The Shadow of Your Smile

By Johnny Mandel and Paul Francis Webster
1965

One of the last of the great Academy Award winning movie songs of the traditional "songbook" era, this instant classic by arranger/bandleader Mandel and prolific lyricist Webster also won the Grammy for Song of the Year. Introduced in the Liz Taylor/Richard Burton film The Sandpiper by Mandel's orchestra, it was first recorded lyrically by singer Astrud Gilberto. Following the film, there was an explosion of recordings of the song throughout the late 1960s, with many artists of the old-school, lost in the burgeoning rock and roll era, latching on to it for its melodic beauty and poignant words. The one to be most successful with it at the time was Tony Bennett. Today, it remains a popular selection among instrumental groups and jazz bands, and was even recorded in 1992 by British actor Ian McShane.

Lyrics:

One day we walked along the sand
One day in early spring
You held a piper in your hand
To mend its broken wing
Now I'll remember many a day
And many a lonely mile
The echo of a piper's song
The shadow of a smile

The shadow of your smile
When you are gone
Will color all my dreams
And light the dawn
Look into my eyes
My love and see
All the lovely things
You are to me

Our wistful little star
Was far too high
A teardrop kissed your lips
And so did I
Now when I remember spring
All the joy that love can bring
I will be remembering
The shadow of your smile

Recorded By:

Peggy Lee
Ray Conniff
Sammy Davis Jr. & Laurindo Almeida
Ferrante & Teicher
Barbra Streisand

The Windmills of Your Mind

By Michel Legrand, Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman
1968

In honor of the great composer Michel Legrand, who passed away last Saturday at the age of 86, I'm spotlighting the song that was perhaps rivaled only by "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" as his greatest hit. Written for the soundtrack of the Steve McQueen heist film The Thomas Crown Affair at the request of director Norman Jewison, it began life as a French song with lyrics by Eddy Marnay. Husband-wife lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman were brought in, and handpicked the haunting, circular melody from among Legrand's numerous compositions, adding lyrics meant to reflect the mental turmoil of the film's main character. Introduced in the movie by Noel Harrison, it won the Oscar for Best Original Song, and was performed by Sting for the 1999 Thomas Crown Affair remake.

Lyrics:

Round like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel
Like a snowball down a mountain, or a carnival balloon
Like a carousel that's turning running rings around the moon
Like a clock whose hands are sweeping past the minutes of its face
And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind!

Like a tunnel that you follow to a tunnel of its own
Down a hollow to a cavern where the sun has never shone
Like a door that keeps revolving in a half forgotten dream
Or the ripples from a pebble someone tosses in a stream
Like a clock whose hands are sweeping past the minutes of its face
And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind!

Keys that jingle in your pocket, words that jangle in your head
Why did summer go so quickly, was it something that you said?
Lovers walking along a shore and leave their footprints in the sand
Is the sound of distant drumming just the fingers of your hand?
Pictures hanging in a hallway and the fragment of a song
Half remembered names and faces, but to whom do they belong?
When you knew that it was over you were suddenly aware
That the autumn leaves were turning to the color of her hair!

Like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel
As the images unwind, like the circles that you find 
In the windmills of your mind!

Recorded By:

Jose Feliciano
Dusty Springfield
Vic Damone
Jack Jones
Petula Clark

Love Is Blue

By Andre Popp, Pierre Cour and Bryan Blackburn
1967

This "easy listening" classic began life as the French song "L'amour est bleu" by Popp and Cour, introduced by Greek vocalist Vicky Leandros as part of the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest. The following year, Blackburn would add English lyrics, first recorded by Ray Coniff. But by far the most memorable version of the song would be from French orchestra leader Paul Mauriat. Mauriat's haunting version, steeped in the "baroque pop" aesthetic that briefly reigned in the late 1960s, soared to number one on the American charts, becoming the first record by a French artist to do so. Alongside Percy Faith's recording of "Theme from a Summer Place", it is probably the most popular pop instrumental of all time.

