Blue Skies (song)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Blue Skies" is a popular song, written by Irving Berlin.
Lyrics
I was blue, just as blue as I could be/ Every day was a cloudy day for me/ Then good luck came a-knocking at my door/ Skies were gray but theyre not gray anymore/
Blue skies/ Smiling at me/ Nothing but blue skies/ Do I see/
Bluebirds/ Singing a song/ Nothing but bluebirds/ All day long/
Never saw the sun shining so bright/ Never saw things going so right/ Noticing the days hurrying by/ When youre in love, my how they fly/
Blue days/ All of them gone/ Nothing but blue skies/ From now on/
[2]
I should care if the wind blows east or west/ I should fret if the worst looks like the best/ I should mind if they say it cant be true/ I should smile, thats exactly what I do/
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[edit] History
The song was composed in 1926 as a last minute addition to the Rodgers and Hart musical, Betsy. Although the show only ran for 39 performances, "Blue Skies" was an instant success, with audiences on opening night demanding 28 encores of the piece from star, Belle Baker. During the final repetition, Baker forgot her lyrics, prompting Berlin to sing them from his seat in the front row.
In 1927, the music was published and Ben Selvin's recorded version was a #1 hit. That same year, it became the first song to be featured in a talkie, when Al Jolson performed it in The Jazz Singer. 1946 was also a notable year for the song, with a Bing Crosby/Fred Astaire film taking its title, and two recorded versions by Count Basie and Benny Goodman reaching #8 and #9 on the pop charts, respectively. Crossing genres, Willie Nelson's recording of "Blue Skies" was a #1 country music hit in 1978.
[edit] Recorded Versions
- Ben Selvin (1927)
- Josephine Baker (1927)
- Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra (with vocal by Frank Sinatra) (1941)
- Count Basie and his orchestra (with vocal by Jimmy Rushing) (1946)
- Bing Crosby (1946)
- Benny Goodman and his orchestra (with vocal by Art Lund) (1946)
- Frank Sinatra (1946)
- The McGuire Sisters (1957)
- Ella Fitzgerald (1958)
- Jim Reeves (1962)
- Willie Nelson (1978)
- Rosemary Clooney
- Cassandra Wilson (1988)
- Lavay Smith & Red Hot Skillet Lickers (1996)
- Groove Armada (1999)
- Fiona Apple and Brad Mehldau (2002) – unreleased, but performed at Club Largo.
- Brent Spiner performing as Lt. Cmdr. Data, in the 2002 movie Star Trek: Nemesis.
- Caetano Veloso (2004)
[edit] Selected Appearances in Film
- The Jazz Singer (1927)
- Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938)
- Blue Skies (1946)
- White Christmas (1954)
- Glengarry Glen Ross (1994)
- With Honors (1994)
- Patch Adams (1998)
- Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
- The Aviator (2004)
- Hollywoodland (2006)
- The Good Shepherd (2006)
