Funny Thing

FunnyThing
PROFILE
Composer Jimmy Van Heusen (as Arthur Williams)
Lyricist Carl Sigman
Year Written 1954
About Funny Thing
In his autobiography, The Good Life, Tony Bennett wrote “I was especially fond of a song I recorded that year called ‘Funny Thing,’ which was credited to the excellent lyricist Carl Sigman and a little-known composer named ‘Arthur Williams.’ Actually, ‘Arthur Williams’ was a pseudonymn for publishing reasons by the great tunesmith and my great friend Jimmy Van Heusen. … I thought ‘Funny Thing’ was a great song and a likely hit, and I was disappointed when it didn’t go anywhere.”

Lyrics

Funny thing how the raindrops
All remind me of tears
Funny thing how your laughter
Is all that my heart ever hears

Funny thing how stars have lost their shine
How nights never end
All because your lips re gone from mine
No use pretending

Funny thing how two sweethearts
With the world at their feet
All at once are two strangers
Who just look away when they meet

Funny thing how I still love you
Though you said goodbye
Funny thing but who’s laughing
Not I

Session / Album Information

1954

“Funny Thing” was recorded on September 24, 1954 and released that year as a single.

Funny Thing

Tony Bennett · The Columbia Singles, Vol. 3 · Song · 2011

This recording released on:

  • 1954: Columbia 78: 40376
  • 1954: Columbia 45: 4-40376
  • 1959: Columbia LP 12″ (Mono): CL 1292 — Blue Velvet
  • 2006: Naxos Nostalgia CD: 8120803 — While We’re Young: Original Recordings 1950-1955
  • 2007: Proper CD: PROPERBOX 121 — Young Tony
  • 2011: Disc #5 in The Tony Bennett Complete Collection (88697874602-JK5) The Columbia Singles, Volume 3

Fly Me To The Moon

FlyMeToTheMoon
PROFILE
Composer and Lyricist Bart Howard
Year Written 1954
About Fly Me To The Moon
“Fly Me To The Moon” was originally titled “In Other Words,” but the song was not doing that well, in spite of several recordings. In 1962, Howard renamed the song to “Fly Me To The Moon,” and the song began to catch on. Tony Bennett’s 1965 recording for If I Ruled The World was a big hit for Bennett. There have been many recordings of the song, including those by Frank Sinatra, Kaye Ballard and many more. However, Bart Howard told Bennett that his 1965 recording was “the definitive performance of this song.”

Lyrics

Poets often use many words
To say a simple thing
It takes thought and time and rhyme
To make a poem sing
With music and words I’ve been playing
For you I’ve written a song
To make sure you know what I’m saying
I’ll translate as I go along

Fly me to the moon
And let me play among the stars
Let me see what spring is like
On Jupiter and Mars
In other words
Hold my hand
In other words
Darlin kiss me

Fill my heart with song
And let me sing forevermore
You are all I long for
All I worship and adore
In other words
Please be true
In other words
I love you..

Session / Album Information

1965

“Fly Me To The Moon” was recorded on February 18, 1965 and released in 1965 on the album If I Ruled the World: Songs for the Jet Set. It was arranged by Don Costa.

This recording released on:

  • 1965: CL 2343 — If I Ruled The World (Songs For The Jet Set)
  • 1965: CS 9143 — If I Ruled The World (Songs For The Jet Set)
  • 1965: Columbia 45: 4-43331
  • 1965: CBS EP: EP 6066 — When Joanna Loved Me
  • 1969: CBS LP 12″: 63612 — Greatest Hits, Volume II (UK)
  • 1969: Columbia LP 12″: CS 9814 — Tony Bennett’s Greatest Hits, Vol. IV
  • 1974: Embassy LP 12″: EMB 31058 — If I Ruled the World [UK]
  • 1990: Columbia CD: SOY21552 — The Good Life
  • 1991: Columbia CD: C4K 46843 — Forty Years – The Artistry Of Tony Bennett
  • 1993: CBS/Sony CD: SRCS-6641 — Forty Years: The Artistry Of Tony Bennett
  • 1997: CK 65317 — If I Ruled The World (Songs For The Jet Set)
  • 1999: Sony International CD: 91207 — The Essential Tony Bennett: A Retrospective
  • 2002: Columbia/Legacy CD: 86634 — The Essential Tony Bennett
  • 2003: Globo/Columbia CD: 0030 2 — All The Best [Brazil]
  • 2003: Liberty CD: 281926 — The Best of the Definitive American Songbook, Vol. 1
  • 2003: Liberty CD: 92819 — The Best of the Definitive American Songbook, Vol. 1
  • 2004: Columbia/Legacy CD: C5K 92784 — Fifty Years: The Artistry of Tony Bennett
  • 2005: Collectables CD: CCL8053 — The Good Life
  • 2006: RPM/Columbia/Legacy CD: 84779 — Tony Bennett’s Greatest Hits Of The ’60s
  • 2008: Columbia/RPM/Legacy CD: 731397 — The Essential Tony Bennett [Limited Edition 3.0]
  • 2011: Disc #31 in The Tony Bennett Complete Collection (88697874602-JK30) If I Ruled The World: Songs for the Jet Set

1994

“Fly Me To The Moon” was recorded and televised live on April 12, 1994 on MTV. The MTV Unplugged album was released in June of that year. The songs from the televised concert were arranged by Tony Bennett and the Ralph Sharon Trio.

Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words) - Live Version

Listen to Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words) - Live Version on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 1994

This recording released on:

  • 1993: Columbia CD: CK 66214 — MTV Unplugged
  • 2011: Discs #60/61 in The Tony Bennett Complete Collection (88697874602-JK59) MTV Unplugged

Don’t Tell Me Why (Pitie Señorita)

DontTellMeWhy-350
PROFILE
Music Guy Magenta
Lyrics Wayne Shanklin, Al Sherman
Year Written 1954
About Don’t Tell Me Why
TBD

Lyrics

TBD

Session / Album Information

1955

“Don’t Tell Me Why” was recorded on May 8, 1955 and released that year as a single.

Don"t Tell Me Why (Pitie Señorita)

Listen to Don"t Tell Me Why (Pitie Señorita) on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 2011

This recording released on:

  • 1955: Philips 78: PB 486
  • 1955: Columbia 78: 40523
  • 1955: Columbia 45: 4-40523
  • 2011: Disc #5 in The Tony Bennett Complete Collection (88697874602-JK5) The Columbia Singles, Volume 3

Don’t Like Goodbyes

Truman Capote and Harold Arlen

Truman Capote and Harold Arlen

PROFILE
Composer Harold Arlen
Lyricist Truman Capote
Year Written 1954
About Don’t Like Goodbyes
“Don’t Like Goodbyes” was written by Harold Arlen, with lyrics by Arlen and Truman Capote, for the 1954 Broadway musical House of Flowers, based on Capote’s novella of the same name. The song was introduced by Pearl Bailey. While the musical was not well-reviewed, the Arlen-Capote score is quite wonderful, including not only today’s song but the exquisite “A Sleepin’ Bee,” which Tony Bennett has recorded twice (in 1959 for Tony Sings For Two and at the 1962 Carnegie Hall concert). “Don’t Like Goodbyes” has been recorded by Pearl Bailey, Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand.

Lyrics

Don’t like goodbyes, tears or sighs
I’m not too good at leavin’ time
I got no taste for grievin’ time
No, no, not me

You’ve been my near one
Always my dear one
I never thought that I would find
Another love, a different kind
But it came, it came to be

If you think I’m telling you lies
Go try your luck and look into her eyes
But remember, you must remember she’s mine
And my world overhead has a clear shine

Don’t want to leave you
Sorry to grieve you
Its travelin’ time and I must move on
Found a girl to lean upon
And if I could arrange it
Oh would I care to change it
Not me

Have I found the answer
Yes, she’s the only answer
Guess I won’t have to guide her
Just walk beside her
Can’t you see it clearly
That I love her dearly

I’d love to stay on
But from this day on
Its travelin’ time, I must move on
Found a girl to lean upon
And if I could arrange it
Oh would I care to change it
Not me

Session / Album Information

2004

“Don’t Like Goodbyes” was recorded in 2004 and released that same year on The Art of Romance. This song was arranged by Jorge Calandrelli.

Don"t Like Goodbyes

Listen to Don"t Like Goodbyes on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 2004

This recording released on:

  • 2004: RPM/Columbia CD: CK 92820 — The Art of Romance
  • 2004: Sony Music CD 5187092000 — The Art of Romance (import)
  • 2011: Disc #69 in The Tony Bennett Complete Collection (88697874602-JK67) The Art of Romance

Cinnamon Sinner

LincolnChase
PROFILE
Songwriter Lincoln Chase
Year Written 1954
About Cinnamon Singer
Lincoln Chase was an African-American composer who wrote primarily for the singer Shirley Ellis; one the best-known songs he wrote for her was “The Name Game.” “Cinnamon Sinner” was one of his earliest published songs; Tony Bennett’s was the first recording.

Lyrics

She’s got sugar-dipped kisses and cherry-tipped charms
And I melt like butter in her honey-filled arms
Lemonade teardrops fall from her eyes
But she’s a cinnamon sinner tellin’ lollipop lies

She’s got sugar creme candy sprinkled with lime
Her hot-oven lovin’ is cookin’ all the time
She’s a cake-bakin’ baby and I love her pies
But she’s a cinnamon sinner tellin’ lollipop lies

Who’s gonna buy her lies today?
Who’s gonna be unwise today?
Who’s gonna need some sympathy?
Who, who, who but a fool like me?

For she’s a marshmallow mama with a jellyroll heart
She’s a sweet-tooth pleaser who can really play her part
But I think she’s Satan’s sister wearin’ a disguise
Of a cinnamon sinner tellin’ lollipop lies

Session / Album Information

1954

“Cinnamon Sinner

Cinnamon Sinner

Tony Bennett · The Columbia Singles, Vol. 3 · Song · 2011

This recording released on:

  • 1954: Columbia 78: 40272
  • 1954: Columbia 45: 4-40272
  • 1956: Columbia LP 12″: CL 2550 — Because Of You
  • 2006: Naxos Nostalgia CD: 8120803 — While We’re Young: Original Recordings 1950-1955
  • 2007: Proper CD: PROPERBOX 121 — Young Tony
  • 2011: Disc #5 in The Tony Bennett Complete Collection (88697874602-JK5) The Columbia Singles, Volume 3

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