In honor of Valentine's Day, I'm bringing romantic songs with lyrics written by one of my favorite lyricists, Lorenz Hart. Who is Lorenz Hart? Everyone is familiar with Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals,: Oklahoma, Carousel, The Sound of Music, and others. But did you know that Richard Rodgers wrote with another man for over 20 years, lyricist Lorenz Hart? Everyone knows Rodgers and Hart songs

Comparing the two lyrics below. Try reading (not singing) these famous verses by these two lyricists:

After one whole quart of brandy, Like a daisy I awake.

With no Bromo-Seltzer handy, I don't even shake.

Love's the same old sad sensation, Lately I've not slept a wink.

Since this half-pint imitation, Put me on the blink.

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There's a bright golden haze on the meadow.

There's a bright golden haze on the meadow.

The corn is as high as an elephant's eye.

And it looks like it's goin' right up to the sky.

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The first is Lorenz Hart's verse to Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered. And the second is Oscar Hammerstein's verse to Oh What A Beautiful Mornin'. Frankly, I want to yawn through Oscar's effort. But Larry Hart's clever rhymes and semi-autobiographical verse piques my curiosity (he was under 5 foot tall and an alcoholic). We will be singing Bewitched in order to honor Lorenz Hart near Valentine's Day. I've found a lovely copy of Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered sheet music. I found this standard has a couple refrains that did not make it into the sheet music (a little too naughty). This is a woman's song, and I arranged it with cool jazz chords for the piano.

Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered

The original 1940 Broadway musical Pal Joey has a complex plot. Nightclub singer Joey Evans (Gene Kelly) ditches his girlfriend Linda (Leila Ernst) for a socialite Vera Simpson (Vivienne Segal). Vera is fascinated by the cad, Joey, and she fits him out with handsome clothes, installs him in a new flat, and is ready to pamper and pet him. As she confesses, she has gone wild over him, singing Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered. This musical has a great score including I Could Write a Book and Take Him. The musical was reprised and worked into movies adding several other Rodgers and Hart hits.

As you may have suspected, I'm a romantic through and through, especially in the area of old standard songs. I think Lorenz (Larry) Hart is the most romantic lyricist that picked up a pen. Larry Hart was less than 5 foot tall, with a big balding head and nervous disposition. He felt insecure and disliked his appearance compared to the handsome and confident Richard Rodgers. Larry Hart felt so insecure and unloved that he surrounded himself with friends (often unemployed actors) by buying their meals, their drinks, gifts and effectively buying their loyalty. He lived in a whirl of parties, drink, and smoke driven by his nervous energy and a desperate need to be loved. Larry Hart died of the side-effects of alcoholism, days after he had seen the 1943 musical Oklahoma by Richard Rodgers and his new lyricist and business partner, Oscar Hammerstein II.

Actress Vivienne Segal was Larry Hart's favorite actress. He tried to include her in his later musicals. Rodgers and Hart gave Segal four songs to sing in Pal Joey, but it was not readily evident that Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered was going to be a hit. When the musical opened in the Philadelphia tryout, it didn't attract attention. But in the New York opening, it stopped the show. Vivienne Segal was the only woman he ever proposed marriage. After his death, she said that she regarded his proposal "as a joke." My opinion is that she used him.

I read most of Frederick Nolan's biography - Lorenz Hart - A Poet on Broadway (up to1935 -- then the book was due). Poor Larry Hart was failure at many aspects of life, but he is one of the most clever and romantic lyricists I've ever encountered. It is ironic that Larry Hart, who was certainly a failure in art of romance, could write such beautiful and sophisticated romantic lyrics with intricate rhyming and cadence.

Most of Rodgers and Hart's songs were written for Broadway musicals. In the great depression, the entire music industry collapsed. The sheet music industry (supporting composers), the record industry (supporting record companies -- no royalties there), and Broadway musicals (supporting actors and producers) all suffered. With no work on Broadway, Rodgers and Hart moved west to Hollywood along with most of the other Broadway composers. Three of the songs for this Valentine's Day song circle were written from 1932 to 1934, when Rodgers and Hart went to work for MGM.

