere in France
hoping this finds you well.
Sergeant says I'm doing fine - a soldier and a half
Here's a song that we all sing
This'll make you laugh...


1939
CREATION OF E. N. S. A.
The Entertainments National Service Association or ENSA was an organisation set up in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during World War II. ENSA operated as part of the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes. It was superseded by Combined Services Entertainment (CSE) which now operates as part of the Services Sound and Vision Corporation (SSVC). Many well-known stars have performed in ENSA, including Gracie Fields, George Formby, Wilfrid Brambell, Joyce Grenfell, Paul Scofield, Rebecca Cantwell and Vera Lynn. During 1945, actors Laurence Olivier and Sir Ralph Richardson were created honorary army Lieutenants in ENSA. They performed Shakespeare's plays for the troops in a six week tour of Europe. Despite many extremely talented entertainers and movie stars, past and future, working for ENSA, the organisation was necessarily spread thin over the vast area it had to cover. Thus many entertainments were substandard, and the popular translation of the acronym ENSA was "Every Night Something Awful". Chaos Supersedes ENSA, a mini-series (1980), was written and directed by Patrick Garland for Thames Television.The television sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum concerned the misadventures of a group of soldiers providing entertainment for an army barracks in India. These were known as the Concert Party and were not ENSA members per se.ENSA also featured in the television sitcom Goodnight Sweetheart, in the episode "How I Won The War".The only known ENSA theatre to have survived in its original condition is the Garrison Theatre at Hurst Castle in the New Forest National Park. Created by servicemen in 1939, the proscenium arch still bears the badge and grenades of the Royal Artillery, and the curtains still hang from an old galvanised gas pipe. Shows are presented from time to time by the Friends of Hurst Castle. In the Are You Being Served? episode entitled "Camping In", Mr. Grainger told a story of being a member of ENSA which Mr. Humphries said stood for "Every Night Something awful 'Appens". In the popular BBC sitcom Dad's Army episode "Museum Piece", ENSA are revealed to be using the rifles Captain Mainwaring so desperately seeks. SSVC website'Chaos Supersedes ENSA' on IMDB







1939
Armitage, “Me and My Girl: a musical comedy”. London, Palladium.



anytime you’re Lambeth way
any evening any day
you’ll find yourself
doing THE LAMBETH WALK
every little Lambeth gal
with her little Lambeth pal
you’ll find them all
doing THE LAMBETH WALK

everything free & easy
do as you darn well pleasy
why don’t you make your way there
go there -- stay there
once you get to Lambeth way
any evening any day
you’ll find yourself
doing THE LAMBETH WALK!


Lambeth you’ve never seen The skies so blue, the grass so green
We may not have the Mayfair touch But that don’t matter very much
We play a different play Not like you, but a bit more gay
And we have a bit of fun. Oy!

1939
Armitage, “Me and My Girl: a musical comedy”. London, Palladium.




ME & MY GIRL
meant for each other
made for each other
& liking it so
ME & MY GIRL
no use pretending
we knew the ending
a long time ago
some little church
with a big steeple
just a few people
that both of us know
& we’ll have love, laughter
be happy ever after
ME & MY GIRL













1939
Oscar Hammerstein II//Jerome Kern. “Very Warm for May”-- sung by Hiram Sherman, Frances Mercer, Hollace Shaw, and Ralph Stuart.

you are the angel glow that lights a star
the dearest things I know are what you are
some day my happy arms will hold you
& some day I'll know that moment divine
when all THE THINGS YOU ARE are mine
time and again I've longed for adventure,
something to make my heart beat the faster.
what did I long for? I never really knew.
finding your love I've found my adventure,
touching your hand, my heart beats the faster,
all that I want in all of this world is you.
you are the promised kiss of springtime
that makes the lonely winter seem long.
you are the breathless hush of evening
that trembles on the brink of a lovely song.



1939


WE’LL MEET AGAIN
don’t know where don’t know when
but I know we’ll meet again some sunny day
keep smiling thru
just like you always do
till the bright sun drives the dark clouds far away


so will you please say hello
to the folks that I know
tell them I won’t be long
they’ll be happy to know
that as you saw me go
I was singing this song.




