Exclusive: Conversations and Music with Michael Feinstein- More Songs with Different Lyrics!

You know that, right? I'm Michael Feinstein. This is Conversations in Music, and that is

of course, Everything's Coming Up Roses from Gypsy, but it wasn't originally Everything's

Coming Up Roses. It was from high-button shoes, but it was cut from high-button shoes. But

I'll tell you about that in a few minutes, because this is part two of my segment or

sequence about songs that have had two different lyrics, sometimes more than two

And this is the continuation of that. And before I get to the Broadway stuff, here's a song that you'll know, probably, from the

famous Baba Garen recording. Somewhere, waiting for me, somewhere we are seen

While I'm staying, I'm going to sail. Watching the ships that go sailing

Well, that's the lyric by Jack Lawrence, as most of us know it

But actually, that tune, La Mer, was written by Charles Trinet, and it was a French song

And it was originally translated in English for a British review called Together Again

And it had a lyric that was very similar to the one that Jack Lawrence ultimately wrote

And I'll do a little bit of that for you. Sing on

murmuring sea a song only for me

o'er your dancing waves from us will carry the song to my love

it's very similar to the lyric as I said that Jack Lawrence wrote

so I wonder if he heard that one Now, here's a lyric that is very, very different from the way it eventually ended up

It's an Academy Award winning song with music by Johnny Mandel. The shadow of your smile, when you are gone

will cover all my dreams and light the dawn. Looking into my eyes, my love, and seeing all the lovely things you're on to me

That's a lyric by Paul Francis Webster, but originally that melody, or what became The Shadow of Your Smile

is one that Johnny Mandel wrote for another movie called The Americanization of Emily

Johnny Mercer wrote a lyric for it that he later made fun of because he realized that it wasn't so hot

And this is at least the first part of that lyric. Today I am as sad as I could be

It couldn't be the rain, it must be me Looking for a thing I'm in to find

Something that perhaps I'm left behind Kind of clumsy. I don't know what happened with Johnny Mercer

who was one of my favorite lyricists. And he was kind of jealous of The Shadow of Your Smile

because it did win an Academy Award. And when somebody asked him about it later

they said, Johnny, what do you think of Paul Francis Webster's lyric for the shadow of your smile, and he said

it sounds to me like a woman with a mustache. Now, there's a very famous Rogers and Hart song

from Babes in Arms. Poor Johnny One, Sandy Augusta, when Justin were Lord of the Plain

who sang poor Johnny One, et cetera, et cetera. One of the great classic Broadway songs

But originally it was composed in 1934-1935 for a movie starring Bing Crosby called Mississippi

It had a very different lyric. And rather than play it, I'm going to play you on a recording the original demo

a bit of the demo, sung by the composer Richard Rogers, playing and singing

So let's listen to this one and see if I can cue that. I'm to laugh with Gomez. I stay out with Gomez by Pablo

You are my heart. I squeezed Alvarez. I tickled Rodriguez. But Pablo, you are my heart

I told Gonzalez I'd cook his tamales. His love talk was a work of art

There's Rodriguez, Alvarez, Gonzalez. I can't tell those onions apart. For my flow, you are my heart

Well, how could they have possibly cut a song like that? Boy, that's a real boy

Now, sometimes a song has a second lyric written after the fact for one reason or another

and that's the case of this Guys and Dolls song. Originally, as most people know it

I got the horse right here, his name's Paul Revere, and there's a guy who says, if the weather's clear

Can do, can do, this guy says the horse can do, et cetera

Now, it's a fugue in the show and it's called Fugue for Tin Horns

But Lesser wrote a popular lyric, one that had nothing to do with the show

because he must have thought that the song didn have chances of becoming a hit in its show lyrics So he rewrote a different version of it which was first recorded I think by Dinah Shore So I just do a little bit of that

And he retitled it Three-Cornered Tune, because, again, it's a fugue that plays one part on top of another

It has a tender sound, this little tune that I found. I don't know why it's spiling me around