Lyrics: 

Blue, blue, my world is blue
Blue is my world now I'm without you
Gray, gray, my life is gray
Cold is my heart since you went away

Red, red, my eyes are red
Crying for you alone in my bed
Green, green, my jealous heart
I doubted you and now we're apart

When we met how the bright sun shone
Then love died, now the rainbow is gone

Black, black, the nights I've known
Longing for you so lost and alone

Recorded By:

Al Martino
Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra
Nancy Wilson
Jerry Vale
Andre Kostelanetz and His Orchestra

Monster Mash

By Leonard Capizzi and Bobby Pickett
1962

A Halloween staple ever since it was first recorded in the summer of 1962, "Monster Mash" might well be the song most associated with the spooky season to this day. Pickett, an aspiring actor and member of the band The Cordials, had been entertaining audiences with his Boris Karloff impression when bandmate Capizzi had the idea of building a novelty song around said impression. Born out of the dance fad craze of the era, the "Monster Mash" was intended to lampoon such popular dances as the "mashed potato". The original record went to number-one during Halloween week of 1962, and has been re-released several times, and even recorded by other horror icons Vincent Price and punk band the Misfits.

Lyrics: 

I was working in the lab late one night
When my eyes beheld an eerie sight
For my monster from his slab began to rise
And suddenly to my surprise

He did the mash
He did the monster mash
The monster mash
It was a graveyard smash
He did the mash
It caught on in a flash
He did the mash
He did the monster mash

From my laboratory in the castle east
To the master bedroom where the vampires feast
The ghouls all came from their humble abodes
To get a jolt from my electrodes

They did the mash
They did the monster mash
The monster mash
It was a graveyard smash
They did the mash
It caught on in a flash
They did the mash
They did the monster mash

The zombies were having fun
The party had just begun
The guests included Wolf Man
Dracula and his son

The scene was rockin', all were digging the sounds
Igor on chains, backed by his baying hounds
The coffin-bangers were about to arrive
With their vocal group, "The Crypt-Kicker Five"

They played the mash
They played the monster mash
The monster mash
It was a graveyard smash
They played the mash
It caught on in a flash
They played the mash
They played the monster mash

Out from his coffin, Drac's voice did ring
Seems he was troubled by just one thing
He opened the lid and shook his fist
And said, "Whatever happened to my Transylvania twist"

It's now the mash
It's now the monster mash
The monster mash
And it's a graveyard smash
It's now the mash
It's caught on in a flash
It's now the mash
It's now the monster mash

Now everything's cool, Drac's a part of the band
And my monster mash is the hit of the land
For you, the living, this mash was meant too
When you get to my door, tell them Boris sent you

Then you can mash
Then you can monster mash
The monster mash
And do my graveyard smash
Then you can mash
You'll catch on in a flash
Then you can mash

Then you can monster mash

Recorded By:

Bobby "Boris" Pickett
The Beach Boys
Vincent Price
The Misfits
Zacherley

My Way

By Claude Francois, Jacques Revaux & Paul Anka
1968

Although Frank himself never considered it one of his best, we celebrate his birthday today with what is undoubtedly one of his signature records, and a song that is second only to Lennon & McCartney's "Yesterday" as the most recorded of all time. Originally a French tune by Francois and Revaux, the young Anka heard it and decided to repurpose it for an aging, disillusioned Chairman, who had all but decided to quit the business. Anka slightly altered the melody and gave it English lyrics, and presented it as a gift to Frank, whose recording would result in one the legendary singer's most massive hits. It may not be Porter, Gershwin or Mercer, but it's undeniably Frank, and a song that kept him relevant in the Beatles era. It's been attempted by everyone from Elvis to Sid Vicious, but no one made it his own to the degree that Sinatra did. For whom could those lyrics ever be more true?

Happy Birthday, Francis Albert!