1939
From “The Little Dog Laughed”





1940
Irving Berlin. Berlin wrote it in 1940, in warm “La Quinta”, California, while staying at the La Quinta Hotel, a frequent Hollywood retreat also favoured by writer-producer Frank Capra. He often stayed up all night writing — he told his secretary, "Grab your pen and take down this song. I just wrote the best song I've ever written — heck, I just wrote the best song that anybody's ever written!" The first public performance of the song was by Bing Crosby on his NBC radio show The Kraft Music Hall on Christmas Day, 1941.
I’m dreaming of a WHITE CHRISTMAS
just like the ones we used to know
where the tree tops glisten
& children listen
to hear sleigh bells in the snow
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
with every Christmas card I write
may your days be merry and bright
& may all your christmasses be white.
1940
Consuelo Velázquez. Sunny Skylar. Velázquez wrote this song even though she had never been kissed yet at the time, and kissing as she heard was considered a sin. She was inspired by the piano piece "Quejas, o la Maja y el Ruiseñor" from the 1911 suite “Goyescas” by Enrique Granados, which he later also included as Aria of the Nightingale in his 1916 opera of the same name. There are slight differences in the wording at the end of the chorus, regarding the words perderte después meaning "to lose you afterwards". Considering that Velázquez may have been 15 years old when she wrote the song, this sentence reflects inexperience and innocence. Indeed, a video from "TV Mexicana" shows Consuelo Velázquez playing the piano while the singer sings perderte después. However, many interpretations use “perderte otra vez” ("lose you once again"). This may have been modified to touch a more grown-up, experienced audience.



besame BESAME MUCHO
como si fuera esta noche la última vez
besame, besame mucho
que tengo miedo a perderte perderte despues.

each time I bring you a kiss I hear music divine

Yeah I love you for ever say that you’ll always be mine.



Quiero sentirte muy cerca mirarme en tus ojos verte junto a mí
Piensa que tal vez mañana yo ya estare lejos, muy lejos de ti


Dearest one, if you should leave me
Then each little dream will take wings
And my life would be through.
So besame besame mucho,
Yeh I love you for ever,
Make all my dreams come true.

Oh this joy is something new,
My arms are holding you,
I never knew this thrill before.
Who ever thought Id be
Holding you close to me
Whispering its you I adore.

So dearest one, if you should leave me
Then each little dream will take wings
And my life would be through.
So besame besame mucho,
Yeah I love you for ever,
Make all my dreams come true.

Oh this joy is something new,
My arms are holding you,
I never knew this thrill before.
Who ever thought Id be
Holding you close to me
Whispering its you I adore.

So dearest one, if you should leave me,
Each little dream will take wings
And my life would be through.
So besame besame mucho,
Yeh love me for ever,
Make all my dreams come true.
Love me for ever,
Make all my dreams come true.
Love me for ever,
Make all my dreams come true.




1940
James Cavanaugh / John Redmond / Frank Weldon.

I came I saw I conga'd
I came I saw I conga'd
It's plain to see
you conquered me
each time I shake a shoulder
I get a little bolder
a dance like this
deserves a kiss.
My sweet muchacha
when I gotcha in my arms
this Cuban hotcha
adds so mucha to your charms.
The bongos beat the rhythm
maracas shake it with `em
That Latin riff is too "terriff";
I came, I saw, I conga'd
I came, I saw, I conga'd
I can't dany it's got that I, yi, Conga,
I, yi, Conga, I, yi, Conga, yi.





1941
"Deep in the Heart of Texas" is an American popular song elaborating on the merits of the state of Texas. The 1941 song features lyrics by June Hershey and music by Don Swander.