I encourage you to take a look at The Complete Lyrics of Lorenz Hart. I've found 4 different sets of lyrics to the tune of Blue Moon written for 3 different movies. And Larry Hart's biography was a big help in sorting out the songs and movies.

Manhattan Melodrama

Rodgers wrote a melody for the movie, It's Just That Kind Of A Play but it was never used. It might have been intended to run behind the titles, or for a backstage scene. The name of the movie became Manhattan Melodrama and the scene for the song changed to a Harlem nightclub. Hart then wrote the lyrics for Manhattan Melodrama, the title song to a movie. I'm not crazy about these lyrics, so we'll skip this one just like they did at MGM. But when this song was dropped, production head Selznick liked the tune, so Larry took another shot at the lyric, which now became The Bad In Ev'ry Man.

The Bad In Ev'ry Man

It was sung on film in a nightclub scene by blonde Shirley Ross fitted out in a black wig, "sepia" body makeup, and a slinky sequined Dolly Tree gown; the tune was also reprised, instrumentally, in a prison sequence. This latter setting was strangely appropriate. (Do you remember Shirley Ross last month with Bob Hope in Two Sleepy People?) The Bad In Ev'ry Man was written as a torch song, and I'm going to play this with that torch piano style. A torch song is a song of unrequited love, with your heart on your sleeve. I'm sure the ladies know about the bad in every man.

In 1934, Public Enemy #1 John Dillinger broke out of an "escape proof" jail in Crown Point, Indiana, by using a wooden gun. He stole a sheriff's car, took two hostages, and drove across the state border. While robbing banks and killing police officers was not a federal offense, driving across the border in a stolen car was a federal crime. The fledgling FBI became interested and J. Edgar Hoover made catching him a top priority. The FBI caught up with Dillinger and his gang in Wisconsin in a little resort called "Little Bohemia". Alerted by a phone call, the FBI surrounded the house opening fire on three men who were leaving in a car. These men were innocent bystanders who had stopped for a beer, and Dillinger escaped out the back door. In the ensuing gun battle, one agent was killed, a police officer was wounded, and one of those three bystanders died. The resulting press coverage was an embarrassment to Hoover, who redoubled his search efforts.

John Dillinger hid in Chicago with his girlfriend. After several days of hiding, they became bored and decided to go to a movie. The movie was Manhattan Melodrama starring Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, and William Powell. FBI were tipped off by another anonymous phone call that Dillinger and two women would be taking in a movie around 8 o'clock. They staked out both theatres. When Dillinger and his lady friends appeared, the FBI gunned him down (wounding another bystander). The last song that John Dillinger heard in Manhattan Melodrama was that torch song called The Bad in Ev'ry Man written by Rodgers and Hart.

Manhattan Melodrama was destined, when it was released, to reinforce Gable's tough-guy image and to revive Powell's flagging career. The happy chemistry between Powell and Loy in the picture resulted in their being immediately paired in the hugely successful "Thin Man" series followed. Although the movie was a success (making a profit), The Bad In Ev'ry Man made no impression at all on the public, even when Manhattan Melodrama got a new lease on life as "the film that caught Dillinger." Studio publicists dreamed up the story chat he was unable to resist going to see it because Manhattan Melodrama was about a gangster who went to the electric chair. The story helped sell a few movie tickets, but it didn't help the song.

Prayer

I also liked the next version of Blue Moon featured in the movie, Hollywood Party, but we won't have time to sing it. Hart wrote yet another lyric to the tune used in Manhattan Melodrama called Prayer about a stenographer who wants to get into the movies (this reminds me of Ethyl Merman). Jean Harlow was to sing Prayer, but as far as can be ascertained, Harlow never came near the set. So, like everything else they'd written, Prayer was dropped in favor of the Walter Donaldson songs (another famous composer who moved to Hollywood).

