Sunday, March 7, 2021

It happened again

Another of those "wake up from a sound sleep with the complete lyrics of an old song playing in my head" moments, Athena springing full-grown from the forehead of Zeus as it were, occurred this morning. Actually it was two songs this time, or, more accurately, two halves of the same song, and the song was "You're Just In Love" by Irving Berlin as sung by Ethel Merman and Russell Nype in Call Me Madam.

If there was ever any doubt, I know I am old because that song has to be 70 years old if it's a day. I remember hearing Ethel Merman and Russell Nype sing it on Ed Sullivan's Toast Of The Town program on a Sunday night on our old black-and-white, 12-inch screen, Philco television set when I was nine or 10 years old, and I was born in 1941. And there it was this morning, singing itself in my brain, complete with images of Ethel and Russell.

All the foregoing show-biz facts were dredged up typed without referring to any source. Here are the lyrics of the song, also typed sans reference to any source:

I hear singing and there's no one there
I smell blossoms and the trees are bare
All day long I seem to walk on air
I wonder why, I wonder why
I keep tossing in my sleep at night
And what's more I've lost my appetite
Stars that used to twinkle in the skies
Are twinkling in my eyes, I wonder why

You don't need analyzing,
It is not so surprising
That you feel very strange but nice
Your heart goes pitter-patter
I know just what's the matter
Because I've been there once or twice
Put your head on my shoulder
You need someone who's older
A rub-down with a velvet glove
There is nothing you can take
To relieve that pleasant ache
You're not sick, you're just in love


Back in the day, Russell Nype sang the first section and Ethel Merman sang the second section, and then they joined forces and sang their separate tunes together at the same time. And trust me, even though Russell's part had eight lines and Ethel's part had 12 lines, it all meshed together nicely and they both finished at the same time. In music I believe doing this is called counterpoint.

I would include an audio clip or perhaps even a video clip, but I think you should do some things for yourself.

I may be an idiot savant (though that term has fallen out of use) or I may just be an idiot.

And (as if you needed further proof) there is this, of course:

Here are some recent answers on Jeopardy! that I knew but which none of the real contestants could answer:

What are cargo cults?
What is Kilauea?
Who is Philip II?
What is fudge?
What is cathode?
What is Mount Rainier?
What is the Louvre?
Who is Jesse James?

Your Honor (British, Honour), I rest my case.

9 comments:

  1. You are correct, "You're Just In Love" was released 71 years ago in 1950. It's interesting that you dream songs. I dream all kinds of crazy things but never songs.

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  2. Bonnie, thanks for commenting, but I don’t dream about songs. I don’t think I have ever dreamed about a song. It’s just that often my first conscious thought upon waking is having an old song running through my mind that has absolutely nothing to do with what I may have been dreaming about. Sometimes I know I have had dreams but couldn’t tell you what they were about. Our brains are strange things!

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  3. I remember this song very well along with its many incarnations. For a while it was popular for variety show hosts to sing it with guest stars.

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    Replies
    1. Emma, another black-and-white TV musical memory I have from that period is Rosemary Clooney singing “Come On-a My House, My House, I’m Gonna Give You Candy”.

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  4. P.S. — and “I Must Go Where The Wild Goose Goes” by Frankie Laine... all three around the same time, if memory serves.

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  5. How fun! I don't think I have ever woke up with a song In my heart. Sadly I have never heard of "You're just in love" or Russell Nype or "Call me Madam". My education has been sorely lacking. But how fun to relive those days.

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  6. Kathy, it is understandable, not many people have heard of Russell Nype even though he received a Tony award for the role. I read today that he died in West Palm Beach, FL, in 2018 at the age of 98. And Call Me Madam was not one of Irving Berlin’s biggest shows (like, say, <Annie, Get Your Gun), lasting only 644 performances on Broadway (I looked that up too). I am confident that you have heard of Ethel Merman.

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  7. Third attempt. It's my stupid android phone - at least I'll blame that.
    I commented on the song and the Jeopardy questions and now you will have to guess what I said!
    Alphie

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  8. Alphie Soup, I received three e-mails from you, but they were three copies of your third attempt. Your first two attempts, whatever they may have contained, must have gone off into Blogger Void and apparently we will never know. I refuse to guess. Bite the bullet and try one more time with whatever was on your mind. If it was important enough to make three attempts, it’s important enough for a fourth. Don’t make me and my readers suffer because of your stupid android phone.

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<b>Always true to you, darlin’, in my fashion</b>

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