Thursday, September 19, 2013

Something We All Need in a Big Way: American Exceptionalism - Miss Ella Fitzgerald, John Singer Sargent, Lionel Hampton, Sonny Burke Johnny Mercer and Nelson Riddle

, John Singer Sargent's American eye takes in a Street in Venice.



Lionel Hampton and Sonny Burke wrote an exquistite instrumentalwaterfall  in 1947.   One of America's greatest lyricists was driving along the California coast and heard this melody.  Johnny Mercer wrote these beautiful lyrics.

Your lips were like a red and ruby chalice
Warmer than the summer night
The clouds were like an alabaster palace
Rising to a snowy height
Each star its own Aurora Borealis
Suddenly you held me tight
I could see the midnight sun

I can't explain The silver rain that found me
Or was that a moonlit veil
The music of the Universe
Around me
Or was that a nightingale
And then your arms miraculously found me
Suddenly the sky turned pale
and I saw the midnight sun

Was there ever such a night
It's a thrill
I still don't quite believe
But after you were gone
There was still some
Stardust on my sleeve

The flame of it may dwindle
To an ember
And the stars forget to shine
And we may see the meadow in December
Icy white and crystaline
But oh my darling always I'll remember
When your lips were close to mine
And we saw the Midnight Sun
The Midnight Sun

In 1957, America's greatest voice, Miss Ella Fitzgerald, sang to Nelson Riddles charts with his orchestra.  This is what Americans do.

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