My Funny Valentine
"My Funny Valentine," is a classic jazz standard. It's a slow song, filled with blue notes, a little creepy, expressing love through a gauze of forlornness. And almost-regret. It was written by Rodgers and HART for the 1937 musical, Babes In Arms. It was first introduced by singer and actress, Mitzi Green. It expresses love for a flawed individual, but really emerges from the singer's own sense of being flawed.
What I like about this song: Although it's a classic, it sticks out like a sore thumb, being so unique. Having been born in the jazz age, with WW2 looming, it spans the ages, from 1950's lounge music style, to early and current Indie pop. There are a number of other songs performed by Frank Sinatra and/or his daughter which were lucky enough to hit this mark. You can find many performances of this song on the internet, but some are quite bad, probably because the feel of the song is not really understood. Too much embellishment, trying to make it special and unique to each singer. A version I was looking for was by Billie Holiday, which I never found, so I went with Sarah Vaughan.
"My Funny Valentine," is a wonderful song for singers, though. It can be a little challenge, floating the voice 'effortlessly' across tightly placed minor, and even off, notes. Often, the breath drifts like a ribbon of smoke. And doing that can be really fun. The trick is to pack great emotional intensity into a whole lot of emptiness and, instead of coming out boring or overly morbid, establishing a feeling a sweet connexion between two lonely but lovely human beings. (You can see how I like it, after me also mentioning that I like, " Quiet movies about broken people existing." Same for songs).
The song is also off-kilter in that it reflects some degree of dysfunctional relationship. I'm sure it must have helped inspire Morrissey songs, like, "Girlfriend In A Coma," and etc. It went on to inspire the influential shoe-gaze indie group, "My Bloody Valentine," and also a movie of the same name. Note that it is of the same flavour as songs of the same era, by Marlena Dietrich, Billie Holiday, and other somewhat lovesick, existential, world-weary femme fatales. Oddly, the song also has some history with, "The Satanic Verses," which you may check out in the Wiki page.
I think of this song as, in spirit, emanating from what I would call, "The Bohemian Art Scene," which began in the very early 20th century, (and even earlier), especially in Berlin, made its way through Paris to New York and San Francisco, and will always remain alive and dynamic. It was patronised by the Beatles in Hamburg, it was emulated by David Bowie, it was brandished by John Cage and Andy Warhol. And so on. It's just a whole vast universe of esoterica, of which there are many adherents and groupies, some who eat and breath nothing else. Including the infamous, "art snobs." This perennial "movement" is also associated with absurd, ironic and camp humour.
Of course, early blues and jazz of the 1920's USA were, of course, very influential in this song!
The first time this song became a hit was in 1945, performed by Hal McIntyre with vocals by Ruth Gaylor.
Here's a version by the great Sarah Vaughan...
Gerry Mulligan w/ Chet Baker 1953 version inducted into Library Of Congress.
Chet Baker adopted it as his signature song. ..
The Frank Sinatra version(s) seems to have been pretty important. Hearing it on the radio tonight is what sparked this post...
But the real zinger is the Nico version, 1985. I thought she did it w/ Velvet Underground earlier but maybe not.
Nico sings "Femme Fatale" with The Velvet Underground, 1966 (overmodulated)..
Here's a better recording.
Elvis Costello started as a punkster and became a romantic woman's man who loved singing these kinds of songs..
The above live, unplugged version was derived from this original version.
I was never a fan of Sting, although I like the Police. Here's a nice Sting version, though, live, who knows when. Did I hear him mention Miles Davis?.
Time for some interesting song facts.
Great interpretation by contestant in "Britain's Got talent"..
Here we divert back to Billie Holiday singing one of many Big Band hits I loved as a hopelessly eclectic child..
A trailer for that My Bloody Valentine movie? This one stars Megan Fox..
Since we are getting overly dramatic, here's Nico again singing the bone-scrapingly inspiring, "Heroes," a David Bowie song..
