Yellow Bird (Choucounne) 1883

Monton/Durand

The melody and lyrics to this catchy yet poignant tune originated in Haiti in the late 19th century and the name of the poem was Choucounne. A long but interesting discussion of the song's Creole origins is here, including the Creole lyrics. When the record companies were casting around for yet another "island melody" for the impossibly handsome Harry Belafonte aka "King of Calypso" to do, they came up with this one and, at the same time, conveniently made Norman Ludoff the composer, with English words by Marilyn and Alan Bergman. The song remains lilting and lovely, but less so for me once I found it was appropriated. Who was Choucounne? The answer is, a woman, of course. Always a woman.

"You can fly away, in the sky away.

You more lucky than me!"

CHORUS
Yellow bird, up high in banana tree.
Yellow bird, you sit all alone like me.
Did your lady friend leave the nest again?
That is very sad, make me feel so bad.
You can fly away, in the sky away.
You more lucky than me!

VERSE
I also have a pretty gal, She not with me today.
They all the same, the pretty gal, Make them the nest, then they fly away.

CHORUS

SECOND VERSE
Wish that I was a yellow bird, I fly away with you.
But I am not a yellow bird, So here I sit, nothing else to do.
Yellow bird, yellow bird, yellow bird.

Black Coffee (1948)

Webster/Burke

"A woman's born to weep and fret, to stay at home and tend her lovin'

And drown her past regrets, in coffee and cigarettes."

What is it about old coffee cans that makes artists want keep them around for stuff?  They can hold paintbrushes, paint... visit the homestead of Jackson Pollock and you will see the ones he used. Lee Krasner, artist and wife to Pollock certainly must have done a good amount of "staying home and tendin' her lovin," trying to dry Jackson out and quit the booze. (Sadly, she lost the battle.) Peggy Lee does a simply knock-out version of this song, a bluesy, caffeine-y, swinging ballad. Her voice is modern, cool and edgy similar to one of Pollock's paintings.

CHORUS

I'm feelin' mightly lonesome, Haven't slept a wink,
I walk the floor and watch the door
and in between I drink.....Black coffee,
Love's a hand me down brew
I'll never know a Sunday
in this weekday room.

I'm talking to the shadows
1 o'clock to four,
and lord how slow the moments go
when all I do is pour Black coffee
Since the blues caught my eye.
I'm hanging out on Monday,
My Sunday dreams to dry.

Now a man is born to go a lovin'
A woman's born to weep and fret
To stay at home and tend her lovin'
And drown her past regrets in coffee and cigarettes.

I'm moonin' all the mornin', mournin' all the night
and in between it's nicotine and not much heart to fight
Black coffee
Feelin' low as the ground,
it's drivin' me crazy, this waitin' for my baby
To maybe come around.

My nerves have gone to pieces
My hair is turnin' grey
All I do is drink black coffee,
Since my man's gone away.

Lush Life (1938)

Strayhorn

"So I'll live a lush life in some small dive

And there I'll be, while I rot with the rest

Of those whose lives are lonely too"

Billy Strayhorn. His name can't be brought up without mentioning that of Duke Ellington: the two were bound together in work and life. Ellington "kept" Billy, in an apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, blocks from his own. Billy was gay, shy and desperately unhappy; Ellington was his opposite. This is a one of the saddest and most difficult songs to sing or play. Strayhorn wrote the song while still a teenager and it remains elusive to the most seasoned interpreters. Frank Sinatra tried and never came up with something he liked.  Ella Fitzgerald (accompanied by Duke Ellington),  Johnny Hartman, and John Coltrane (without the lyrics) all have versions. Yet the lyrics are especially important in this song: they stand on their own as poetry.  And here is Billy, doing it himself (as well as accompanying himself on piano.) I hope he found peace away from the "wheel of life."

I used to visit all the very gay places

Those come-what-may places

Where one relaxes on the axis of the wheel of life

To get the feel of life

From jazz and cocktails

The girls I knew had sad and sullen gray faces

With distingue traces

That used to be there

You could see where they'd been washed away

By too many through the day

Twelve-o'clock tails

Then you came along with your siren song

To tempt me to madness

I thought for awhile that your poignant smile

Was tinged with the sadness

Of a great love for me

Ah yes, I was wrong

Again, I was wrong

Life is lonely again

And only last year

Everything seemed so sure

Now life is awful again

A trough full of hearts could only be a bore

A week in Paris could ease the bite of it

All I care is to smile in spite of it

I'll forget you, I will
While yet you are still

Burning inside my brain

Romance is mush

Stifling those who strive

So I'll live a lush life in some small dive

And there I'll be, while I rot with the rest

Of those whose lives are lonely too

Dream (1944)

Johnny Mercer

"Things never are as bad as they seem
So dream, dream, dream."

Johnny Mercer dashed out this little, lovely tune out as a theme for his radio program. There are many versions of Dream out there, and rightfully so. But the one that stays with my is Roy Orbison's slightly honky-tonk yet hopeless version from 1963.  Why does everything he sing always sound so sad? Orbison's Dream is not to be confused with another of his songs, In Dreams. 

VERSE

Get in touch with that sundown fellow
As he tiptoes across the sand
He's got a million kinds of stardust
Pick your fav'rite brand, and

CHORUS

Dream, when you're feeling blue
Dream, that's the thing to do
Just watch the smoke rings in the air
You'll find your share of memories there

So dream when the day is through
Dream, and they might come true
Things are never as bad as they seem
So dream, dream, dream

My Melancholy Baby (1911)

Burnett/Norton

One of the very first Ella tunes I ever knew, and what a treat to become acquainted with her through this song -- although it was nearly 100 years old already. How can you go wrong with the likes of Teddy Wilson on keys and Cozy Cole on drums? I auditioned for a singing telegram messenger with this song; the manager was astounded that someone still sang the song. (I did not take the job.) 

Many years later Ella re-recorded the song with just piano in a lower key. Kills it, as usual. When you have sung a song for 40 years, you really know it.

"All your fears are foolish, fancy, 'maybes'
You know, dear, that I'm in love with you;

VERSE

Why do you grieve?
Try and believe
Life is always sunshine
When the heart beats true
Banish your fears
Smile through your tears
When you're sad
It makes me feel the same as you...


CHORUS

Come to me my melancholy baby
Cuddle up and don't be blue
All your fears are foolish, fancy, 'maybes'
You know, dear, that I'm in love with you;


Every cloud must have a silver lining
Wait until the sun shines through
Come on and smile, my honey dear,
While I kiss away each tear
Or else I shall be melancholy too...