I heard it all begin above the Broadway did and it was so appealing I joined right in

La da, la da, la da da da da da da da

So, for some reason he rewrote it, and it didn't become a hit in that form

but an interesting little curiosity. Now, one of the great, great Torch songs is introduced by Judy Garland in A Star is Born

Winds are cold, suddenly you're old. It all becomes of the way they've gone away

That song originally had a different lyric, and it was something that was written by Harold Arlen with Johnny Mercer

And Ira Gershwin later said he had no idea that this tune had a previous lyric

and it shows how powerful the combination of lyric and music can be

because with this lyric that Johnny Mercer wrote that is kind of tongue-in-cheek

it does not have the same emotional fervor musically. It changes the character of the tune by the words that are fitted to it

The lyric that Johnny Mercer wrote, I've seen sequoia It's really very pretty

The art of Goya And Rockefeller City But since I saw you

I can't believe my eyes You're the one of them, their thing

That comes equipped with wings It walks, it talks, it sings

And it flies So I just find it fascinating that the tune

does not have the same power because those lyrics do not lend itself to that

and yet with the man that got away All the words of the man that got away

suddenly has a majesty to it that is not evident with this lyric. Now, in the case of Jerry Herman, he wrote a song that was actually

sung, performed, it was published, and recorded, and it was from his musical review off-Broadway

the early 1960s, called Parade. And the song was called There is No Tune Like a Show Tune

in 2-4. And you may recognize it as having become It's Today from Maine

And clearly Jerry felt that this was a tune that was worth saving and reworking

because it is a fantastic tune. And this is a very fine lyric

but compared to what he finally landed on five years later, it bears no comparison in quality

So this is the original lyric for that tune. There is no tune as exciting as a show to enter the floor

When it's played, you can't just tell there's wood lines everywhere. When it's played, you can't just smell the grease paint in the air

It's the smart beat that's inviting. It's the heartbeat of the strong

There's just no tune as exciting as a show tune into form

Love that song. Love that song. Okay, so now we're going to Julie Stein, Stephen Sondheim, and Gypsy

and quite a number of the songs, well, at least three of the songs that were written for Gypsy had earlier lives

One song that was cut completely, the song that was cut with the Sondheim lyric was

Mama's talking stuff. Mama's gotta play. That song originally was written for a show called Ruggles of Red Gap

a television special that starred Jane Powell. For a million things I have you to thank For the birds that they sing I have you to thank And there a tiny little reference to Mama Talkin Soft in Rose turn

Mama's Talkin' Soft, Mama's Talkin' Soft. That was a little reprise of Mama's Talkin' Soft, but it was cut from the show

Well, another song that was originally in Ruggles' Red Gap went like this

I'm in pursuit of happiness And the Constitution says I have the right to be

I'm in pursuit of happiness And I have a heart that says you're the one for me

You, you can make my life sublime Let's go to waste in time the way we do

I'm in pursuit of happiness And for a reason I'm in pursuit of you

And of course that became, You'll never get away from me. Now, I think the most amazing transformation of music and lyric is the tune that became

You'll be swell, you'll be great, You'll be high, you'll burn on a plate

It's such a majestic, wonderful song. But that tune was originally written for a 1947 musical called High Button Shoes

music by Julie Stein, lyrics by Sammy Kahn. And there was a scene in the show where the girl, played by Nanak Febre

had to choose between a football player and a traveling salesman. And she's trying to make up her mind which one to choose

So this is the lyric that Sammy wrote. I'm betwixt in between, got to make my mind up which way to lean

Is it stuck? Is it good? Is it true? Is it wrong

I simply must make my mind up. So that lyric emasculates the tune, I'm betwixt in between

It makes the tune namby-pamby, but with Sondheim's lyric, You'll be swell, you'll be great

Gonna have the world on the plate Starting here, starting down And it makes love and roses

