A Cup of Coffee, a Sandwich, and You - Billy Rose, Al Dubin & Joseph Meyer

"A Cup of Coffee, a Sandwich and You" is a 1925 song
written by Joseph Meyer, with lyrics by Al Dubin and Billy Rose.

The title was inspired by the famous line "A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread--and Thou" from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. The song first gained popularity after it was performed (and recorded) by Gertrude Lawrence and Jack Buchanan in André Charlot's show Charlot's Revue when it came to New York in 1926. The song was Dubin's first significant success and was credited with bringing Lawrence and Buchanan popularity in the United States.

The song was licensed for use as a recurring motif in the Preston Sturges film Christmas in July (1940), and also appeared in the Jeanne Crain film Margie (1946). Carl Stalling would frequently use this song as backing music in Warner Bros. cartoons during scenes depicting hunger, cooking, or eating. Witch Hazel sings her own version of the tune, with altered lyrics, in Broom-Stick Bunny. The song was also recorded by Roger Wolfe Kahn and His Orchestra on Victor Records.

G            A#m7     G 

In the movie plays of now-a-days 

C               D7            G  

Romance always must begin in June 

          A#m7           G 

Tales in magazines have all their scenes 

    A7                               D7 

Of love laid in a garden 'neath the moon 

    G 

But I don't miss, that kind of bliss 

A7              D7 

What I want is this - 

Chorus: 

D7        G         D7           G 

A cup of coffee, a sandwich and you, 

D7                          G 

A cozy corner, a table for two, 

                         D7        G 

A chance to whisper and cuddle and coo 

              D7                     G 

With lots of huggin' and kissin' in view. 

   Gm7   G7   C                 G 

I don't need music, lobster or wine, 

          A7                 D7 

Whenever your eyes look into mine. 

              G            D7        G 

The things I long for are simple and few; 

          D7                     G Gdim G 

A cup of coffee, a sandwich and you!

The Frim Fram Sauce - Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong

"The Frim-Fram Sauce" is a jazz song, made famous by The Nat King Cole Trio and performed by a variety of musicians over the years. "The Frim-Fram Sauce" was written in 1945. The lyrics were written by Redd Evans, who wrote words to a number of Cole songs. The music was composed by Joe Ricardel, known as the co-writer of the "Brooklyn Dodger Jump", among others.

"The Frim Fram Sauce" is best remembered for its silly lyrics. The narrator speaks to a waiter in a restaurant, as if in the process of ordering food. Throughout the song, the customer lists numerous real foods that he doesn't want, such as pork chops and fish cakes. In the chorus, he explains what he really wants: some "frim fram sauce" with the "oss and fay" /ˈɒs.nˌfeɪ/ with "shifafa" /ʃəˈfɑːfə/ on the side. (The spelling is uncertain; we could instead have "oss'n'fay" or "ussinfay" /ˈʌs.nˌfeɪ/), and "shafafa.") At the end, the narrator character says: "If you don't have it, just bring me a check for the water!" This may be interpreted as the character performing a scam: he wanted the water (which is customarily served free to customers at restaurants before they order), and makes up nonsense words for dishes as he has no intention of really ordering anything (which he would have to pay for), and he knows that he will not be charged for the water.

Although considered a novelty song, "The Frim Fram Sauce" has nonetheless endured as a memorable tune of its era. It has been performed by numerous artists including Ella Fitzgerald (with Louis Armstrong), Slim and Slam (Slim Gaillard and Slam Stewart), Les Brown, John Pizzarelli, Diana Krall, who included the song in both her 1993 debut album Stepping Out as well as her 1996 Nat King Cole tribute album, All For You, and Mandy Mann (2005). American blues guitarist Bob Brozman also included a version of the song, with somewhat revised lyrics on his 2007 album, Post-Industrial Blues. The song was also performed on the American Idol TV show in 2002 by Ryan Starr. Deana Martin recorded "The Frim Fram Sauce" on her 2013 album Destination Moon.

A plausible etymology and meanings for two of the three strange food terms in the lyrics – which the lyrics writers may or may not simply have made up as nonsense terms – were given in an article by etymologist-philologist William Safire published in 2002:
• frim fram is an alteration of "flim(-)flam," meaning "insignificant stuff" or "nonsense"
• ussin-fay is pig Latin for "fussin'," playing about fretfully. 

As mentioned in Safire's article, the food terms, especially the third term, "shafafa", are often interpreted as having a sexual meaning or innuendo.

E  D9   E7     A     D9        A           D9

I don't want french fried po - ta - toes, 

A    D9       A           D9

Red ripe to - ma - toes,

B7         Edim         B7

I'm nev- er sat - is - fied.

           D9        Cdim            A       F#7

I want the frim fram sauce with the aus - en fay

           D9     E7/6     A  Edim  E7

With chi - fa - fa on the side.

E  D9   E7    A     D9      A         D9

I don't want pork chops and ba - con, 

A     D9       A        D9

That won't a - wa - ken

   B7        Edim       B7

My ap - pe - tite in - side.

