Noel Coward Songs?

r1 Thanks! I did search but couldn't find one . Though as someone who normally loves Patricia Routledge its impressive how much she mangles that song.

I loved this double record set...

'The Stately Homes of England' and 'Mad Dogs and Englishmen' always amused me, and 'London Pride, written during the Blitz, always chokes me up a bit.

[quote] and 'London Pride, written during the Blitz, always chokes me up a bit.

r4 That ones amazing. It really transports you back in time

Cleo...

Cook

Not a song...

Fumed Oak from Tonight at 8:30

I love Alice is At It Again, but my favourite line of all is from The Bronxville Darby and Joan, which is about two old married dears who hate each other:

With our deep subconscious minds we seldom dabble

But something must impel the words we spell when we're playing Scrabble.

I just realized that all of Henry Higgins’ songs in My Fair Lady were just Noel Coward pastiches.

Rufus Wainwright in lederhosen introduced me to 'If Love Were All', and I love it indeed. The sentiment would surely provoke a scathing 'Mary!' from DL, but its tender realism hits home.

Also it gave us Coward's too-modest self-assessment, as having 'A talent to amuse.' Nice understatement, but he was up there with the best of showbiz multi-hyphenates. Perhaps at the very top.

In terms of pure rhythmic bounce and perfect lyrics, there's nothing to beat Nina (She refused to begin the beguine when they besort her to/And in language profane and obscene she cursed the man who taught her to./ She cursed Cole Porter too.)

Dear Little Boy

Noel & Gertie

"Why Do the Wrong People Travel?" from Coward's "Sail Away" recorded on the original cast album by Elaine Stritch in 1961

[italic]"Why do the wrong people travel, travel, travel, when the right people stay back home

What compulsion compels them and who the hell tells them

To drag their clans to Zanzibar instead of staying quietly in Omaha?

The Taj Mahal and the Grand Canal and the sunny French Riviera

Would be less oppressed if the Middle West would settle for somewhere rather nearer.

Please do not think that I criticize or cavil at a genuine urge to roam

But why oh why do the wrong people when the right people stay back home."[/italic]

Link to R16 (audio only)

"Mad About the Boy"

Doesn’t get any gayer than this.

This one, especially when Coward himself does it.

The Stars at Night are Big and Bright Deep in the Heart of Texas

Sail Away

Oops ^

Coward's "Why Must the Show Go On," which appears in "A Midwinter's Tale" from 1996(one of my favorite films) is a great sendup of the entertainment industry from back in the day and is used well here. Coward was a great tune- and wordsmith, and this song proves it.

Sondheim had an odd take on Coward. He said he was cruel, referencing Mrs Worthington (the old softie) and sometime operetta-ish, which isn't surprising, given that he, like his contemporary Ivor Novello, was, you know, intentionally writing operetta in the British tradition.