Lyrics:

And now, the end is nearAnd so I face the final curtain
My friend, I'll say it clear
I'll state my case, of which I'm certain
I've lived a life that's full
I traveled each and ev'ry highway
And more, much more than this, I did it my way

Regrets, I've had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do , I saw it through without exemption
I planned each charted course, each careful step along the highway
And more, much more than this, I did it my way

Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew
And through it all, when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out
I faced it all and I stood tall and did it my way

I've loved, I've laughed and cried
I've had my fill, my share of losing
And now, as tears subside, I find it all so amusing
To think I did all that
And may I say, not in a shy way,
"Oh, no, oh, no, not me, I did it my way"

For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught
The right to say the things he feels and not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows and did it my way!

Recorded By: 

Nina Simone
Elvis Presley
Sid Vicious
Gipsy Kings
Andy Williams
Gonzo the Great
Shirley Bassey
Tom Jones
Andrea Bocelli
Patti Lupone

What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?

By Michel Legrand, Alan Bergman & Marilyn Bergman
1969

Legrand was one of the most prominent pop composers of the late 1960s and 1970s, and this was one of his finest. Written for the 1969 film, The Happy Ending, it was introduced by Michael Dees. It was also nominated for the Oscar for Best Song that year, but lost out to Burt Bacharach and Hal David's "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head". This was one of the last of the great Best Song nominees in the classic songbook tradition. It also happened to be my parents' wedding song...

Lyrics:

What are you doing the rest of your life?
North and south and east and west of your life
I have only one request of your life
That you spend it all with me

All the seasons and the times of your days
All the nickels and the dimes of your days
Let the reasons and rhymes of your days
All begin and end with me

I want to see your face
In every kind of light
In fields of dawn
And forests of the night
And when you stand before the candles on a cake
Oh, let me be the one to hear the silent wish you make

Those tomorrow's waiting deep in your eyes
And the world of love you keep in your eyes
I'll awaken what's asleep in your eyes
It may take a kiss or two

Through all of my life
Summer, winter, spring and fall of my life
All I ever will recall of my life
Is all of my life with you.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Barbra Streisand
Sarah Vaughan
Chris Botti & Sting
Dusty Springfield

Wave

By Antonio Carlos Jobim
1967

Originally conceived as an instrumental, this breezy bossa nova tune first appeared on Jobim's album of the same name. The Brazilian composer wrote lyrics for it when Frank Sinatra asked to record it with him as part of his 1970 Sinatra & Co. album. On that record, Sinatra sings the lowest note of his career, a low E-flat. In Portuguese, the name of the song is "Vou Te Contar".

Lyrics:

So close your eyes
For that's a lovely way to be
Aware of things your heart alone was meant to see
The fundamental loneliness goes whenever two can dream a dream together

You cant deny dont try to fight the rising sea
Don't fight the moon, the stars above and don't fight me
The fundamental loneliness goes whenever two can dream a dream together

When I saw you first the time was half-past three
When your eyes met mine it was eternity

By now we know the wave is on its way to be
Just catch that wave don't be afraid of loving me
The fundamental loneliness goes whenever two can dream a dream together

Recorded By:

Oscar Peterson
Sarah Vaughn
Ella Fitzgerald
Mel Torme
Buddy Rich

More

By Riz Ortolani, Nino Oliviero & Norman Newell
1962

An Academy-award winning song with a strange story. It started as an instrumental entitled "Ti Guardero nel Cuore", featured in the exploitation mockumentary Mondo Cane. Later, English lyrics were added by Newell, and the song became a highly popular new standard of the 1960s. Ortolani would later compose the eerily beautiful theme for Cannibal Holocaust, one of the most disturbing films ever made.

Lyrics:

More than the greatest love the world has known,
This is the love I give to you, alone.
More than the simple words I try to say,
I only live to love you more each day.

More than you'll ever know,
My arms long to hold you so.
My life will be in your keeping,
Waking, sleeping, laughing, weeping.

Longer than always is a long, long time.
But far beyond forever, you'll be mine.
I know I never lived before,
And my heart is very sure
No one else could love you more.

