| Composer | Cole Porter |
| Lyricist | Cole Porter |
| Year Written | 1935 |
About This Song
“Just One Of Those Things” was written by Cole Porter for the 1935 musical Jubilee. It’s one of Porter’s most popular songs and has been recorded by Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, and Frank Sinatra. Alec Wilder in American Popular Song spoke of the lyric as ‘a trip to the moon on gossamer wings’ and “that it seems impossible that it wasn’t sitting on his piano, waiting for Porter even before he wrote the lyric.” It has a certain literary fame as well: Holden Caulfield, in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, likes the song and notes that even the “stinking band” in the hotel lounge “couldn’t ruin it entirely.”
Lyrics
It was just one of those things
Just one of those crazy flings
One of those bells that now and then rings
Just one of those things
It was just one of those nights
Just one of those fabulous flights
A trip to the moon on gossamer wings
Just one of those things
If we’d thought of it, ’bout the end of it
When we started painting the town
We’d have been aware that our love affair
Was too hot, not to cool down
So goodbye, dear, and amen
Here’s hoping we’ll meet now and then
It was great fun
But it was just one of those things
It was just, just one of those nights
Just one of those fabulous flights
A trip to the moon on gossamer wings
Just one of those things
If we’d thought of it, ’bout the end of it
When we started painting that town
We’d have been aware that our love affair
Was too hot, not to cool down
So goodbye, goodbye, bye bye, goodbye, baby, and amen
Here’s hoping we’ll meet now and then
It was great fun
But it was just one of those things
Recordings
1957
Tony Bennett recorded “Just One of Those Things” on October 14, 1957. Ralph Sharon wrote the arrangement.
CO 59953
Release History
| 1957 | Columbia LP 12″ (Mono): CL 1079 — The Beat Of My Heart |
| 1957 | Philips LP 12″: BBL 7219 — The Beat Of My Heart |
1960s to current
| unknown | Pacific LP 12″: — Just One Of Those Things [Australia] |
| 1969 | Harmony LP 12″: HS 11340 — Just One Of Those Things |
| 1970 | Hallmark LP 12″: SHM 646 — Just One Of Those Things [UK] |
| 1982 | CBS Special Products CD: — My Best To You |
| 1983 | CBS Special Products LP 12″: P 16655 — My Best To You |
| 1987 | CBS LP 12″: 4504651 — Jazz (UK) |
| 1987 | Columbia LP 12″: C2 40424 — Jazz |
| 1987 | CBS Special Products CD: — My Best To You |
| 1993 | Columbia House Music Collection CD: 2C2 7926 — The Great American Composers: Cole Porter |
| 1995 | Sony Special Products CD: 16655 — My Best To You |
| 1995 | Sony Special Products CD: 58257 — My Best To You |
| 1997 | Eclipse Music Group CD: 64859 — My Best To You |
| 1977 | Columbia CD: CK 66502 — The Beat Of My Heart |
| 1998 | Columbia CD: CK 65049 — This Is Jazz #33 |
| 2002 | Collectables CD: 9870 — My Best To You |
| 2008 | Not Now Music CD: NOT3CD010 — Three Original Hit Albums [UK] |
| 2011 | Columbia The Complete Collection — Disc 11 — The Beat of My Heart |