Songs I think are Magic: pt. 4

The Lucy special!

For the last thirty three years, which is to say my whole life (minus a day), I have been happily married. Yes, it was an arranged marriage between two newborns, and I think my wife was abandoned, but we're happy regardless. At least, I hope she's happy. She seems to be. Anyway, because I love my stuffed Dalmatian so much, I happily experience many things she'd like. Fortunately, my Lucy has great taste in music.
While I loved roaming the wastelands of the Fallout universe with peppy tunes from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s as background music, my beloved was even more enthralled than I was. She loved hearing these vintage tracks sung by Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and The Andrews Sisters. Discovering the origins of rock 'n roll with Elvis, Chuck, and Roy filled the both of us with the same joy our peers felt six decades ago. The Ink Spots taught us a whole new genre. Cab Calloway told us jazz could be fun. Louis Armstrong let her see the good in melancholy melodies. I wonder how our relationship would be without Etta James, the Crosbys, and her favorite, Nat King Cole, to bond over. I'd like to shake the hand of the man who made my baby fall in love again, but I can't. So I'll write about them on the internet again. Good news! Most of these songs are happy!

Let's start with where I started, Ella Fitzgerald. The First Lady of Song should always be first in our hearts. And, uh, okay. Let's get this out of the way first. I have slightly less knowledge about musicians and "albums" from this time period. Not only that, but there's so much more to read about that I couldn't summarize in a small paragraph. Gavin Clark's Wikipedia page is three paragraphs. Miss Ella's is twelve chapters!!! Let's just get into how the Shucks feel about these!

This first segment consists of songs from the greatest supergroup Lucy's ever heard: The Queen of Jazz and a man called Pops.

"Cheek to Cheek" is just so fun. It was originally written by Irvine Berlin for Fred Astaire in the mid thirties for the movie Top Hat. I know who Astaire is, but all those other nouns are brand new to me. The track was a hit as twenty one years later, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong covered it. According to Lucy, it's the definitive version. It's a straightforward love song abound the feeling people get when dancing with their faces trying to fuse together. "Heaven. I'm in heaven. ... Where we're out together, dancing cheek to cheek." Apparently, it's better than both climbing a mountain and fishing! There are only two instruments here, drums and piano. The piano only exists to be backing for our singer's unmistakable prowess, and it knows it. It's just there doing its own thing because there ain't no one paying attention to it. It sounds nice, though. It's stripped down from the Astaire version, which has a brass section and (probably) some woodwinds. But no drums! Musically, I don't hear similarities between the two.

"Dream a Little Dream of Me" romanticizes the stars, the breeze, and the birds. But no bees! They all tell the singers that their love thinks of them tonight. Cuddle, kiss, and dream. Especially dream because the two lovers are apart. There's no reason why they're not together, but sometimes it happens. Not for me and Lu, though. We're stuck together! There's more going on in this song. (Presumably) Armstrong plays his trumpet behind Ella with a jazz band behind him. Good luck hearing them, though. There's a very simple rhythm section. Armstrong gets to sing later on, with Ella shadowing and scatting in the back. There's nothing fancy here, but I dare you to not smile. The song was written in the early thirties by more people I've never heard of, and it sounds like the typical affair from the time. The melody retains through both versions, but our song is much slower.

Even as single stars, these two shine. There's a massive amount of tracks between the two, most of which I've never heard, so I'm gonna write about a few that instantly came to mind before writing this.

"Mack the Knife" (Live in Berlin) shouldn't be here, but it is. Ella forgot the lyrics and started to sing various observations about the history of the song and her brain fart in the middle. Her talent and charisma turn this into one of the funniest songs I've ever heard. I've listened to her proper version before, and it's kinda okayish. But Ella's ability to flip on the X factor in times of need puts this on the list. Never give up!

Louis Armstrong is the other half of that equation, and I like him more when it comes to magic. He's a bit more morose, after all. But not always.

"A Kiss to Build a Dream On" is probably the song Lucy and I would have had our first couple dance to at our wedding ceremony. It's slow for a love song, at least as far as I know, and it's not exactly exciting. The majority of it is just a simple drum beat over a chord in the background. A piano brings us in, and a trumpet plays between Armstrong's vocal lines. Things pick up during the trumpet solo, though. I think the music is a nice change of pace from traditional ballads, as it's just peppy enough to dance to, but you can talk to each other over it. Some sweet nothings on the dance floor. Lyrically, it's a handful of verses about how a kiss from a loved one can make the recipient's imagination go to wonderful places. The song itself was based/rewritten from a song for the Marx brothers' film, "Night at the Opera," and Armstrong got the new rendition. The original was never used, so I wonder what it sounds like?

But, like I said, I like depression. And the death of a loved one is one of the most poetic topics in art. Based off a traditional folk song, "St. James Infirmary" details how someone goes to a mortuary to identify their loved one. The dead are described in various ways before the singer begins to think about their death. Musically, the most obvious thing going on is the strange drone tone in the background. It instantly tells the listener they're in for a ride to the bottom. It's alluring and forces everyone to pay attention. Misery loves company. Armstrong plays a somber trumpet solo before giving it up and singing. The only thing that's going on behind him is a tap of the drums and a muted trumpet playing between vocal lines. Things pick up at the end, but it's more chaos than excitement. The shadow of despair is here.

