Body and Soul (1930)

Green/Heyman/Sour/Eyton

My life's a hell you’re making

You know I'm yours for just the taking

I'd gladly surrender myself to you
Body and soul

Many songs are about the pain of love, sadness, and surrender - but Body and Soul has always seemed especially full of desperation, with some of the most urgent words to a beloved. I would have said that the version I knew for so long, Billie Holiday's version, was the most heartbreaking until Amy Winehouse recorded the song (with Tony Bennett) not long before her death.

VERSE 

You're making me blue

All that you do

Seems unfair

You try not to hear

Turn a deaf ear

To my prayer

It seems you don't want to see

What you are doing to me

My arms are waiting to caress you

And to my heart they long to press you, sweet heart

CHORUS

My heart is sad and lonely

For you I cry

For you, dear, only

I tell you I mean it

I'm all for you

Body and soul

I spend my days in longing

And wondering it's me you're wronging

Why haven't you seen it

I'm all for you

Body and soul

I can't believe it

It hard to conceive it

That you'd turn away romance

Are you pretending

Don't say it's the ending

I wish I could have one more chance to prove, dear

My life a hell you’re making

You know I'm yours for just the taking

I'd gladly surrender

Myself to you

Body and soul

VERSE 2

Life's dreary for me

Day's seem to be long as years

I've looked for the sun

But can see none

Through my tears

Your heart must be like a stone

To leave me like this alone

When you could make my life worth living

By taking what I'm set on giving, sweetheart

Cold, Cold Heart (1951)

H. Williams


"Why can't I free your doubtful mind
and melt your cold, cold heart?"

Read the genius of the simple lyrics that are so well put together in meter and rhyme. It's almost like a real conversation, right? Like a country Shakespeare. And he died at age thirty, under mysterious circumstances (well, too many drugs and alcohol) in the back of his chauffeured limousine on the way to a gig. Hank wrote over 150 songs during his brief career, with many becoming classics: Hey, Good Looking; Your Cheatin' Heart; Jambalaya; Move It On Over, and a "song that broke the internet" in 2024, "Lovesick Blues."

LYRICS

I tried so hard my dear to show that you're my every dream
Yet you're afraid each thing I do is just some evil scheme
A memory from your lonesome past keeps us so far apart
Why can't I free your doubtful mind and melt your cold cold heart

Another love before my time made your heart sad and blue
And so my heart is paying now for things I didn't do
In anger unkind words are spoke that make the teardrops start
Why can't I free your doubtful mind,and melt your cold cold heart

You'll never know how much it hurts to see you sit and cry
You know you need and want my love yet you're afraid to try
Why do you run and hide from life,to try it just ain't smart
Why can't I free your doubtful mind and melt your cold cold heart

There was a time when I believed that you belonged to me
But now I know your heart is shackled to a memory
The more I learn to care for you, the more we drift apart
Why can't I free your doubtful mind and melt your cold cold heart

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 Pollock-Krasner House and you will see the ones he used. Lee Krasner, no slouch of a painter herself and wife to Pollock certainly must have done a fair 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 knock-out version of this song, a bluesy, caffeine-y, swinging ballad. Her voice is modern, cool and edgy similar to a Pollock painting... or a Krasner, for that matter.

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.

Smile (1936)

Turner/Parsons/Chaplin

Smile, you must keep on trying,

Smile, what's the use of crying,

You'll find that life is still worthwhile,

If you just smile.

This post is dedicated to my mom, who left this world in August, one year ago today. It was her favorite song. Wallowing in tearful and brave emotion, Smile, is one of most played songs at funerals. Is there irony in the fact that Charlie Chaplin, the funny little man of silent screen was the tunesmith? (written for the movie Modern Times); the lyrics were added later. It is perhaps the song which is most associated with Nat King Cole. Recently it became popular to a new generation of fans when it was revealed that Smile was Michael Jackson's favorite song. My mother was a "tough old bird," in the words of one friend. But she was also a sentimentalist and loved beautiful, sad music. 

CHORUS

Smile, though your heart is aching,

Smile, even though it's breaking,

When there are clouds in the sky

You'll get by

If you smile

through your fear and sorrow,

Smile, and maybe tomorrow,

You'll see the sun come shining through for you

Light up your face with gladness,

Hide every trace of sadness,

Although a tear may be ever so near,

That's the time

You must keep on trying,

Smile, what's the use of crying,

You'll find that life is still worthwhile,

If you just smile.

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. How can one go wrong with the Teddy Wilson on piano and Cozy Cole on drums? The song remains a standard jazz tune, even though it was written way back in 1912. The biggest event, however, in 1912 remains the sinking of The Titanic. Quite possibly, the passengers even listened to it.

Many years later in her career, Ella re-recorded the song with only piano and in a lower key. She still killed it, no surprise. When you have sung a song for forty 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...