1941
Weil/Gershin, Lady in the dark. Introduced by Gertrude Lawrence



Jenny made her mind up when she was three
She herself was going to trim the Christmas tree
Christmas Eve she lit the candles, tossed the tapers away
Little Jenny was an orphan on Christmas day

Poor Jenny, bright as a penny
Her equal would be hard to find
She lost one dad and mother, a sister and a brother,
But she would make up her mind

Jenny made her mind up when she was twelve
That into foreign languages she would delve
But at seventeen to Vassar, it was quite a blow
That in twenty-seven languages she couldn't say no
Poor Jenny, bright as a penny
Her equal would be hard to find
To Jenny I'm beholden, her heart was big and golden
But she would make up her mind

Jenny made her mind up at twenty-two
To get herself a husband was the thing to do
She got herself all dolled up in her satins and furs
And she got herself a husband--but he wasn't hers

Poor Jenny, bright as a penny
Her equal would be hard to find
Deserved a bed of roses, but history discloses
That she would make up her mind


Jenny made her mind up at thirty nine
She would take a trip to the Argentine
She was only on vacation but the locals agree
Jenny was the one who started the good neighbor policy.

Jenny made her mind up at fifty-one
She would write her memoirs before she was done
The very day her book was published, history relates,
There were wives who shot their husbands in some thirty-three states

Jenny made her mind up at seventy-five
She would live to be the oldest woman alive
But gin and rum and destiny play funny tricks,
And poor Jenny kicked the bucket at seventy-six
Jenny points a moral with which you cannot quarrel,
Makes a lot of common sense--
Jenny and her saga prove that you're gaga
If you don't keep sitting on the fence

Jenny and her story point the way to glory
To all man and womankind
Anyone with vision comes to this decision--
Don't make up your mind




1941
I DON’T WANT TO WALK WITHOUT YOU baby
walk without my arm about you baby
I tho’t the day you left me behind
I'd take a stroll & get you right off my mind but now I find that
I don't want to walk without the sunshine
why'd you have to turn off all that sunshine
o baby please come back or you'll break my heart for me ’cause
I DON’T WANT TO WALK WITHOUT YOU no siree.
all our friends keep knocking at the door
they've asked me out a hundred times or more
but all I say is leave me in the gloom
& here I stay within my lonely room 'cause


1941


SOMEONE’S ROCKING MY DREAMBOAT
someone's invading my dream
we were sailing along so peaceful & calm
suddenly something went wrong
SOMEONE’S ROCKING MY DREAMBOAT
disturbing a beautiful dream
it's a mystery to me, this mutiny at sea
who can it be


a friendly breeze gave us a start
to a paradise of our own
all at once a storm blew us apart
& left me drifting alone
SOMEONE’S ROCKING MY DREAMBOAT
I'm captain without any crew
but with love as my guide I'll follow the tide
I'll keep sailing till I find you




1941
Johnny Mercer/Victor Schertzinger. Introduced in the 1942 movie, The Fleet's In, produced by Paramount Pictures, directed by Schertzinger, and starring Dorothy Lamour, William Holden, Eddie Bracken, singer Cass Daley, and Betty Hutton in her feature film debut.
TANGERINE
she is all they claim
Hats
As she passes by
And caballeros sigh
And I’ve seen
Toasts to Tangerine
Raised in everybar across the Argentine
Yes she might have all in the run
But her heart belongs to just one
Her heart belongs to TANGERINE.
1941
Eric Maschwitz



altho’ some people say
he's just a crazy guy
to me he means a million other things
for he's the one who taught
this happy heart of mine to fly
HE WEARS A PAIR OF SILVER WINGS

& tho’ it's pretty tough
the job he does above
I wouldn't have him change it for a king’s
an ordinary fellow in a uniform of blue
HE WEARS A PAIR OF SILVER WINGS



I'm so full of pride when we go walking
every time he's home on leave
he with those wings on his tunic
me with my heart on my sleeve
but when I'm left alone
& we are far apart
I sometimes wonder what tomorrow brings
for I adore that crazy guy who taught my happy heart
to WEAR A PAIR OF SILVER WINGS



1941
Eric Maschwitz
that certain night the night we met
there was magic abroad in the air
the angels dancing at the Ritz
& A NIGHTINGALE SANG IN BERKELEY SQUARE.
I may be wrong I may be right
But I’m perfectly willing to say
That when you turned and smiled at me
A NIGHTINGALE SANG IN BERKELEY SQUARE.
The moon that lingered over London town
Was surprised, she wore a frown
How could she know we two were so in love
The whole damn world seemed upside down
The streets of town were paved with gold
It was such a romantic affair
& as we kissed and said goodbye
A NIGHTINGALE SANG IN BERKELEY SQUARE.

