"My Funny Valentine" is a timeless, stone-cold classic by
Richard Rodgers and
Lorenz Hart, originally from their musical
Babes in Arms from 1937.
In the original play, a character named Billie Smith sings the song to Valentine "Val" LaMar ... more of which anon!
Down the years, the song has become a music standard, appearing on over 1,300 albums and performed by over 600 artists, across numerous musical genres! Many of these artists have murdered the song though!
The greatest - indeed seminal - version of "My Funny Valentine"
was released by
Chet Baker in 1952. It's unexpected level of success kicked the popularity of this song into the stratosphere.
As well as encouraging numerous singers to reinterpret the song, it would also inspire various Jazz greats like
Miles Davis and
Duke Ellington to deconstruct and extemporise upon the underlying Richard Rodgers' music. The song's simple and classic musical structure on a c-minor tonic makes it easy to adapt to other genres, and for jazz musicians to improvise over the established chords.
"My Funny Valentine" is a minimalist, bitter-sweet love song, laden with an air of melancholia.
It's actually a very strange love song. A post-modern love song. Probably the first of its kind!
The wonderful lyrics of Lorenz Hart are sparse, poetic, ambiguous and very idiosyncratic!
The intellectually dynamic Hart was a master of minimalism. Often very adventurous, his lyrics absorbed influences from various other artistic genres. And here can be felt the spirit of writers like Samuel Beckett, a true postmodernist attitude. An attitude characterised by the great Italian philosopher and author
Umberto Eco "as that of a man who loves a very cultivated woman and knows he cannot say to her, 'I love you madly', because he knows that she knows (and that she knows that he knows) that these words have already been written by Barbara Cartland."
Now, I know well the original opening verse of the song from the Show and I know well the very limiting context thereof. A context that intensely limits the power of this song - not to a negligible degree but to an infinite measure! Therefore, I'll focus on the version Chet took to number one in 1952 and the version countless later artists have take as their template. A version not hamstrung by being forced to fit into a particular show's confined narrative. A version which resonates with ambiguity, the hallmark of most if not all great songs.
The original opening verse severely limits the song in the sense that there it's clearly a woman talking to a guy! Actually the opposite of how 99% of humanity - knowing only the later, much performed, better and more ambiguous versions - would interpret the song! Stylistically too, the opening verse jars to an immense degree with the almost Bukowski-like beauty and simplicity of the remainder of the song! The opening verse is, for some unknown reason, written in a bizarre, ridiculous Shakesperian syntax - like some bad parody of a non existant soliloquy from "Romeo and Juliet" - not in a style one might expect from a great modern song concoted in one of the earliest ages of true modernity, the 1930s!
All the great versions performed independent of the show - and especially after Chet's seminal version - correctly entirely eschew the opening verse and begin with the chorus "My funny Valentine, Sweet comic Valentine ... "
And that's where we'll start! With a male protagonist addressing a female loved one named Valentine!
The protagonist tells Valentine that her "looks are laughable ... unphotographable!" Try telling that to a chick without getting punched! He doesn't leave it there either! Oh no! He dares proceed to disparage her physical qualities, saying that her figure is "less than Greek" and her "mouth a little weak." She's clearly not Miss World! Not only that, but he thinks she may be stupid too! He has to ask her "are you smart?"
In contrast to the false hyperbole normally at play in love songs, this one is displays no little honesty!
Nevertheless, despite his stated feelings, the protagonist asks Valentine not to change one jot - "don't change a hair for me." She's his "favorite work of art" and he entreats her to "stay little Valentine, stay!"
With the line "you make me smile with my heart", he avows that his "funny Valentine" fills him with rapture. Every day with her is full of love and "each day is Valentine's day."
Well, this is one reading of the song!
However, one gets the feeling that in reality the protagonist is not all that happy to be entangled by unbreakable chains of love to this plain woman he ordinarily wouldn't look at twice! This is emphasised by the ambiguity in play throughout the lyric, from the song's title right through to the final line!
He refers to his loved one as the titular "My Funny Valentine", where of course the adjective "funny" as well as meaning "humorous" could just as well mean "funny looking" (as he clearly considers her to be) or even "peculiar" (perhaps she's a little crazy!)
There's a strong play made throughout on the name "Valentine". What might at first glance be considered a joyful conclusion to the song - the final victory and durability of true love expressed in the line "each day is Valentine's Day" - could also mean that he will for all his remaining days be cursed to be stuck with this woman!
Furthermore, his reference to Valentine as his "favorite work of art" may well not be a compliment at all! The lyric was written in an era where modern artists had already for decades been deconstructing art, when "Cubism" had come and gone, when artists like the post-cubist Pablo Picasso and surrealist Salvador Dali were world-renowned for post-modern portraits of their lovers which were not remotely flattering. So, perhaps Valentine actually reminds him of a messed up Picasso or Dali painting!
Therefore, this great song may not at all be what one first suspects it to be.
All in all, "My Funny Valentine" is truly a unique and groundbreaking work.
A complex and mischevious piece, with dark melancholic undertones. And it's there it's subtle yet enduring power lies.
The first post-modern love song! Maybe not a love song at all!
Babes in Arms opened at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway, in New York, New York on April 14, 1937 and ran for 289 performances. In the original play, a character named Billie Smith (played by Mitzi Green) sings this song to Valentine "Val" LaMar (played by Ray Heatherton).
