Have a diva or two!

Ever notice how often "happy" songs are, strictly speaking, not happy? If you actually listen to the lyrics of "Get Happy" by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler, you'll see that umm, well, hmmm, really, I mean...look, it's about dying. In a manner of speaking. But, you know, get happy!

Nevertheless, this performance makes me happy every time anyway--Judy Garland singing "Get Happy" against Barbra Streisand singing Milton Ager and Jack Yellen's "Happy Days Are Here Again":


Video posted by TheJudyRoomVideos

***

We have a bunch of Jewish songwriters here: Harold Arlen ("Over the Rainbow," "Stormy Weather," "The Man That Got Away") was the son of a synagogue cantor; I can't find much about Ted Koehler ("Get Happy," "Stormy Weather," "Moon Over Dixie")'s personal life, but he seems to be counted among Jewish lyricists; and both Milton Ager ("Last of the Red Hot Mamas") and his frequent collaborator Jack Yellen ("My Yiddishe Momme") were Jewish--and so, of course, is Barbra Streisand.


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