Blah Blah Blah (Gershwin song)
"Blah Blah Blah" | |
---|---|
Song | |
Published | 1931 |
Composer(s) | George Gershwin |
Lyricist(s) | Ira Gershwin |
"Blah, Blah, Blah" is a 1931 song with music by George Gershwin, to lyrics by his brother Ira Gershwin.[1] Originally written for the abortive East is West[2] it was taken "out of the trunk" by the Gershwins for the 1931 film Delicious.[3] It was later used in the 2012 Broadway musical Nice Work If You Can Get It, which features songs by George and Ira.
It goes in part:[4]
Blah, Blah, Blah, blah moon, Blah, Blah, Blah above. Blah, Blah, Blah, blah croon, Blah, Blah, Blah, blah love."
The song is a parody of the clichés of contemporary love songs; Gerald Mast in Can't Help Singin' describes the "treacly tune" and Ira Gershwin's "refusal to write coherent words except the hackneyed rhymes to conclude every line".[5]
Notable covers
[edit]- Eliane Elias – Everything I Love (Blue Note, 2000)
- Sarah Vaughan – Snowbound (Roulette, 1963)
- John Muriello & Richard Pearson Thomas - Love and the Dickens (Albany Records, 2008)
References
[edit]- ^ William H. Young, Nancy K. Young Music of the Great Depression 2005 p.271 " "Blah, Blah, Blah" (1931; music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin), "
- ^ Caryl Brahms, Ned Sherrin Song by song: the lives and work of 14 great lyric writers 1984 p52 "The invitation inspired a quick dash to the trunk to unearth 'Blah, Blah, Blah', from the abortive East is West, a title song, ..."
- ^ The Melody Lingers on: The Great Songwriters and Their Movie 1999 "Although one song, "Blah-Blah-Blah," was taken "out of the trunk," Gershwin worked hard on the others,"
- ^ Sarah Kozloff Overhearing Film Dialogue 2000 p181 "Take George and Ira Gershwin's 1931 "Blah-Blah-Blah." Blah, Blah, Blah, blah moon, Blah, Blah, Blah above. Blah, Blah, Blah, blah croon, Blah, Blah, Blah, blah love.""
- ^ Gerald Mast (1987). Can't Help Singin': The American Musical on Stage and Screen. Overlook Press. p. 70. ISBN 978-0-87951-283-5.
External links
[edit]- Sung by Dorothy Shay on a 1954 Red Skelton Show