1941
Composed by Hubert Gregg on seeing the German Doodlebugs flying over London, which became a London folk anthem.
MAYBE IT’S BECAUSE I’M A LONDONER
that I love London so
MAYBE IT’S BECAUSE I’M A LONDONER
that I think of her wherever I go
I get a funny feeling inside of me
when walking up & down
MAYBE IT’S BECAUSE I’M A LONDONER
that I love London town.







1941



there’ll be bluebirds over
the white cliffs of Dover
tomorrow just you wait and see
there’ll be love and laughter
and peace ever after
tomorrow when the world is free.



the shepherd will tend his sheep
the valley will bloom again
and Jimmy will go to sleep
in his own little room again
I'll never forget the people I met
Braving those angry skies
I remember well as the shadows fell
The light of hope in their eyes
And though I'm far away
I still can hear them say
Bombs up...
But when the dawn comes up



1942
Johnny Burke/Jimmy Van Heusen, “Road to Morocco” (Paramount)
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
& 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

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



1942



Senorita Nina from Argentina
knew all the answers,
altho’ her relatives & friends were perfect dancers
She swore she'd never dance a step until she died
she said, 'I've seen too many movies
& all they prove is too idiotic,
They all insist that South America's exotic
whereas it couldn't be more boring if it tried.
She added firmly that she hated
The sound of soft guitars beside a still lagoon,
She also positively stated
That she could not abide a Southern Moon,
She said with most refreshing candour
That she thought Carmen Miranda
Was subversive propaganda
And should rapidly be shot,
She said she didn't care a jot
If people quoted her or not!
She refused to begin the Beguine
When they requested it
& she made an embarrassing scene
If anyone suggested it
For she detested it.
Though no one ever could be keener
Than little Nina On quite a number
Of very eligible men who did the Rumba
When they proposed to her she simply left them flat.
She said that love should be impulsive
But not convulsive & syncopation
Has a discouraging effect on procreation
& that she'd rather read a hook-& that was that
Senorita Nina from Argentina
Despised the Tango
& tho’ she never was a girl to let a man go
She wouldn't sacrifice her principles for sex.
She looked with scorn on the gyrations
Of her relations
Who danced the Conga
And swore that if she had to stand it any longer
She'd lose all dignity and wring their silly necks!She said that frankly she was blinded
To all their over-advertised romantic charms
And then she got more bloody-minded
And told them where to put their tropic
palms.
She said I hate to be pedantic
But it drives me nearly frantic
When I see that unromantic
Sycophantic
Lot of sluts
For ever wriggling their guts,
It drives me absolutely nuts!
She declined to begin the Beguine
Though they besought her to
And in language profane and obscene
She cursed the man who taught her to,
She cursed Cole Porter too!
From this it's fairly clear that Nina
In her demeanour
Was so offensive
That when the hatred of her friends grew too intensive
She thought she'd better beat it while she had the chance.
After some trial and tribulation
She reached the station
And met a sailor
Who had acquired a wooden leg in Venezuela
& so she married him because he couldn’t dance
There surely never could have been a
More irritating girl than Nina,
They never speak in Argentina
Of this degenerate bambina
Who had the luck to find romance
But resolutely wouldn't dance!
She wouldn't dance! Hola!!






