George and Ira Gershwin
George and Ira Gershwin
From Porgy and Bess
performed by the Houston Grand Opera conducted by John DeMain
From Act I, Scene 1: Introduction, Jasbo Brown Blues, Summertime
sung by Betty Lane
CHORUS:
Wa, wa, wa, wa. Da-doo-da. Da-doo-da.
CLARA:
Summertime and the livin' is easy,
Fish are jumpin', and the cotton is high.
Oh your daddy's rich, and your ma is good lookin',
So hush, little baby, don' yo' cry.
One of these mornin's you goin' to rise up singin',
Then you'll spread yo' wings an' you'll take the sky.
But till that mornin', there's a-nothin' can harm you
With Daddy and Mammy standin' by.
From Act II, Scene 1: I Hates Yo' Struttin' Style
sung by Carol Brice
I hates yo' struttin' style,
Yes sir, and yo' god damn silly smile
an' yo' ten cent di'mons an' yo' fi'cent butts.
Oh, I hates yo' guts.
Somebody's got to carve you up to set these people free
An' de writin' on the wall says it's a goin' to be me.
Some night when you is full of gin an' don't know I's about,
I's goin' to catch you by de tail an' turn you inside out.
Frien wid you, low-life! hell, no!
I's figgerin to break yo' bones, yes sir, one by one.
An' then I's goin' to carve you up an' hang you in de sun.
I'll feed yo' meat to buzzards an' give 'em belly aches.
An' take yo' bones to Kittiwah to pizen rattlesnakes,
Frien's wid you, low-life? I fears I mus' decline!
I sooner cuts mah own throat 'fore I calls you a frien' of mine!
From Act II, Scene 2: It Ain't Necessarily So (3'11)
sung by Larry Marshall
It ain't necessarily so.
De t'ings dat yo' li'ble
To read in de Bible,
It ain't necessarily so.
Li'l David was small, but oh my!
He fought big Goliath
Who lay down an' dieth,
Li'l David was small, but oh my!
Wadoo ‐ Zim bam boodle-oo,
Hoodle ah da wa da ‐ Scatty wah.
Oh, Jonah, he lived in de whale.
Fo' he made his home in
Dat fish's abdomen.
Oh, Jonah, he lived in de whale.
Li'l Moses was found in a stream.
He floated on water
Till Ole Pharaoh's daughter
She fished him, she says, from dat stream.
It ain't necessarily so.
Dey tell all you chillun
De debble's a villun
But 'tain't necessarily so.
To get into Hebben, don' snap for a sebben!
Live clean, don' have no fault.
Oh, I takes dat gospel whenever it's pos'ble,
But wid a grain of salt.
Methus'lah lived nine hundred years.
Say, but who calls dat livin'
When no gal'll give in
To no man what's nine hundred years?
I'm preachin' dis sermon to show
It ain't nessa, ain't nessa, ain't nessa, ain't nessa,
Ain't necessarily so.
Concerto in F
played by Earl Wild with the Boston Pops conducted by
Arthur Fiedler
I: Allegro (12'00)
II: Adagio; Andante con moto (10'29)
III: Allegro agitato (6'15)
I Got Rhythm from Girl Crazy (3'08)
I Got Rhythm ‐ Encore (1'27)
sung by Lorna Luft with orchestra conducted by John Mauceri
and Dick Hyman on piano
Days can be sunny, with never a sigh;
Don't need what money can buy.
Birds in the tree sing their dayful of song.
Why shouldn't we sing along?
I'm chipper all the day, happy with my lot.
How do I get that way? Look at what I've got:
I got rhythm, I got music, I got my man‐
Who could ask for anything more?
I got daisies in green pastures, I got my man‐
Who could ask for anything more?
Old man Trouble, I don't mind him‐
You won't find him 'round my door.
I got starlight, I got sweet dreams, I got my man‐
Who could ask for anything more?
Gershwin playing "I Got Rhythm" in 1931
"I Got Rhythm" Variations
played by Katia and Marielle Labèque
Introduction & Theme (1'18)
Variation I: Moderato (1'01)
Variation II: Allegretto (Valse triste) (1'48)
Variation III: Allegretto giocoso (Chinese variation) (2'08)
Variation IV: Allegretto ‐ Andantino (1'40)
Variation V: Allegro (1'50)
Fred Astaire sings "They Can't Take That Away From Me" to Ginger Rogers
Our romance won't end on a sorrowful note,
Though by tomorrow you're gone.
The song is ended, but as the songwriter wrote,
"the melody lingers on."
They may take you from me, I'll miss your fond caress,
But though they take you from me I'll still possess...
The way you wear your hat,
The way you sip your tea,
The memory of all that,
Oh no, they can't take that away from me.
The way your smile just beams,
The way you sing off key,
The way you haunt my dreams,
No, no, they can't take that away from me.
We may never, never meet again
On the bumpy road to love;
Still I'll always, always keep the memory of
The way you hold your knife,
The way we danced 'til three,
The way you've changed my life,
No, no, they can't take that away from me.
Natalie Cole sings "Our Love is Here to Stay"
It's very clear, our love is here to stay,
Not for a year, but ever and a day.
The radio and the telephone
And the movies that we know
May all be passing fancies and in time decay;
But oh, my dear, our love is here to stay.
Together we're going a long, long way,
In time the Rockies may tumble, Gibraltar may crumble,
They're only made of clay,
But our love is here to stay.