Back to Nico. Here is the emblematic 1966 album with the Velvet Underground, a milestone in Indie rock history. I'll post from it again some time, as it is part of my ongoing, "Sunday Morning," series. Can you guess why? Here she goes...
A little more on Nico.
Tune in, Far out.
What I like about this song: Although it's a classic, it sticks out like a sore thumb, being so unique. Having been born in the jazz age, with WW2 looming, it spans the ages, from 1950's lounge music style, to early and current Indie pop. There are a number of other songs performed by Frank Sinatra and/or his daughter which were lucky enough to hit this mark. You can find many performances of this song on the internet, but some are quite bad, probably because the feel of the song is not really understood. Too much embellishment, trying to make it special and unique to each singer. A version I was looking for was by Billie Holiday, which I never found, so I went with Sarah Vaughan.
"My Funny Valentine," is a wonderful song for singers, though. It can be a little challenge, floating the voice 'effortlessly' across tightly placed minor, and even off, notes. Often, the breath drifts like a ribbon of smoke. And doing that can be really fun. The trick is to pack great emotional intensity into a whole lot of emptiness and, instead of coming out boring or overly morbid, establishing a feeling a sweet connexion between two lonely but lovely human beings. (You can see how I like it, after me also mentioning that I like, " Quiet movies about broken people existing." Same for songs).
The song is also off-kilter in that it reflects some degree of dysfunctional relationship. I'm sure it must have helped inspire Morrissey songs, like, "Girlfriend In A Coma," and etc. It went on to inspire the influential shoe-gaze indie group, "My Bloody Valentine," and also a movie of the same name. Note that it is of the same flavour as songs of the same era, by Marlena Dietrich, Billie Holiday, and other somewhat lovesick, existential, world-weary femme fatales. Oddly, the song also has some history with, "The Satanic Verses," which you may check out in the Wiki page.
I think of this song as, in spirit, emanating from what I would call, "The Bohemian Art Scene," which began in the very early 20th century, (and even earlier), especially in Berlin, made its way through Paris to New York and San Francisco, and will always remain alive and dynamic. It was patronised by the Beatles in Hamburg, it was emulated by David Bowie, it was brandished by John Cage and Andy Warhol. And so on. It's just a whole vast universe of esoterica, of which there are many adherents and groupies, some who eat and breath nothing else. Including the infamous, "art snobs." This perennial "movement" is also associated with absurd, ironic and camp humour.
Of course, early blues and jazz of the 1920's USA were, of course, very influential in this song!
The first time this song became a hit was in 1945, performed by Hal McIntyre with vocals by Ruth Gaylor.
Click to viewHere's a version by the great Sarah Vaughan...
Gerry Mulligan w/ Chet Baker 1953 version inducted into Library Of Congress.
Chet Baker adopted it as his signature song. ..
The Frank Sinatra version(s) seems to have been pretty important. Hearing it on the radio tonight is what sparked this post...
But the real zinger is the Nico version, 1985. I thought she did it w/ Velvet Underground earlier but maybe not.
Nico sings "Femme Fatale" with The Velvet Underground, 1966 (overmodulated)..
Here's a better recording.
Elvis Costello started as a punkster and became a romantic woman's man who loved singing these kinds of songs..
The above live, unplugged version was derived from this original version.
I was never a fan of Sting, although I like the Police. Here's a nice Sting version, though, live, who knows when. Did I hear him mention Miles Davis?.
Time for some interesting song facts.
Great interpretation by contestant in "Britain's Got talent"..
Here we divert back to Billie Holiday singing one of many Big Band hits I loved as a hopelessly eclectic child..
A trailer for that My Bloody Valentine movie? This one stars Megan Fox..
Since we are getting overly dramatic, here's Nico again singing the bone-scrapingly inspiring, "Heroes," a David Bowie song..
Back to Nico. Here is the emblematic 1966 album with the Velvet Underground, a milestone in Indie rock history. I'll post from it again some time, as it is part of my ongoing, "Sunday Morning," series. Can you guess why? Here she goes...
A little more on Nico.
Tune in, Far out.