Rodgers and Hart were rather disgusted by the treatment of their songs at MGM. Songwriters were accustomed to receiving star billing on Broadway, but they were treated like dirt in Hollywood. Prayer marked the end of the two-year career of Rodgers and Hart at MGM. It is nice to receive a salary, but it is nice to have some kind of recognition for your work. But there was one final surprise.

Blue Moon

The song, The Bad In Ev'ry Man, formerly Prayer and Manhatten Melodrama all failed to make any impression on the public. No band or singer recorded these songs. The story goes that one day Larry bumped into MGM's music publisher, his old friend, Jack Robbins. They were talking about the picture, and Robbins said, "You know, Larry, that's a really good tune you boys have got there. I'd be glad to get behind it, but it needs a commercial lyric." Larry was stung by this remark, for it was a point of pride with him that he always wrote lyrics to fit the scene or the personality of the performer. Larry retorted, "Oh, yeah, I suppose what you'd like me to write is something corny like 'Blue Moon.'" "Yeah," Robbins breathed, "Blue Moon!" Larry wrote another set of lyrics for the song, which Jack Robbins published through MGM. Richard Rodger's version of the story is less romantic, so let's just leave it out.

My Romance

This song (usually played in a swing style) comes from a 1935 Rogers and Hart Broadway musical called Jumbo, starring Jimmy Durante and an elephant. The show is about a debt-ridden circus that is saved by a well-meaning but inept publicity man. I learned My Romance because I recognized this romantic song when it appeared on the 1985 James Taylor album, That's Why I'm Here. Back in a previous life, I was a big James Taylor fan. If it's OK with James, it's OK with me. Carly Simon (James's former wife) recorded this on an album called My Romance and they used to perform it live together. Recently, Carly performed the song as a duet with (son) Ben Taylor for Ralph Lauren commercials. This is a terrific song with romantic lyrics, jazz chords, and not enough of Larry's great lyrics. So let's sing it twice.

Isn't It Romantic

This is one of my all-time favorite romantic ballads that I learned from Michael Feinstein recordings (it's his theme song). This was from the very first movie that Rodgers and Hart worked on for MGM. They were very nervous when they auditioned movie songs (piano and voice) for actor Maurice Chevalier, who sat expressionless throughout. Only after Chevalier had left, they received word that he had really liked their songs

Isn't It Romantic comes from the 1932 movie, Love Me Tonight, starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald. I've selected some of the more humorous and romantic sets of lyrics. Verse 1 and Chorus 1 are from the sheet music. The 1932 film was innovative in its use of the song, because it takes place in a traveling scene across the city. Maurice plays a tailor in Paris, starts the song (verse 2, we skip chorus 1), and continues on with chorus 2. The song moves along to be song by a taxi driver, a composer, French soldiers, and finally to Jeanette, who sings the very romantic chorus 3.

Unfortunately there's not enough to include some other really great Rodgers and Hart that I have created lead sheets (all Broadway hits): My Funny Valentine, You Took Advantage of Me, Blue Moon, I Didn't Know What Time It Was. Recently celebrating the 100th anniversary of Richard Rodgers birthday, there's a great program online on NPR at www.freshair.org with a set of Rodgers and Hart songs performed by Rebecca Kilgore and Dave Frishberg (do a search and listen to it through real audio). They perform 3 sets of lyrics to Blue Moon.

Biography

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Frederick Nolan - Lorenz Hart - A Poet on Broadway

Robert Kimball & Dorothy Hart - The Complete Lyrics of Lorenz Hart expanded edition

Rodgers and Hart - A Musical Anthology

Fake books: The (old) Real Book, Sher Music: The New Real Book Vol 1 and Vol 3

Go get ANY CD with "Lorenz Hart" or "Rodgers and Hart" in the title. But I recommend

Frank Sinatra Sings the Select Rodgers & Hart

Ella Fitzgerald sings the Rodgers and Hart Songbook

William Bolcom and Joan Morris - The Rodgers and Hart CD

Be sure to check out Terry Gross's "Fresh Air" program