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

Autumn in New York (1934)

Vernon Duke

"Glittering crowds

and shimmering clouds 

in canyons of steel
They're making me feel I'm home"

A love song to the City. This autumn has been especially spectacular in New York since the leaves have lingered on, in swirls of red, orange, purple, green, yellow, brown. Amazing. As a song, Autumn in New York is popular as a jazz instrumental, perhaps because Charlie Parker recorded it in 1949. However, a quick online search proves that all the great singers (Ella, Frank, Bing, etc. etc.) have a version as well. And the lyrics are so poetic; they deserve to be heard more frequently.

CHORUS

Autumn in New York
Why does it seem so inviting?
Autumn in New York
It spells the thrill of first-nighting

Glittering crowds and shimmering clouds in canyons of steel
They're making me feel I'm home

It's autumn in New York
That brings the promise of new love
Autumn in New York
Is often mingled with pain

Dreamers with empty hands
They sigh for exotic lands

It's autumn in New York
It's good to live it again

Lovers that bless the dark
On benches in Central Park

It's autumn in New York
It's good to live it again

September Song (1938)

Kurt Weill



"Oh, it's a long, long while from May to December
But the days grow short when you reach September. . ."

An appropriate song to begin the month of September and also to resstart this blog from some years ago. I first heard Walter Huston (John's father) singing this wistful song in a wavering, almost desperate voice: it's the end of summer, the end of vacation, the end of youth. He is better known for his character acting, particularly as the hard-bitten gold miner in his son's Treasure of the Sierra Madre. For a more modern version, check out Lou Reed's version on the great compilation album Lost In the Stars: a Tribute to Kurt Weill. 

VERSE
When I was a young man courting the girls
I played me a waiting game.
If a maid refused me with tossing curls
I'd let the old earth take a couple of twirls
And I'd ply her with tears instead of pearls
And as time came around, she came my way
As time came around, she came.

CHORUS
Oh, it's a long, long while from May to December
But the days grow short when you reach September
When the autumn weather turns the leaves to flame
One hasn't got time for the waiting game

Oh, the days dwindle down to a precious few
September, November
And these few precious days I'll spend with you
These precious days I'll spend with you

There Will Never Be Another You (1942)

Gordon/Warren



There will be other songs to sing,
another Fall, another Spring,
But there will never be another you."

This first post is dedicated to the great Max Roach, who was a neighbor in our building and a friend. Attending his memorial service at the Riverside Church, the magnitude of the crowd in and waiting outside the church underlined again how significant Max was to the world, both as musician and human rights activist. Jimmy Heath played an saxophone solo of this song at the service. How true.

LYRICS
There will be many other nights like this
And I'll be standing here with someone new
There will be other songs to sing,
another Fall, another Spring
But there will never be another you

There will be other lips that I may kiss
But they won't thrill me like yours used to do
I may dream a million dreams but
how can they come true
If there will never ever be another you