"I could write a sonnet..."
Well, actually, no, I cannot write a sonnet. However, that's the lyric in Irving Berlin's "Easter Parade." Like "White Christmas," it was a song in 1942's Holiday Inn, sung by Bing Crosby to Marjorie Reynolds:
Video posted by soccerkrazy2
although it originally appeared in Berlin's 1933 revue "As Thousands Cheer." And, like "White Christmas," it had a movie constructed around it, 1948's Easter Parade, in which Judy Garland sings it to Fred Astaire:
Video posted by Gregory Maldonado
I don't think it's quite so successful that way, but it's a fun film with tons of great songs. (Don't miss "We're a Couple of Swells":
Video posted by gem tracker
Did Fred Astaire even know how not to be elegant?)
The film is perhaps most famous for a number that was deleted--Judy Garland performing "Mr. Monotony" in the outfit she later famously wore in Summer Stock's "Get Happy": a man's jacket and stockings. But the film was set in 1912, and really...yeah, no.
Interestingly, while the song is generally considered one of the most popular Easter songs of all time, there aren't a whole lot of recent covers out there. But then, there aren't a whole lot of rotogravures out there nowadays either (a rotogravure, in the song's meaning, was a color supplement to newspapers in 1912), nor is the Easter parade itself what it used to be, either. I mean,
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I have already written a bit about Irving Berlin, the Russian cantor's son, who has been said to define American music--or at least, one kind of American music. His first big hit was in 1911, at just about the time that the film Easter Parade is set in: "Alexander's Ragtime Band":
Video posted by joehb123
We've all heard it so often that it seems like it's always been around, but ragtime was a not-particularly-respectable craze then (already on its way out of fashion), and "Alexander's Ragtime Band," with it's coaxing lyric "Come on along, come on along, let me take you by the hand," is often credited with reviving ragtime as well as sweeping it into the mainstream. Not that Berlin stopped there, of course--his career lasted a good 60 years, and as I mentioned in the earlier post, he wrote over 1500 songs, all the way through to at least 1966. One of his most romantic songs is "Always":
Video posted by Lara Mitrakovic
--another of those standards which has been covered by nearly everyone. When Berlin married his second wife, Ellin Mackay, her (wealthy, Catholic) father disowned her for marrying a Jew. In response, Berlin gave his new bride the rights to "Always," which he had written for her and which, as it turns out, guaranteed her a steady income for life.
I just love a happy ending!
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Just a note: Passover starts tonight, so really I should have tackled Passover first, but because Passover lasts eight days (or seven, if you live in Israel) and Easter only lasts one, I thought I'd better take Easter before I missed it entirely. Happy Passover, or Easter, or spring, or whatever makes you happy this weekend!
although it originally appeared in Berlin's 1933 revue "As Thousands Cheer." And, like "White Christmas," it had a movie constructed around it, 1948's Easter Parade, in which Judy Garland sings it to Fred Astaire:
I don't think it's quite so successful that way, but it's a fun film with tons of great songs. (Don't miss "We're a Couple of Swells":
Did Fred Astaire even know how not to be elegant?)
The film is perhaps most famous for a number that was deleted--Judy Garland performing "Mr. Monotony" in the outfit she later famously wore in Summer Stock's "Get Happy": a man's jacket and stockings. But the film was set in 1912, and really...yeah, no.
Interestingly, while the song is generally considered one of the most popular Easter songs of all time, there aren't a whole lot of recent covers out there. But then, there aren't a whole lot of rotogravures out there nowadays either (a rotogravure, in the song's meaning, was a color supplement to newspapers in 1912), nor is the Easter parade itself what it used to be, either. I mean,
I have already written a bit about Irving Berlin, the Russian cantor's son, who has been said to define American music--or at least, one kind of American music. His first big hit was in 1911, at just about the time that the film Easter Parade is set in: "Alexander's Ragtime Band":
We've all heard it so often that it seems like it's always been around, but ragtime was a not-particularly-respectable craze then (already on its way out of fashion), and "Alexander's Ragtime Band," with it's coaxing lyric "Come on along, come on along, let me take you by the hand," is often credited with reviving ragtime as well as sweeping it into the mainstream. Not that Berlin stopped there, of course--his career lasted a good 60 years, and as I mentioned in the earlier post, he wrote over 1500 songs, all the way through to at least 1966. One of his most romantic songs is "Always":
--another of those standards which has been covered by nearly everyone. When Berlin married his second wife, Ellin Mackay, her (wealthy, Catholic) father disowned her for marrying a Jew. In response, Berlin gave his new bride the rights to "Always," which he had written for her and which, as it turns out, guaranteed her a steady income for life.
I just love a happy ending!
Just a note: Passover starts tonight, so really I should have tackled Passover first, but because Passover lasts eight days (or seven, if you live in Israel) and Easter only lasts one, I thought I'd better take Easter before I missed it entirely. Happy Passover, or Easter, or spring, or whatever makes you happy this weekend!
As always, interesting and well done.
ReplyDeleteThanks! (I was going to do a Pesach song or two later, but I couldn't find any of the melodies we sing on YouTube. :( )
ReplyDelete