(If you missed the beginning of this series, please start with The IRA Awards Part 1)

Richard Rodgers was one of the theater’ greatest composers.  Diamonds attract pearls.  Rodgers attracted the best of his time.  When it came to lyricists, he had the great fortune of working with two of the very best.

Lorenz “Larry” Hart was his first.  Some of his more famous lyrics include, “Blue Moon”, “Isn’t It Romantic?”, “The Lady Is a Tramp”, “Where or When”, “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered”, “Falling in Love with Love”,  and “My Funny Valentine”.

Hart attended Columbia University, where a friend introduced him to Richard Rodgers, and the two joined forces to write songs for a series of amateur and student productions.  The great success of their score for the 1925 Theatre Guild production, The Garrick Gaieties, brought them great acclaim.

They continued working together until Hart’s death in 1943, along the way producing scores for a series of hit shows and making a substantial contribution to the Great American Songbook.

As a lyricist, Hart was an advocate of internal rhyme and multisyllabic rhyming, and his lyrics have often been praised for their wit and technical sophistication.

After one whole quart of brandy
Like a daisy, I’m awake
With no Bromo-Seltzer handy
I don’t even shake

Men are not a new sensation
I’ve done pretty well I think
But this half-pint imitation
Put me on the blink

I’m wild again, beguiled again
A simpering, whimpering child again
Bewitched, bothered and bewildered – am I

Couldn’t sleep and wouldn’t sleep
When love came and told me, I shouldn’t sleep
Bewitched, bothered and bewildered – am I

Lost my heart, but what of it
He is cold I agree
He can laugh, but I love it
Although the laugh’s on me

I’ll sing to him, each spring to him
And long for the day when I’ll cling to him
Bewitched, bothered and bewildered – am I

He’s a fool and don’t I know it
But a fool can have his charms
I’m in love and don’t I show it
Like a babe in arms

Love’s the same old sad sensation
Lately I’ve not slept a wink
Since this half-pint imitation
Put me on the blink

I’ve sinned a lot, I’m mean a lot
But I’m like sweet seventeen a lot
Bewitched, bothered and bewildered – am I

I’ll sing to him, each spring to him
And worship the trousers that cling to him
Bewitched, bothered and bewildered – am I

When he talks, he is seeking
Words to get, off his chest
Horizontally speaking, he’s at his very best

Vexed again, perplexed again
Thank God, I can be oversexed again
Bewitched, bothered and bewildered – am I

“Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” is a show tune and popular song from the 1940 Rodgers and Hart musical Pal Joey. The original lyrics present an unabashed celebration of feminine sexuality that has been bowdlerized in most covers to remove the song’s blatant sexual allusions. One such line is “When love came and told me I shouldn’t sleep,” replacing the original “Until I could sleep where I shouldn’t sleep”; another switch changed “And worship the trousers that cling to him” to “And long for the day I’ll cling to him.”

The authentic allusions are preserved in Frederica von Stade’s 1990 recording with the London Symphony Orchestra, and in the Patti Lupone recording of the 1995 City Center concert version.

Here’s another classic Larry Hart lyric.

Behold the way our fine feathered friend,
His virtue doth parade
Thou knowest not, my dim-witted friend
The picture thou hast made
Thy vacant brow, and thy tousled hair
Conceal thy good intent
Thou noble upright truthful sincere,
And slightly dopey gent

You’re my funny valentine,
Sweet comic valentine,
You make me smile with my heart.
Your looks are laughable, un-photographable,
Yet, you’re my favorite work of art.

Is your figure less than Greek?
Is your mouth a little weak?
When you open it to speak, are you smart?
But, don’t change a hair for me.
Not if you care for me.
Stay little valentine, stay!
Each day is Valentine’s Day

Is your figure less than Greek?
Is your mouth a little weak?
When you open it to speak, are you smart?
But, don’t change a hair for me.
Not if you care for me.
Stay little valentine, stay!
Each day is Valentine’s Day

I think one of my all-time favorite lyrics is

“You make me smile with my heart.
Your looks are laughable, un-photographable,
Yet, you’re my favorite work of art.

Pure Larry Hart.

Can’t resist another.  My favorite rendition of this song is actually sung by James Taylor.

My romance doesn’t have to have a moon in the sky
My romance doesn’t need a blue lagoon standing by
No month of May, no twinkling stars
No hide away, no softly guitars

My romance doesn’t need a castle rising in Spain
Nor a dance to a constantly surprising refrain
Wide awake I can make my most fantastic dreams come true

My romance doesn’t need a thing but you
My romance doesn’t need a thing but you

OK, so I’m a Larry Hart fan.  Here’s one of his best.