Recorded By:

Steve Lawrence
Frank Sinatra
Nat King Cole
Martha & The Vandellas
Della Reese

The Girl from Ipanema

By Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes & Norman Gimbel
1962

A beautiful song unfairly twisted by the rock-obsessed baby boomer generation into the epitome of elevator music, Jobim's greatest hit is anything but dull. A breathtaking bossa nova tune inspired by a real-life girl Jobim and Moraes admired on the beach in Rio, it became an international smash hit and the famous Astrid Giberto recording won the Grammy in 1965. It was originally introduced by Pery Ribeiro, and English lyrics later added by Gimbel.

Lyrics:

Tall and tan and young and lovely,
The girl from Ipanema goes walking.
And when she passes, each one she passes goes, "Ahhh..."

When she walks she's like a samba
That swings so cool and sways so gentle,
That when she passes, each one she passes goes, "Ahhh..."

Oh, but I watch her so sadly.
How can I tell her I love her?
Yes, I would give my heart gladly.
But each day when she walks to the sea,
She looks straight ahead, not at me.

Tall and tan and young and lovely,
The girl from Ipanema goes walking,
And when she passes, I smile, but she doesn't.
She just doesn't see.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Stan Getz
Lou Rawls
Peggy Lee
Ella Fitzgerald

The Sweetest Sounds

By Richard Rodgers
1962

A rare example of a song Rogers composed by melody and lyrics to on his own, this one was for the musical No Strings. It was introduced by Diahann Carroll, whom Rodgers had hand-picked for the female lead. The melody is reportedly inspired by a phrase in Johannes Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2. It's complex tune and minor key gives it a unique, brooding sound.

Lyrics:

The sweetest sounds I'll ever hear
Are still inside my head.
The kindest words I'll ever know
Are waiting to be said.

The most entrancing sight of all
Is yet for me to see....
And the dearest love in all the world
Is waiting somewhere for me,
Is waiting somewhere.... somewhere for me.

Recorded By:

Sarah Vaughan
Barbra Streisand
Eydie Gorme
Brandy
Nancy Wilson

Crazy

By Willie Nelson
1961

Arguably the most beloved crossover country hit of them all, this one was composed by a young, unknown singer-songwriter who then went by the name of Hugh Nelson (pictured). After the original artist he pitched it to turned it down, Nelson gave it to the husband of country singer Patsy Cline, who was looking for a follow-up to "I Fall to Pieces". Cline reportedly hated the fast tempo, and slowed it down to ballad form. The result was one of the all-time classic recordings. The song would become a pop and jazz standard as well.

Lyrics:

Crazy, I'm crazy for feeling so lonely.
I'm crazy, crazy for feeling so blue.

I knew you'd love me as long as you wanted,
And then someday you'd leave me for somebody new.

Worry, why do I let myself worry?
Wond'ring what in the world did I do?

Crazy for thinking that my love could hold you.
I'm crazy for trying and crazy for crying,
And I'm crazy for loving you.

Recorded By:

Shirley Bassey
Cassandra Wilson
Norah Jones
Don McLean
Linda Ronstadt

Make Someone Happy

By Jule Styne, Betty Comden & Adolph Green
1960

A wonderful, infectious life-affirming love ballad from the 1960 Broadway production Do Re Mi, in which it was introduced by John Henry Wheeler and Tilda Mullen. It is perhaps best known to modern listeners thanks to the Jimmy Durante version, used during the closing credits of Sleepless in Seattle, and during a 2008 car commercial. A typically gorgeous Styne melody married to the simple, stirring words of Comden & Green.

Lyrics:

Make someone happy,
Make just one someone happy;
Make just one heart the heart you sing to.
One smile that cheers you,
One face that lights when it nears you,
One girl you're ev'rything to.

Fame if you win it,
Comes and goes in a minute.
Where's the real stuff in life to cling to?
Love is the answer,
Someone to love is the answer.
Once you've found her, build your world around her.

Make someone happy,
Make just one someone happy,
And you will be happy, too.

