Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Great Lyrics, Or Dubiously-Legal Postings For a Slow Day

Not much to post today, so here are some more lyrics I love: Larry Hart's lyric for my favourite song of all time, Rodgers and Hart's "It Never Entered My Mind." Calling it my favourite song isn't just a whim; whenever I make up a list of the greatest songs of the last century, this one has the number-one spot. It's a combination of several different types of song into one: it's a torch song, but it's not as despairing as a torch song, more of a love song -- but it's also a comedy song. Its tone is at once emotional and analytical, with the singer expressing her feelings and mocking them at the same time. Rodgers' melody is one of his best, romantic/sad/funny all at once and with some wonderful surprises (especially the tricks he uses to extend the melody near the end), and Hart's lyrics are as follows:


Verse

I don't care if there's powder on my nose.
I don't care if my hairdo is in place.
I've lost the very meaning of repose;
I never put a mudpack on my face.
Oh, who'd have thought that I'd walk in a daze now?
I never go to shows at night, but just to matinées now.
I see the show,
And home I go.

Refrain 1

Once I laughed when I heard you saying
That I'd be playing solitaire,
Uneasy in my easy chair.
It never entered my mind.
Once you told me I was mistaken,
That I'd awaken with the sun
And order orange juice for one.
It never entered my mind.
You have what I lack myself,
And now I even have to scratch my back myself.
Once you warned me that if you scorned me
I'd sing the maiden's prayer again
And wish that you were there again
To get into my hair again.
It never entered my mind.

Refrain 2

Once you said in your funny lingo
I'd sit at Bingo day and night
And never get the numbers right.
It never entered my mind.
Once you told me I'd stay up Sunday
To read the Monday morning dirt
And find you're merging with some skirt.
Life is not so sweet alone.
The man who came to dinner lets me eat alone.
I confess it, I didn't guess it,
That I would sit and mope again
And all the while I'd hope again
To see my darling dope again.
It never entered my mind,
It never entered my mind.


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