I work at the Palace ballroom, but gee that palace is cheap
When I get back to my chilly hall room, I’m much too tired to sleep
I’m one of those lady teachers, a beautiful hostess you know;
One that the palace features, at exactly a dime a throw.

Ten cents a dance, that’s what they pay me
Gosh how they weigh me down.
Ten cents a dance, pansies and rough guys, tough guys who tear my gown.
Seven to midnight I hear drums, loudly the saxophone blows,
Trumpets are tearing my ear-drums, customers crush my toes.

Sometimes I think, I’ve found my hero
But it’s a queer romance;
All that you need is a ticket,
Come on big boy, ten cents a dance.

Fighters and sailors and bow-legged tailors
Can pay for their tickets & rent me
Butchers and barbers and rats from the harbour
Are sweethearts my good luck has sent me

Thought I’ve a chorus of elderly beaus
Stockings are porous with holes at the toes
I’m here till closing time
Dance and be merry it’s only a dime
Sometimes I think, I’ve found my hero
But it’s a queer romance;
All that you need is a ticket.
Come on, come on big boy, ten cents a dance.

Oscar Hammerstein is generally acknowledged as the King of the Broadway lyricists.  Not only was he a great lyricist, but he also wrote the books for his and Rodgers’ musicals.

They include:  Oklahoma!, Carousel, Allegro, South Pacific, The King and I, Me & Juliet, Flower Drum Song, and The Sound of Music as well as the musical film State Fair.  The history of the American Musical Theater in one short paragraph.

Hammerstein was the master of simplicity.  His lyrics spoke to millions and were as American as apple pie and yet as original as an elephant’s eye.

There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow
There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow
The corn is as high as an elephant’s eye
And it looks like it’s climbing right up to the sky

O what a beautiful morning, O what a beautiful day
I’ve got a beautiful feeling, everything’s going my way

All the cattle are standing like statues
All the cattle are standing like statues
They don’t turn their heads as they see me ride by
But a little brown mav’rick is winking her eye

O what a beautiful morning, O what a beautiful day
I’ve got a beautiful feeling, everything’s going my way

All the sounds of the earth are like music
All the sounds of the earth are like music
The breeze is so busy it don’t miss a tree
And an ol’ weeping willow is laughin’ at me

O what a beautiful morning, O what a beautiful day
I’ve got a beautiful feeling,  everything’s going my way

He was also a master at writing to character.  Here, in just the reading of this song, one knows the inside story of Ado Annie in Oklahoma!

It ain’t so much a question of not knowin’ what to do.
I knowed whut’s right and wrong since I been ten.
I heared a lota stories and I reckon they are true
About how girls’re put upon by men.
I know I mustn’t fall into the pit,
But when I’m with a feller, I fergit!

I’m jist a girl who cain’t say no,
I’m in a turrible fix
I always say “Come on, let’s go”
Jist when I orta say nix!
When a feller tries to kiss a girl,
I know she oughta give his face a smack.
But as soon as someone kisses me,
I somehow, sorta, wanta kiss him back!

I’m jist a fool when lights are low
I cain’t be prissy and quaint
I ain’t the type that can faint
How c’n I be whut I ain’t?
I cain’t say no!

Whut you goin’ to do when a feller gits flirty,
And starts to talk purty?
Whut you goin’ to do?
S’posin’ ‘at he says ‘at yer lips’re like cherries,
Er roses, er berries?
Whut you goin’ to do?
S’posin’ ‘at he says ‘at you’re sweeter ‘n cream,
And he’s gotta have cream er die?
Whut you goin’ to do when he talks that way,
Spit in his eye?

I’m jist a girl who cain’t say no,
Cain’t seem to say it at all
I hate to disserpoint a beau
When he is payin’ a call!
Fer a while I ack refined and cool,
A settin on the velveteen setee
Nen I think of thet ol’ golden rule,
And do fer him what he would do fer me!

I cain’t resist a Romeo
In a sombrero and chaps
Soon as I sit on their laps
Somethin’ inside of me snaps
I cain’t say no

(Sigh)

(If you missed the beginning of this series, please start with The IRA Awards Part 1)

For more inspirational music, thoughts and ideas from Peter Link,
please visit Watchfire Music.