Autumn Leaves (song)

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"Autumn Leaves" is a much-recorded popular song. Originally a 1945 French song "Les feuilles mortes" (literally "The Dead Leaves") with music by Joseph Kosma and lyrics by poet Jacques Prévert, English lyrics were written in 1949 by the American songwriter Johnny Mercer.^[1] It has become a pop standard and a jazz standard in both languages, and as an instrumental. "Les feuilles mortes" was introduced by Yves Montand in 1946 for the film Les Portes de la Nuit.^[2]

The French songwriter Serge Gainsbourg wrote "La chanson de Prévert" as a tribute to this song. The tribute added much color into the song.^{[citation needed]}

It is the corps song of the DCI drum and bugle corps the Bluecoats.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Chart appearances

In 1955 Autumn Leaves, as an instrumental number, was a number one hit for Roger Williams in the United States, the only instrumental to reach number one^[3] and remaining in that position for four weeks.^[4]

[edit] Chord changes

One of the reasons it has found popularity amongst so many artists is its relatively straightforward chord changes — essentially a series of II-V-I progressions in the tonic and relative minor with minimal decoration.

The song's minor key, along with the metaphor of summer's end, underscore its sense of sadness and loss:

But I miss you most of all, my darling, when autumn leaves start to fall.

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Songs written or co-written by John Herndon Mercer. dbopm. Retrieved on 2006-11-07.
2. ^ Autumn Leaves. Everything2. Retrieved on 2006-11-07.
3. ^ Roger Williams. Retrieved on 2006-11-07.
4. ^ Chart appearances for the song "Autumn Leaves". dbopm. Retrieved on 2006-11-07.

It can be found in Maiden voyage (see [1]