Another post on songs? Blame it on AFI!
I hadn't heard of the American Film Institute (AFI) and came across it while reading about 'As Time Goes By' for my post 'Kissa Kiss Ka.' That's how I found the '100 years...100 songs' list. Reading the titles was enough to play them in my mind and fill my heart with joy and eyes with tears of joy. What a memorable list it is with so many evergreens that have been delighting us through the years.
First a little introduction. In 1998, the AFI started compiling a series of annual lists to celebrate the century of American Cinema. The first list published was '100 Years...100 Movies', maybe we will look at it someday. In 2004, it was the turn of '100 Years...100 Songs'.
Movies were silent to start with and so the songs considered were only from 1930s which contributed 11 songs. The numbers climbed up reaching 18 in the '50s and 20 in the'60s. Then the numbers declined steadily down to only 6 in the '90s strengthening my conviction that the music of my youthful days of '50s and '60s was the best.
Some other general observations: "Singin' In The Rain", "The Sound Of Music" and "West Side Story" were movies that contributed 3 songs each, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were top composer and lyricist respectively with 6 songs each, Judy Garland and Gene Kelly topped the singers with 5 each although only 2 of Gene Kelly's songs were solo. Julie Andrews, Fred Astaire, Barbra Streisand have 4 each joined by a name I hadn't heard before, Marni Nixon. Little known Marni provided her voice to Audrey Hepburn in "My Fair Lady", Natalie Wood in "West Side Story" and Deborah Kerr in "The King and I".
The oldest song in the list is "Isn't It Romantic" sung By Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald in the 1932 film "Love Me Tonight". I do not know that song and the oldest I am familiar with is "Cheek To Cheek" by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the '35 movie, "Top Hat". The lovely first stanza-
"Heaven...I'm in heaven, and my heart beats so I can hardly speak,
And I seem to find the happiness I seek,
When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek".
Topping the 100 is "Over The Rainbow" by Judy Garland from "The Wizard Of Oz" (1939). I saw the movie in School in early '50s screened on a 16 mm projector by our film pro, Father Cosgrove. Sung to perfection by Judy, the enchanting lyrics take you to dreamland-
"Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue,
And the dreams that you dare to dream, really do come true.
Somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly,
Birds fly over the rainbow, why, then oh, why can't I."
After thoroughly enjoying the movie, I remember the walk back home to Hospital Road, Jaipur, with mates Yadu Sahai, Krishen Bhargava, Pramode and Suresh Pareek (not brothers) sashaying across the road singing, "We're off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz."
No.2 is the haunting "As Time Goes By" from "Casablanca" (1942). An unforgettable movie with brilliant acting by Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, Dooley Wilson's rendition of the song made it even more memorable. Some lyrics I can never get over-
"You must remember this, a kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh....
The world will always welcome lovers
As time goes by."
"Singin' In The Rain", theme song of the 1952 movie with the same name, is listed in the third place. Gene Kelly sang and tap danced the number wearing his winsome smile. It's a cheerful song with the singer declaring that he has found his happiness again in 'living a life full of you'.
At number four is a song many would consider to be worthy of no. 1. "Moon River" sung by Audrey Hepburn, composed by Henry Mancini and lyrics by Johnny Mercer, was featured in "Breakfast At Tiffany's" (1961). It was an instant hit and won the Oscar for the Best Original Song that year. Popular singer Andy Williams made it his theme song for his shows. Its popularity can be gauged from the fact that it has been used as a test sample to study people's memory of popular songs. Travel buffs love its lyrics which also have a reference to Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn". My friend and colleague Kailash Kohli told me that some years ago, he had sent off his two daughters on a trip abroad giving them air tickets with a card carrying the following lines from the song-
"Two drifters, off to see the world, There's such a lot of world to see."
I might as well continue with the remaining lines of the stanza-
"We're after the same rainbow's end
Waitin' round the bend, my Huckleberry friend,
Moon river and me."
I also have a little story. I was very fond of the song and wanted to buy the record. In 1963, my ship Khukri visited Penang and I spent an afternoon looking for a record shop at the cost of sightseeing. Finally, I met with success and was delighted to buy the 45 rpm disc of Andy Williams' version. On board, I was showing off my new buy to my shipmates when I read the label, 'Made in India'! I was unaware that Polydor had in the meantime, started producing western pop music records in our country.