So there we are. Thank goodness that Julie saved that tune and used it in Gypsy

Okay, so, a song that you will know from the Music Man

Oh, the well's far away, I've been through the gun and down the street

Oh, please let it be for me. Oh, the well's far away, I've been through the gun and down the street

I sure wish I knew what it could be. One of the great moments in the Music Man

And Meredith Wilson wrote that tune for the Music Man, but originally it was called The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina

And I'm going to play you a little bit of Meredith Wilson's vocal demo of that song

because it again shows that while it's a perfectly good tune and works quite well

the magic of what he later settled on, there's no comparison to that

So this is an excerpt of Meredith Wilson singing The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina

Blue Ridge Mountains are in North Carolina, Lina. That's where my heart belongs

Oh yes, the Blue Ridge Mountains are in North Carolina, Lina. Never mind them other famous songs

Now if you're skeptical, I recommend you follow. The trail at Lonesome Pine will lead you to

You'll find yourself to hoops and a holler. From little old North Carolina

Where the ridge is blue, blue, blue Oh yes, the Blue Ridge Mountains

Back in old Virginia, Virginia Start in the heart of North Carolina

And if you can't locate Back in old Virginia Virginia, look In this Heart

Of mine Isn't that fun? Well, you know that

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I'll love you tomorrow. Tomorrow. This song is one that is so ubiquitous that it's probably among the best-known theater

songs ever created, music by Charles Strauss, lyrics by Martin Charman. And that tune, which of course was used in Annie, originally was used in a short

film, a seven or eight minute film, which was scored by Charles Strauss, for which he wrote the

background music as well as two vocal pieces. And he wrote a song called Replay, because this little

film was called Replay and the film was about the generation gap about how elders perceived at that time the hippie generation and vice versa And the song was about how things are very different now but are they really And Charles Strauss wrote this lyric as well as

the tune. So let's see if I can get through this. I transcribed it off of the soundtrack of the film

Let's see if I can do this. The way it is now

Is different From the way it was before Or was it? I'm not sure

The way we live now Is different We make love instead of war

Or do we? I'm not sure. All I know is there's something in there that never was there

See the ear upon a man with a prairie flower bird. Everybody does his thing today, but what more can you say

But the way it is now is different from the way it was before

Replay

So to end this little exploration of songs with double lyrics, the two different lyrics

I'm actually going to sing you a lyric to a tune by Irving Berlin

that is quite familiar. There's No Business Like Show Business, which Irving Berlin wrote for Annie Get Your Gun

And this is not a lyric written for a different project, but it's actually a lyric that he wrote for Annie Get Your Gun

And these are extra lyrics for this very, very familiar song. The reason I wish to sing them for you is because

they don't exist anywhere other than this lyric sheet that I have

They're not in the book, the complete lyrics of Irving Berlin. And so they essentially have never been heard before

And I find that rather perplexing because they are among Irving Berlin's finest lyrics, as you show here

And if you're wondering where I found these lyrics, they came from a mass of papers I bought from the estate of a songwriter named Sammy Lerner

And he somehow must have gotten those lyrics from Irving Berlin because the type sheet is Irving Berlin's own type sheet

So, here are some unknown lyrics for There's No Business Like Show Business

There's no business like show business, like no business I know. There's the girl who, oh shoot, like no business I know

There's the girl you room with with your buddy, lets you use her makeup and her soap

One day she becomes your understudy, and then your buddy begins to hope

There's no business like show business, they smile when they are low

Living with your husband in a cheap hotel, the story is coming, you feel like hell

Doctors in the dressing room and still they yell, let's go on with the show

There's no business like show business, like no business, I know. Management complaining about the grosses

Censors telling you to keep it clean And the clean man who's blowing doses of halitosis in every scene

There's no people like show people who smile when they are low

Shows are so expensive, there's an awful nut Instead of closing, you take a cut

Everyone gets paid except the actors. But let's go on with the show

Notices that give you quite a blasting. Written by the critics with a grouch

And the stage director, Everlasting, who does his casting upon a couch