1942
Cole Porter “Something to Shout About” where it was introduced by Janet Blair and Don Ameche.




YOU’D BE SO NICE TO COME HOME TO
you'd be so nice by the fire
while the breeze on high
sang a lullaby
you'd be all that I could desire



under stars chilled by the winter
under an August moon burning above
you'd be so nice
you'd be paradise
to come home to & love






It's not that you're fairer
Than a lot of girls just as pleasin'
That I doff my hat

As a worshiper at your shrine
It's not that you're rarer
Than asparagus out of season
No, my darling, this is the reason
Why you've got to be mine







1943
mairzy doats & dozy doats & liddle lamzy divey
a kiddley divey too, wouldn't you?
if the words sound queer
& funny to your ear
a little bit jumbled and jivey,
sing
mares eat oats & does eat oats & little lambs eat ivy

I know a ditty nutty as a fruitcake
Goofy as a goon and silly as a loon
Some call it pretty, others call it crazy
But they all sing this tune:


1943
Noel Coward. Tribute to the “Home” Guard -- Dad’s Army.
COULD YOU PLEASE OBLIGE US WITH A BREN GUN
or failing that a hand grenade will do
we've got some ammunition
in a rather damp condition
& Major Huss
has a arquebus
that was used at Waterloo
with the vicar's stirrup pump
a pitchfork & a stave
it's rather hard to guard an aerodrome
so if you can't oblige us with a Bren gun
the Home Guard might as well go home.

1947
The music was written by Les Brown and Ben Homer, and the lyrics were written by Bud Green. Les Brown and His Band of Renown, with Doris Day as vocalist, had a hit record with the song, The song's release coincided with the end of WWII in Europe and became the unofficial homecoming theme for many veterans.
gonna take a SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY
gonna set my heart at ease
gonna make a sentimental journey
to renew old memories
got my bags got my reservations
spent each dime I could afford
like a child in wild anticipation,
I long to hear that all aboard
Seven that's the time we leave at seven.
I'll be waitin' up at heaven,
countin' every mile of railroad
track, that takes me back.
never thought my heart could be so yearny.
why did I decide to roam?
gotta take that Sentimental Journey,
Sentimental Journey home.








1944
Cole Porter, Seven Lively Arts: a musical revue (Billy Rose). n the phrase "change from major to minor", Porter begins with an A♭ major chord and ends with an A♭ . minor one, cleverly matching words and music.



EV’RY TIME WE SAY GOODBYE
I die a little.
EV’RY RIME WE SAY GOODBYE
I wonder why a little
why the gods above me who must be in the know
think so little of me they allow you to go

when you're near there's such an air of spring about it
I can hear a lark somewhere begin to sing about it
there's no love song fi ner
but how strange the change
from major to minor
EV’RY TIME WE SAY GOODBYE




We love each other so deeply
that I ask you this, sweetheart,
why should we quarrel ever,
why can't we be enough clever,
never to part.

1944
Édith Piaf. Tune composed by Louis “Louiguy” Guglielmi, lyrics were written by Édith Piaf. Originally, the song was registered as being written by Louiguy only since at the time Piaf did not have necessary qualifications to be able to copyright her work with SACEM.. Words "Quand il me tient dans ses bras..." came to her mind one evening in 1944, when she was standing in front of an American. That gave the base for the rest of lyrics. Piaf offered the song to Marianne Michel who slightly modified the lyrics, changing "les choses" ("things") for "la vie" ("life"). English lyrics for the song were written by Mack David. Initially, Piaf's peers and songwriting team did not think the song would be successful, finding it weaker than the rest of her repertoire. Having listened to their advice Piaf put the song aside only to change her mind in 1945. The song was performed live in concert for the first time in 1946. It became a favorite with audiences. It was the song that made Piaf internationally famous, with its lyrics telling about retaken love and appealing to those who had survived the difficult wartime.