Recorded By:

Barbra Streisand
Perry Como
Frank Sinatra
Chris Botti
Sammy David Jr.

Spanish Eyes

By Bert Kaempfert & Eddie Snyder
1966

Originally an instrumental called "Moon Over Naples", this one was composed by easy listening bandleader Kaempfert for his 1965 album The Magic Music of Far Away Places. The following year, Snyder added lyrics, changed the title, and the song became a smash hit for Al Martino. It went on to become one of the last standards of the songbook era.

Lyrics:

Blue Spanish eyes,
Teardrops are falling from your Spanish eyes.
Please please don't cry,
This is just adios and not good-bye.

Soon I'll return,
Bringing you all the love your heart can hold.
Please say "Si Si",
Say you and your Spanish eyes will wait for me.

Blue Spanish Eyes,
Prettiest eyes in all of Mexico.
Blue Spanish Eyes,
Please smile for me once more before I go.

Soon I'll return,
Bringing you all the love your heart can hold.
Please say "Si Si",
Say you and your Spanish eyes will wait for me.

Recorded By:

Elvis Presley
Tom Jones
Faith No More
Willie Nelson
Engelbert Humperdinck

Tender Is the Night

By Sammy Fain & Paul Francis Webster
1962

Nominated for the Oscar for Best Song, this song debuted in the movie of the same name, based on the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel and starring the late Jason Robards and Jennifer Jones. It would lose to another classic, Henry Mancini's "Days of Wine and Roses". Bernard Hermann orchestrated it for the film, and Tony Bennett would make the first commercial recording of it, later the same year.

Lyrics:

Tender is the night, so tender is the night.
There's no one in the world except the two of us.
Should tomorrow find us disenchanted,
We have shared a love that few have known.

Summers by the sea, a sailboat in Capri,
These memories shall be these very own.
Even though our dreams may vanish with the morning light,
We loved once in splendor--How tender, how tender is the night.

Recorded By:

Andy Williams
Vic Damone
Johnny Mathis
Billy Eckstine
Les Baxter

Moon River

By Henry Mancini & Johnny Mercer
1961

Winning the Oscar for Best Original Song (in one of the last years in which that meant something), this tune was responsible for rejuvenating Mercer's career after the rise of rock 'n' roll had derailed it some years earlier. Introduced in Breakfast at Tiffany's by Audrey Hepburn, it became Andy Williams' theme song after the crooner sang it at the 1962 Academy Awards ceremony. An inlet in Mercer's hometown of Savannah, Georgia was named Moon River in his honor.

Lyrics:

Moon river, wider than a mile,
I'm crossing you in style some day.
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker,
Wherever you're goin', I'm goin' your way

Two drifters, off to see the world.
There's such a lot of world to see.
We're after the same rainbow's end, waitin' 'round the bend,
My huckleberry friend, moon river, and me.

Recorded By:

Paul Anka
Louis Armstrong
Vic Damone
Vince Guaraldi
Johnny Mathis

Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars

By Antonio Carlos Jobim & Gene Lees
1963

One of the songs Jobim wrote for his groundbreaking collaboration with Stan Getz, this was first sung by the sublime Astrud Gilberto. The album, Getz/Gilberto, won the Grammy for Album of the Year and introduced Jobim and the bossa nova craze to the U.S. That same album also included another seminal bossa standard, "The Girl from Ipanema". It was originally written in Portuguese as "Corcovado".

Lyrics:

Quiet nights of quiet stars,
Quiet chords from my guitar,
Floating on the silence that surrounds us.

Quiet thoughts and quiet dreams,
Quiet walks by quiet streams,
And a window that looks out on the mountains and the sea, how lovely.

This is where I want to be,
Here with you so close to me,
Until the final flicker of life's ember.

I, who was lost and lonely,
Believing life was only
A bitter tragic joke, have found with you,
The meaning of existence, my love.