Finally, we're at a song that's timeless because the woes that afflicted the world during Armstrong's time are still being dealt with now. "That Lucky Old Sun" compares the Son and how it gets to "roam around in heaven all day." Meanwhile, we struggle to live and "work like the devil for my pay." The singer even prays to god for relief. Judging by the state of today's economy,  this is another prayer god never answered. Sorry, Pops. Despite it all, it's slightly more upbeat than my first dance. 1949 must have been weird. It follows a similar pattern to the other Satchmo tracks on this list.

Fats Domino was one of the first rock stars. He was also one of the worst. He was more interested in his wife and family than hookers and blow. I don't consider him a rocker (for reasons other than that one), but I do enjoy his work. His voice always juts out at listeners. Usually, it's drone tones that make me realize magic is happening. But not with Fats. I wish I could explain it better, but it's a warm bed with your fluffiest blankets and stuffed animals.

"Blueberry Hill," for example, is just pure fun. It was originally written by three people no one's ever heard of, but the Fat Man covered it in 1956 to make it a standard. Fats' version has an upbeat drum, which sounds pretty RnR, but it plays behind Fats' piano and voice. I think those are the only two instruments. It's got a blues vibe because it's just several bars played repeatedly. It's a simple love song comparing love at first sight to various wonders. It stops time, makes the moon shine, and the wind plays a "sweet melody." But something happened, and "those vows, never to be." "For you were my thrill." I hadn't noticed the tone shift in the chorus until now. The music is so exciting that it gets lost. Can you believe Putin recorded this song for charity?

You know what two people I confuse all the time? Fats Domino and Fats Waller. The grandpa of new New York Giants TE Darren was an earlier Domino. A genius of the jazz piano with prodigious output. I don't know much about him, but I know he's always...

"Ain't Misbehavin'" is all about monogamy. The writer is all alone, I assume, but their lover's kiss is "worth waiting for." It's simple, but it resonates well, even with this damned liberal and his devil ways listening. The music is an upbeat piano that follows another blues style of repeated bars. I don't really get why I find this song so magical, but maybe there's a part of me that has hope and dreams still, and this song calls out to that barely living persona. I used to daydream about being in love with a human female, and this song perfectly exemplifies everything I hoped would happen.

Now here's a terrible segue because my stuffed animal wife's favorite musician is Nat King Cole. I like him too, but she's way into him. It's a bit creepy (or I'm the jealous type). His baritone (and/or bass) voice simply makes everyone around him tune in. Stay for the voice, stick around for the lyrics, make him magical by his instrumental mastery.

"Unforgettable," "in every way," starts off with a strange, staccato piano opening. I don't understand it, but I like it. It drops off to let violins play behind Mr. Cole's voice, which has the audible texture of a freshly baked roll. I think there's also a drum beat in the background that's just there to keep the rhythm. The piano and violin play the occasional few notes here and there, but they're largely drowned out by NKC's voice. Honestly, I always think of this song as an acapella track when it crosses my mind. There is a bit of a piano solo between the verses, though, that follows the form of the opening notes. The lyrics are only five sentences and talk about how hard to forget the lover is and how honorable it is to be loved by "someone so unforgettable too."

"L-O-V-E" is another (surprise) love song that's carried by Cole's voice. There's only an upbeat drum in the background for the lyrics. There's a slight hint of piano and violin in the back that I only just now noticed trying to dig into this song. There's a trumpet solo between the two identical verses, and that hangs around for part two. The lyrics are just a basic ode to love written as an acrostic poem. There's nothing flashy, but it makes me happy.

I first experienced "Orange Colored Sky" in Fallout 4. I think it's t was a default song. It begins with a chill piano, but it gets chaotic when the lyrics pick up. And there's a reason for it. It combines to show off the sudden onset of love at first strike. "I was walking along, minding my business, when out of an orange colored sky... FLASH BANG ALAKAZAM! Wonderful you came by." There are a few more verses 'cursing' love, and the chorus compares it to a catastrophic event. There are a few jazz solo interludes scattered about as well. It's a simple song, but, as I've said, Nat King Cole's voice is just so wonderful.

"Love Me as Though There Were No Tomorrow" was my first taste of Mr. Cole. Fallout New Vegas started this trend, so it's perfect that it's ending. It's a slow and plodding song that fits perfectly with the wasteland. The lyrics are about the end of the world and how two people might as well go out alongside each other. "Take me out of this world tonight." But they're happy because they're in love. It's something I've thought about myself in some ways. I haven't tried to kill myself in a few years, and it's entirely because of Lucy. And even when I think of dying again, my hypothetical mind goes to Lucy, usually apologizing. Sometimes I take her with me when she knows our time is up. And I often fear what would happen to her when I'm gone. My mom doesn't care; she doesn't even know Lu's name. This is ending onn a sad note, but those morose violins and piano in the background of this track kinda send me there. Sorry. Anyway, Nat King Cole is really rad, and I should listen to him more.

Fun fact, I would have added a few Ink Spots songs here, but the fact they're all the same kinda kills the magic. I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire could and should be here, but it starts and has the same structure as Maybe, If I Didn't Care, We Three, Rain Must Fall, We'll Meet Again,...

This took a million years to write, and I'm sorry. But it's filled with happy songs, and I'm secretly a The Grinch. But it was another long love letter to my beloved stuffed animal, so I should have put more work into it. But I did it! I wrote about love songs and even some video games. No promises on when part five will be out, but I think it'll be about an interest I haven't shared much: anime.