Wild is the Wind (1956)

Tiomkin/Washington

For we're like creatures of the wind

And wild is the wind. . .
Wild is my heart for you

Dimitri Tiomkin, born in Russia, was well-known for composing the music for some of the biggest Western films in the 1940s and 1950s; he was nominated for Best Score over twenty times.  Classically trained in Moscow, his melodies are known for their emotional moodiness, alluding to both the vast emptiness of the West and the inner soul. Ned Washington, best known for composing the lyrics to When You Wish Upon a Star, was a frequent collaborator.  Three very different singers - Johnny Mathis, Nina Simone and David Bowie - all had a hit with this song; were they drawn to the words, the melody, or the idea? Johnny Mathis sang it first as the opening song for the movie of the same name. Of the three great singers who did this, I think Nina Simone owns it. What do you think?

Love me, love me, say you do

Let me fly away with you

For my love is like the wind

And wild is the wind

Wild is the wind

Give me more than one caress

Satisfy this hungriness

Let the wind blow through your heart

For wild is the wind 

Wild is the wind

You . . . touch me
I hear the sound of mandolins

You . . . kiss me    
With your kiss my life begins

You're spring to me    
All things to me

Don't you know - you're life itself!

Like the leaf clings to the tree,

Oh, my darling, cling to me

For we're like creatures of the wind

And wild is the wind    
Wild is the wind
Wild is my heart for you

Love is like a cigarette

Jerome/Kent

Then just like a cigarette 

Love seem to fade away
and leave behind ashes of regret...

Ivie Anderson deserves to be better known. One of Duke Ellington's earliest vocalists - and his first full time "girl" singer - her delivery is straightforward and swinging, not a scat to be heard. Love is like a cigarette conjures up a smoky time in the past when cigarettes evoked romance, moodiness, excitement. (Actually, they still have a tinge of glamour about them.) Think of Paul Henreid and Bette Davis in Now, Voyager - where would they have been without cigarettes? Sadly, Ivie suffered from severe asthma her entire life, and both her career and her life were cut short by this breathing disease. Here is she is singing with Ellington in a rare film clip singing I've Got it Bad and That Ain't Good.

VERSE

What is love? You called it heaven above 

Star that shine in the night 

A bird that sings in its flight 

A flower that blooms in the spring 

There's no such thing 

CHORUS

Love is like a cigarette 

You know you had my heart aglow 

Between your fingertips 

And just like a cigarette 

I never knew the thrill of life 

Until you touched my lips 

Then just like a cigarette 

Love seem to fade away and leave behind ashes of regret 

And with a flick of your fingertips 

It was easy for you to forget 

Cause love is like a cigarette 

Then just like a cigarette 

Love seem to fade away and leave behind ashes of regret 

And with a flick of your fingertips 

It was easy for you to forget 

Cause love is like a cigarette

A Kiss to Build a Dream On (1935)

Ruby/Kalmar/Hammerstein

"Give me a kiss before you leave me
And my imagination will feed my hungry heart."

This week, New York City is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1964 World's Fair: the few colossal structures still standing were opened up to the public; volunteers worked to spruce up some of the badly neglected areas to make it more attractive. Over 50 million visitors went to the World's Fair in Flushing, Queens, the two seasons it was open, including my family - I remember my sister and I had to wear white kid gloves and hats. Many of the original structures were destroyed after the Fair ended; rumors have been circulating that the remaining ones will be razed as well. How might this connect to the song, Give Me a Kiss to Build a Dream On, other than a slight reference to building? Well, Louis Armstrong, who had a big hit with the song in 1951, lived in Queens - not far from the World's Fair site. 

CHORUS

Give me a kiss to build a dream on
And my imagination will thrive upon that kiss
Sweetheart, I ask no more than this
A kiss to build a dream on

Give me a kiss before you leave me
And my imagination will feed my hungry heart
Leave me one thing before we part
A kiss to build a dream on

When I'm alone with my fancies
I'll be with you
Weaving romances
Making believe they’re true

Oh, give me your lips for just a moment
And my imagination will make that moment live
Mmm, give me what you alone can give
A kiss to build a dream on