Recorded By:

Miles Davis
Sergio Mendes
Oscar Peterson
Blossom Dearie
Andy Williams

Once Upon a Time

By Charles Strouse & Lee Adams
1962

This late standard originated in the Broadway show All American, about a fictional university. Strouse & Adams were coming off their previous smash hit Bye, Bye Birdie, and enlisted a little-known TV writer named Mel Brooks to pen the libretto for their new production. Ray Bolger & Eileen Herlie would introduce this song in the original production.

Lyrics:

Once upon a time,
A girl with moonlight in her eyes
Put her hand in mine
And said she loved me so.
But that was once upon a time,
Very long ago.

Once upon a time,
We sat beneath a willow tree,
Counting all the stars
And waiting for the dawn.
But that was once upon a time,
Now the tree is gone.

How the breeze ruffled up her hair,
How we always laughed as though tomorrow wasn't there.
We were young and didn't have a care,
Where did it go?

Once upon a time,
The world was sweeter than we knew.
Everything was ours,
How happy we were then.
But somehow once upon a time
Never comes again.

Recorded By:

Tony Bennett
Bobby Darrin
Jack Jones
Al Martino
Vic Damone

The Second Time Around

By Jimmy Van Heusen & Sammy Cahn
1960

One of Blake Edwards' early comedies, High Time starred Bing Crosby as an older man going back to college, and featured this Oscar-nominated tune. Although it didn't win ("Never on a Sunday" from the Greek film of the same name took home that honor), the song of middle-aged love--as introduced by Crosby in the film--became an instant favorite, and one of the most successful standards of the late "songbook period". An example of a time when not all songs were written for teenagers.

Lyrics:

Love is lovelier,
The second time around.
Just as wonderful,
With both feet on the ground.

It's that second time you hear your love song sung
Makes you think, perhaps, that love, like youth,
Is wasted on the young.

Love's more comfortable
The second time you fall.
Like a friendly home,
The second time you call.

Who can say what brought us to this miracle we've found?
There are those who'd bet
Love comes but once--and yet,
I'm oh so glad we met
The second time around.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Tony Bennett
Nancy Wilson
Michael Bolton & Nicolette Sheridan (?!)
Mel Torme

Meditation

By Antonio Carlos Jobim & Norman Gimbel
1962

Certainly not part of the Great American Songbook, but a classic pop standard nonetheless, as were most of the lush tunes composed by Jobim. A breezily tempoed example of his bossa nova style, it was first written as "Meditação", with original Portuguese lyrics by Newton Mendonça. Here are Gimbel's beautifully introspective English words...

Lyrics:

In my loneliness,
When you're gone and I'm all by myself,
And I need your caress,
I just think of you,
And the thought of you holding me near
Makes my loneliness soon disappear.

Though you're far away,
I have only to close my eyes
And you are back to stay.
I just close my eyes,
And the sadness that missing you brings
Soon is gone, and this heart of mine sings.

Yes, I love you so,
And that for me is all I need to know.
I will wait for you,
Till the sun falls from out of the sky,
For what else can I do?

I will wait for you,
Meditating how sweet life will be
When you come back to me.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Blossom Dearie
Doris Day
Tito Puente
Vic Damone

The Good Life

By Sacha Distel & Jack Reardon
1962

Originally written as "La Belle Vie" by French composer Distel, the easy-going cabaret tune made its way to American shores almost immediately, and its English translation was turned into a signature hit by Tony Bennett. It made it to the top 20 on the pop charts, and remains part of Bennett's regular repertoire to this day.

Lyrics:

Oh, the good life--
"Full of fun" seems to be the ideal.
Yes, the good life
Lets you hide all the sadness you feel.

You won't really fall in love,
For you can't take the chance.
So be honest with yourself,
Don't try to fake romance.

It's the good life--
To be free, and explore the unknown.
Like the heartaches
When you learn you must face them alone.

Please remember I still want you,
And in case you wonder why,
Well, just wake up, kiss the good life goodbye.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Ray Charles
Shirley Horn
Matt Monro
Jack Jones