In spite of rave opening-night reviews, the ticket agencies showed little interest in
Babes In Arms, maybe because of the verdict rendered by
Variety's out-of-town correspondent: "
No nudity, no show girls, no plush or gold plate may mean no sale," a put-down not dissimilar to one that would be pinned to the first Rodgers and Hammerstein show some years later.
During April and May, receipts were just about the break-even mark, sometimes below it.In June, Wiman cut fifty cents off the top ticket, but sales continued to slide. Then all at once, as if by divine intervention, every competing show on Broadway folded. On July 17, Babes in Arms became the only musical on Broadway. The following week's takings jumped 50 percent; after that, the show never looked back.
The song first hit the charts in 1945, performed by Hal McIntyre with vocals by Ruth Gaylor. It only appeared for one week and hit #16.
The song reemerged in the 1950s. "My Funny Valentine" first made it to the top of the charts when
Chet Baker released a very popular and influential version (released on the album
My Funny Valentine on Blue Note Records.) His soft, delicate and serene delivery introduced the world to his wonderful singing skills - he was previously best known for his trumpet skills, also displayed on this recording. Baker is still associated more with "My Funny Valentine" than with any other tune.
"My Funny Valentine" was later performed by most of the jazz musicians and popular vocalists of the time including:
Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis, Ella Fitzgerald, Barbra Streisand, Bing Crosby, Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan, Stan Getz, Paul Desmond, Tony Bennett, Ben Webster, Buddy Rich, Anita O'Day, Shirley Horn, Mel Tormé, Sammy Davis, Jr. and many others.
As well as Chet's great version, we also like the wonderful
Miles Davis reinterpretation, the rather odd version by
Nico and the fine version by
Elvis Costello.
"My Funny Valentine" is considered part of the
Great American Songbook and, as already alluded to, has had many many notable performances (some of these being more notable for their
lack of quality though ... yap, that's you Barbra Streisand and Dolly Parton, top of the list!) including:
* (1952) Chet Baker had a hit with Gerry Mulligan
* (1955) Frank Sinatra included it on his album
Songs for Young Lovers, and it became a performance favorite.
* (1956) Ella Fitzgerald sang it on her album
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers & Hart Songbook.* (1956) Jimmy Giuffre included it on his album
The Jimmy Giuffre Clarinet.* (1957) Mary Kaye Trio recorded it on their Coral album M
usic On A Silver Platter.* (1958) The Miles Davis Sextet recorded it on their album
'58 Miles, demonstrating the unique modal approach of Davis and pianist Bill Evans.
* (1960) Dinah Shore - recorded the song on her album with Andre Previn, Dinah Sings, Previn Plays. The track was included on the compilation CD
Blue Valentines, From Blue Note with Love, which also includes the Chico Hamilton and Chet Baker versions of the song.
* (1962) Bill Evans and Jim Hall recorded the song on their album
Undercurrent. Unusually, they take it at a lively tempo, around 190 beats per minute.
* (1965) Miles Davis released a live album titled
My Funny Valentine.
* (1967) The Supremes recorded it on their album
The Supremes Sing Rodgers & Hart and it featured Mary Wilson sharing lead vocals with Diana Ross.
* (1967) Barbra Streisand chose it as the opener track for
Simply Streisand* (1976) Lena Horne sang it on her album,
Lena, A New Album* (1976) Dolly Parton performed the song on her 1970s variety show, though she later stated that it was a bad choice, as the jazz standard was not suited to her voice or style.
* (1979) Elvis Costello sang it on two singles and it was included in his compilation T
aking Liberties the next year.
* (1985) Nico sang it on her final solo album,
Camera Obscura.* (1987) Linda Ronstadt sang it on her final album with Nelson Riddle
For Sentimental Reasons. She included the first verse.
* (1990) Carly Simon sang it on her album
My Romance.* (1994) Van Morrison sang it on his album
A Night in San Francisco.* (1994) Julie Andrews sang it on her album
Broadway: The Music of Richard Rodgers.* (1995) Chaka Khan sang it on the album
Waiting to Exhale: Original Soundtrack Album.* (1997) Shirley Horn sang in on her album
I Remember Miles.* (1999) Herman Brood sang it on his (big band) album
Back on the Corner.* (1999) Damien Saez sang it on his album
Jours étranges.* (2001) Kristin Chenoweth sang it on her album
Let Yourself Go.* (2003) Tom Barman sang "My Funny Valentine" for his project with Guy van Nueten
* (2003) Kronos Quartet recorded the song for the
The Company soundtrack.* (2004) Johnny Dorelli sang "My Funny Valentine" in his solo album
Swingin'.* (2004) Angela McCluskey sang it on her album
The Things We Do'.* (2004) Johnny Mathis sang it on his album
The Essential Johnny Mathis.* (2004) Ronnie Milsap recorded the song on his album
Just for a Thrill.* (2005) Rufus Wainwright chose it for the Starbucks compilation album,
Sweetheart 2005: Love Songs.* (2005) Over the Rhine concluded their album
Drunkard's Prayer with the song.
* (2005) Kanye West sampled Etta James' version on his second album
Late Registration's song "Addiction".
* (2005) Justin Guarini included it on the album
Stranger Things Have Happened .
* (2006) Paulson covered it on their album
Variations.
* (2006) Bradley Joseph released an instrumental arrangement on his album,
Piano Love Songs.* (2007) Thomas Quasthoff included this song in his album "
The Jazz Album - Watch what happens".* (2007) Joey McIntyre included this song in his album
"Talk to Me".
Posts