Number 5 is the popular Christmas song, Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" from "Holiday Inn" (1942). Most of us know the words and love to sing it in the Yuletide season, so it needs no elaboration.
At number 6 we have Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel's saucy "Mrs. Robinson" from "The Graduate" (1967), the story of the 'mother' of all affairs. Not only was the movie a winner but its music was outstanding and added to the popularity of Simon and Garfunkel. I am disappointed though, not to find "The Sound Of Silence" in the list, probably because it was released independently in 1964 and was included in the movie's soundtrack subsequently.
The list is 100 songs and I have just covered 6. So now, I have to apply the guillotine and cover briefly the ones I really like. I shall also ignore rankings as I feel it is tough enough to choose 100 songs out of thousands and then to rank them is a contentious task.
So we move on to "Stayin' Alive" by the Beegees in the 1977 movie "Saturday Night Fever" that all of us from Staff College rushed to see in Ooty. Spectacular dancing from John Trovolta and disco music with Barry Gibbs' signature falsetto voice made the movie and its songs immensely popular.
"The Sound Of Music" mesmerised us in 1965 with a thrilling story based on the real life of the von Trapp family. Rodgers and Hammerstein composed and wrote the songs and the list has three numbers from the movie, all by Julie Andrews: "The Sound Of Music", "My Favourite Things" and "Do Re Mi". I have lost count of the number of times I have seen the movie in theatre and on VCR and DVD. I have also been fortunate enough to have taken the fabulous "The Sound Of Music" tour twice in Salzburg.
From other musicals, there is the joyous, "I Could Have Danced All Night"(1964) from "My Fair Lady" performed by Audrey Hepburn on the screen but with the voice of Mani Nixon who could be termed as Hollywood's Lata Mangeshkar! Marni also sang "Tonight" and "Somewhere" for Natalie Wood in the modern Romeo and Juliet like tale, "West Side Story" (1961). Maurice Chevalier's delightful song from "Gigi" (1958), "Thank Heaven For Little Girls" is rightfully there....'for without them, what would the leetil boys do'! And to complete this list, "Some Enchanted Evening" from "South Pacific" (1958) acted by Rosanno Brazzi with the voice of Giorgio Tozzi...'once you have found her, never let her go'.
There are some songs which remind me of our Singapore days of '80s when Ruchir and Shumita were entering their teens and would play music all the time at home. Irene Cara's "What A Feeling" from "Flashdance" and "The Time Of My Life" by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes from "Dirty Dancing" are two of them. Both the songs are snappy and captivating and the dancing of Patrick Swayze, who left the world too early, and Jennifer Grey in the latter film, was superb and unmatched.
Title songs from movies include "High Noon" by Tex Ritter (I like the Frankie Laine version better), "The Shadow Of Your Smile" by The Sandpipers, and "Goldfinger" by Shirley Bassey.
Some other outstanding songs. Celine Dion's highly emotional "My Heart Will Go On" from "Titanic" (1997) is high on the list and will always bring to mind the scene of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet with outstretched arms on the prow of the ship; one of the best love songs ever. A big favourite of mine is The Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody" from "Ghost". "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" from "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid" by BJ Thomas, "Que Sera Sera" by Doris Day from "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and "Windmills Of Your Mind" by Michel Legrand from "The Thomas Crown Affair " are perennial favourites. To remember my school days and Father Mackessack's singing class, I was rewarded by the list having Paul Robeson's "Ol' Man River" from the 1936 movie, "Showboat"....'I'm tired of livin' and scared of dyin'', but ol' man river, he just keeps rollin' along.'
Some songs not included that I would have liked to see in the list-
A. "Lara's Theme" or "Somewhere My Love" from "Dr. Zhivago", composer Maurice Jarre.
B. Theme from "Born Free", composer John Barry.
C. "I Will Wait For You" from "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg", Catherine Deneuve with the voice of Danielle Lican.
D. "The Harry Lime Theme" from "The Third Man" by Anton Karas with its unique zither music.
E. Theme from "A Man And A Woman", composer Michel Legrand.
F. Theme from "Love Story", composer Francis Lai.
G. "We Have All The Time In The World" from "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" by Louis Armstrong.
H. "Al Di La" from "Lovers Must Learn" or "Rome Adventure" by Emilio Pericoli.
J. "Take My Breath Away" by Berlin from "Top Gun".
Am sure you would have your own favourites to add. To get you going, think of "To Sir With Love" by Lulu!
"So long, farewell, auf weidersehen, good night."
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