Feb. 2006
"I've Heard
That Song Before"
To kick off this column I thought we'd delve into the intriguing issue of
reused and borrowed lyrics and tunes. This is not to say any of the artists or
shows mentioned aren't creative, far from it, but when you look at the world of
show tunes from a distance, you can see trends, parallels and the occasional act
of plagiarism.
Our first example is in lyrics, and quite intentional on the part of the
lyricist. It seems that the delightful Ira Gershwin was particularly fond of the
phrase who could ask for anything more? so much so that he featured it in
three different songs from three different shows. The first use would be in GIRL
CRAZY, featured in the Ethel Merman showstopper I Got Rhythm using the
lyric I've got my man who could ask for anything more. It was reused in
OF THEE I SING, for the song I'm About To Be A Mother in which the First
Lady sings I'm about to have a baby to love and adore, who could ask for
anything more? The third usage in the Gershwin oeuvre would be in the film A
DAMSEL IN DISTRESS, in which Fred Astaire sings in Nice Work If You Can Get
It: Just imagine someone waiting at the cottage door. Where two hearts
become one. Who could ask for anything more? The fact two of these numbers
are enduring standards only shores up the fact that the Gershwins knew how to
write a number, even with a recycled phrase.
Much worse, in most aficionados’ eyes is the reuse of tune, whether it be one
from the composer or another source. This has happened on several occasions,
sometimes resulting in legal action or critical outcries. Of course, with only
12 notes in an octave and eighty-eight keys on a piano, similar patterns are
bound to emerge.
The most notorious case of this is with Jerry Herman and the title song of
HELLO, DOLLY! . As has been debated in other forums, Herman was indeed
struggling with this score out of town and producer David Merrick called in
other songwriters to add to the score. For the record, it seems only Bob
Merrill's contributions of Motherhood March and Elegance made it
into the show, and Herman has publicly backed up any other claims to the
contrary. But it is the title song that caused him the most grief, garnering a
lawsuit from Mack David, brother of Hal David and writer of Sunflower the
1948 pop tune that became the state song of Kansas. The two tunes do indeed
possess a very similar melody line in the chorus and Herman was forced to pay a
settlement in the case.
Another time that this happened nobody sued, but perhaps this was because the
first show was such a resounding flop. LOLITA, MY LOVE (1971) was, you guessed
it, the stage musical of the controversial book and film LOLITA. Featuring a
score by John Barry and Alan Jay Lerner and starring John Neville and Dorothy
Loudon, the show died after brief runs in Philadelphia & Boston, never opening
on Broadway. The show opened with the character of "Quilty," played by Leonard
Frey, singing a cynical tune called Going Going Gone (which was recorded
by Shirley Bassey on her LP NEVER NEVER NEVER). Imagine my surprise, some
eighteen years later sitting in the Virginia Theater and hearing the same tune
in CITY OF ANGELS by the character of "Munoz" and with the David Zippel lyric
All You Have To Do Is Wait sung to Cy Coleman's tune. Of course this is NOT
to say Mr. Coleman knowingly used the tune at all, but just compare the two and
you'll see they use the same notes and chords pretty consistently.
Now the final category on this little romp through the musical theater
recycling bin would be those composers that steal from themselves, re-using
their own tunes for various reasons. The most recent suspect in this would be
Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, who all charges of plagiarism from Puccini aside, has
been known to take from his own catalogue from time to time. Anyone who knows
CATS and STARLIGHT EXPRESS can point out the similar musical phrases here and
there, but I think the most blatant recycling is when he took the tune
English Girls from SONG & DANCE and plopped it down into the
look-there's-Jesus-hiding-in-the-barn-musical WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND as Tire
Tracks and Broken Hearts. Of course it has a different beat, and there's no
Bernadette Peters on the motorcycle, but it is basically the same tune.
Of course, some composers don't care if they recycle, publicly stating that
the public doesn't care or even notice. Our last subject, Jule Styne was
notorious for digging into his trunk and song catalogue to recycle tunes. This
was so well documented that Stephen Sondheim issued an ultimatum of sorts on
Styne when they began work on GYPSY, insisting that all the tunes be original
compositions created for the piece. (Sondheim had wanted to write the whole
score but that notion was rejected by Ethel Merman, who had just come off the
flop HAPPY HUNTING, written by a musical dentist and his collaborator! And yes,
the character of Dr. Kitchell, the musical dentist in BELLS ARE RINGING, was an
homage of sorts to the HAPPY HUNTING guy! In addition, Coleman & Leigh has
written a few tunes for GYPSY on spec, hoping to get the gig, including To Be
A Performer which went into LITTLE ME instead.)
As work progressed on GYPSY Sondheim was impressed that Styne was writing so
originally. It wasn't till after the show had opened was Sondheim informed that
the tune for You'll Never Get Away From Me was used a couple of years
earlier as I'm In Pursuit of Happiness in a Jule Styne/Leo Robin TV
Musical of RUGGLES OF RED GAP (1957). The lyricist was not pleased.
To see further example's of Styne's recycling habit look no further than the
scores to FADE OUT-FADE IN (1964) and HALLELUJAH, BABY! (1967). The former had
Carol Burnett belting out a Comden & Green lyric entitled Call Me Savage
while three years later the exact same tune was sung as Witches' Brew by
Three Witches in a WPA version of MACBETH with the Comden & Green lyric
Double bubble, toil and trouble.
Sometimes the recycling is thoroughly intentional, as when Harry Carroll and
Joseph Carroll wrote I'm Always Chasing Rainbows for IRENE (1919) and
used the tune of Chopin's Fantaisie Impromptu in C# Minor. Robert Wright &
George "Chet" Forrest had more success with recycling classical tunes into
Broadway scores (SONG OF NORWAY- Greig , THE GREAT WALTZ - Strauss, KISMET -
Borodin) than they did with their original compositions (KEAN, AT THE
GRAND/GRAND HOTEL, BETTING ON BERTIE) although they claim there was often a lot
more of their original work included in these "borrowed" scores than the public
realized.
As a songwriter myself, my composing partner and I are highly aware of the
chances of "stealing" a tune or even a lyric from another source, often
unwittingly. In the current wonderful CD release of HUGH SINGS MARTIN, Mr.
Martin admits his nervousness in presenting the song Who Do You Think I Am?
to Messrs. Rodgers and Abbott for use in BEST FOOT FORWARD, for Mr. Martin kept
hearing the tune of I'm Just Wild About Harry in his own composition and
was afraid he'd be called out on it. Luckily, neither Mr. Rodgers nor Mr. Abbott
noticed this and the song went into the show.
And that's enough recycling for one column. I'm Going, Going, Gone for
now.
