Skylark (song)

Last updated
"Skylark"
Single
Released1942
Songwriters Johnny Mercer, Hoagy Carmichael

"Skylark" is an American popular song with lyrics by Johnny Mercer and music by Hoagy Carmichael, published in 1941. [1] The lilting melody has attracted many jazz interpretations for its technical complexity which, when mastered, delivers an expressive peacefulness. Mercer wrote the romantic lyrics following his affair with Judy Garland. [2]

Contents

The song is considered a jazz standard. [3]

Background

Carmichael wrote the melody, based on a Bix Beiderbecke cornet improvisation, as "Bix Licks", for a project to turn the novel Young Man With a Horn into a Broadway musical. After that project failed, Carmichael brought in Johnny Mercer to write lyrics for the song. [4] Mercer said that he struggled for a year before he could get the lyrics right. [5] Mercer recalled that Carmichael initially called him several times about the lyrics but had forgotten about the song by the time Mercer finally wrote them. [6] He got the title, "Skylark", from a billboard advertisement, and then the words came to him quickly. The yearning expressed in the lyrics was based on Mercer's longing for Judy Garland, with whom he had an affair. [2] [7]

Several artists recorded charting versions of the song in 1942, including the Glenn Miller Orchestra (vocal by Ray Eberle), Harry James and His Orchestra (vocal by Helen Forrest), Dinah Shore, and Bing Crosby. [8] The Glenn Miller recording on RCA Bluebird peaked at number 7 on the Billboard pop singles chart.

The song may have inspired the model name for the Buick Skylark automobile, produced from 1953 to 1998. [9]

Notable cover versions

References

  1. 1 2 "Johnny Mercer's Songs on CD", Ralph Mitchell, JohnnyMercer.com, June 2009, webpage: JM-ralph Archived 2009-10-29 at the Wayback Machine
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Gioia, Ted (2012). The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire. New York City: Oxford University Press. pp. 367–368. ISBN   978-0-19-993739-4.
  3. ↑ Wilder, Alec (1990). American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900–1950. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.
  4. ↑ "Bix & Hoagy: Midwestern Romantics of the Jazz Age". The Jim Cullum Riverwalk Jazz Collection. Stanford University. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  5. ↑ Wilk, Max (1997). They're Playing Our Song. New York: Da Capo.
  6. 1 2 Gilliland, John (1994). Pop Chronicles the 40s: The Lively Story of Pop Music in the 40s (audiobook). ISBN   978-1-55935-147-8. OCLC   31611854. Tape 1, side A.
  7. ↑ Furia, Philip (2003). Skylark: The Life and Times of Johnny Mercer (1st ed.). St. Martin's Press. ISBN   978-0-312-28720-7.
  8. ↑ "Hoagy Carmichael ··· Top Songs as Writer". Music VF.
  9. ↑ Dennis Adler (2004), Fifties Flashback: The American Car, MBI Publishing Company LLC, p. 52, ISBN   0760319278, The flighty name for Buick's dream car came from a song of the same name recorded in 1942 by Johnny Mercer
  10. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890–1954. Wisconsin: Record Research. p.  579. ISBN   0-89820-083-0.
  11. ↑ "A Bing Crosby Discography". A Bing Crosby Discography. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  12. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890–1954. Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p.  109. ISBN   0-89820-083-0.
  13. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890–1954. Wisconsin: Record Research. p.  312. ISBN   0-89820-083-0.
  14. ↑ "The Online Discographical Project". 78discography.com. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  15. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890–1954. Wisconsin: Record Research. p.  388. ISBN   0-89820-083-0.
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