quand il me prend dans ses bras
il me parle tout bas
je vois LA VIE EN ROSE
il me dit des mots d'amour
des mots de tous les jours
et ça me fait quelque chose
il est entré dans mon coeur
une part de bonheur
dont je connais la cause
c'est lui pour moi
moi pour lui dans la vie
il me l'a dit, l'a juré pour la vie
et dès que je l'apercois
alors je sens en moi
mon coeur qui bat
Des nuits d'amour à ne plus en finirUn grand bonheur qui prend sa placeDes enuis des chagrins, des phasesHeureux, heureux a en mourir
Quand il me prend dans ses brasIl me parle tout basJe vois la vie en rose
Il me dit des mots d'amourDes mots de tous les joursEt ça me fait quelque chose
Il est entré dans mon CoeurUne part de bonheurDont je connais la cause
C'est toi pour moiMoi pour toi dans la vieIl me l'a dit, m'a juré pour la vie
Et, dès que je l'apercoisAlors je sens en moiMon coeur qui bat
Lalalala, lalalalaLa, la, la, la









1944
Cole Porter.
o give me land lots of land under starry skies above
DON’T FENCE ME IN
let me ride thru the wide open country that I love
DON’T FENCE ME IN
let me be by myself in the evenin' breeze
& listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees
send me off forever but I ask you please
DON’T FENCE ME IN
Just turn me loose, let me straddle my old saddle underneath the western skies
On my Cayuse, let me wander over yonder till I see the mountains rise
I want to ride to the ridge where the west commences
& gaze at the moon till I lose my senses
& I can't look at hovels & I can't stand fences
DON’T FENCE ME IN.

1950
Ray Evans Jay LivingstonParamount PicturesCaptain Carey, U.S.A. (Paramount Pictures). It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
MONA LISA MONA LISA men have named you
you're so like the lady with the mystic smile
is it only 'cause you're lonely they have blamed you
for that MONA LISA strangeness in your smile
do you smile to tempt a lover MONA LISA
or is this your way to hide a broken heart
many dreams have been brought to your doorstep
they just lie there & they die there
are you warm are you real MONA LISA
or just a cold & lonely lovely work of art.



Do you smile to tempt a lover, Mona Lisa?
Or is this your way to hide a broken heart?
Many dreams have been brought to your doorstep
They just lie there and they die there
Are you warm, are you real, Mona Lisa?
Or just a cold and lonely lovely work of art?

1950
Spike Jones
when we wuz in the city we wuz a-wond'rin' where to go
a sign spelt out “PAL YAT CHEE” up in lights above a show
we thought 'twould be a western till the stage lit up with lights
an' ninety seven people sung without a horse in sight
we couldn't understand 'em 'cause they spoke a foreign tongue
but we can give you some i-dee of what we think they sung:
ridi, Pagliaccio sul tuo amore'in fronto
all at once there's a fat guy in a clown suit.
ain't Haller-ween that's for shore
then this here feller, this Punchy Neller,
begins to beller like we all was deef.
Ha ha ha ha ha
That was PAL-YAT-CHEE an' he sung:
Invest in a tuba an' somthin' or other 'bout Cuba
He sung about a lady who weighed two hundred and eighty
When she takes a powder, he just starts chirpin' louder
And he don't do a gol-durn thing 'cept to stand up there an' sing.
When we listen to PAL-YAT-CHEE, we get itchy an' scratchy.
This shore is top corn so we go and buy some popcorn.
We hate to go back but we can't git our dough back.
There ain't no use complainin', 'cause outside it's a-rainin'.
Seven hours later, we're still in the dern theater
Takin' turns at nappin', a-waitin' for somethin' to happen.
PAL-YAT-CHEE he ain't hurryin' but the folks on stage are flurryin'
& it sounds like Kat-chee-tur-ry-in's Neighbor Dance.
then ol' PAL-YAT-CHEE finds the guy he's seekin'
cheek-to-cheekin' with his wife he grabs a knife
And stabs the louse who stole his spouse,
An' then he stabs the lady and himself - tain't very sanitary.
They all collapse, but ol' PAL-YAT-CHEE sets up,
Then he gets up, sings "I'm dyin',
I am dyin', I am dyin'." We start cryin'
'Cause to tell the truth, we're dyin' too.
As the footlights fade out we see PAL-YAT-CHEE laid out.
But the dagger never caused it. PAL-YAT-CHEE was plumb exhausted.
Ridi, Pagliaccio, Sul tuo amore'in



1945
Love letters