            D9       Cdim            A       F#7

I want the frim fram sauce with the aus - en fay

           D9      Dm6     A 

With chi - fa - fa on the side.

Bridge:

       A7             D      D6

Now A fella's really got to eat

       A7    Fdim        D9

And a fella should eat right.

 B7      Cdim      E

Five will get you ten

Fdim       B7         Cdim     E7

I'm gonna feed myself right tonight.

E  D9   E7    A     D9      A         D9

I don't want fish cakes and rye bread - 

A     D9       A        D9

You heard what I said.

B7             Edim        B7

Waiter, please serve mine fried

            D9       Cdim            A       F#7

I want the frim fram sauce with the aus - en fay

           D9      Dm6     A 

With chi - fa - fa on the side.

If you don’t have it, just bring me a cheque for the water! 

Brother Can You Spare a Dime - Yip Harburg

This is a song about how people got caught up in building a new country, creating a land of opportunity, skyscrapers, railroads, and cities. They fought in wars, tramping through the bullets and mud to protect its freedoms, but were cast aside when they were no longer needed. Yip Harburg had also written the lyrics to ALL the songs in the Wizard of Oz, and several other tin pan alley classics, but was blacklisted during the McCarthy Era for being a socialist. 

You can read a potted history of Yip Harburg here 

https://sandiegofreepress.org/2016/10/e-y-yip-harburg/

[Intro] Am E7 E7 E7

Am                            Dm6       E      E7

They used to tell me I was building a dream

Am                     Dm6

And so I followed the mob.

Am                               Dm6 

When there was earth to plow or guns to bear,

        E                                E7

I was always there, right on the job...

Am                           Dm6         E      E7

They used to tell me I was building a dream

Am                     Dm6

With peace and glory ahead

          Am       Am/C       E    Am             Dm6  E  E7      

Why should I be standing in line, just waiting for bread?

Am                        E7     A7

Once I built a railroad, made it run,

D        G7          C        E7

Made it race against time;

Dm/F           E7          Am        F7

Once I build a railroad -- now it's done.

Dm6             E7      Am

Brother, can you spare a dime?

Am                    E7    A7

Once I built a tower to the sun,

D        G7          C     E7

Brick and rivet and lime;

Dm/F           E7     Am       F7

Once I build a tower now it's done.

Dm6             E7      Am

Brother, can you spare a dime?

A7

Once, in khaki suits, gee, we looked swell,

                              Gm6   A7

Full of that Yankee Doodle de-dum;

 D7

Half a million boots went sloggin' through Hell 

Am                      F7    E7

I was the kid with the drum.

Am                              E7      A7

Say, don't you remember, they called me Al?

D         G7        C    E7

It was Al all the time.

Dm/F              E7      Am       F7

Say, don't you remember?  I'm your pal.

Dm6             E7         Am

Buddy can you spare  a   dime?

Cover by Alex Francis

Sunday 7 January 2018

Hanuka Dance - Woody Guthrie

Woody Guthrie's Hanukah Songs

December, 2016

Author: Eliahu Adelman

Photo of Woody and Marjorie from the Woody Guthrie Foundation Archives

Over the generations Hanukah has generated a substantial repertoire of songs, some of which have attained an almost universal status, even among non-Jews. At the same time, the need of each generation to express itself in its particular contemporary literary and musical taste has engendered new songs. These new songs about Hanukah represent the individual reflections by poets and singers on the holiday's themes and the stories associated with it. These include, to name only a few, songs by Morris Rosenfeld, Debbie Friedman, Adam Sandler,  The Maccabeats and many additional artists. In honor of the forthcoming Hanukah celebration we will discuss a few songs written by Woody Guthrie, America's troubadour of the downtrodden and the oppressed.

Woody Guthrie (1912-1967) was one of the United States' great and prolific folk singers. Many of his songs dealt with the plight of the worker, the importance of unionization, social solidarity and resistance against tyranny in its many forms. His influence on American music is incalculable, as new generations of musicians continue to adapt and be inspired by his work.

It was through his close connection to the poet and socialist Greenblatt that Guthrie became more acquainted with Judaism. They would share songs and Woody would study Jewish texts and history. In the late 1940s Guthrie wrote a handful of Hanukah-related songs, some for the local Jewish community and some for his children. The themes of the songs range from joyous children's songs, without much content connected to the actual holiday (Hanuka Dance, Hanuka Gelt, Honeyky Hanukah), to songs that express the rituals and history of Hanukah (Hanuka Bell, The Many and the Few, Happy Joyous Hanuka -- the latter is structured as a cumulative song similar to the Passover Seder songs Had gadya and Ehad mi yode’a) to a song that has a certain Christian feeling to it (Hanuka Tree).

Within his vast oeuvre there are a handful of songs with Jewish themes, and a few of them are specifically related to Hanukah. Guthrie himself was not Jewish; however his second wife, Marjorie Mazia Greenblatt, and their four children, including famous folk-singer Arlo Guthrie, were. Guthrie met Marjorie in 1942 when she was performing a dance based on one of his songs. Their first daughter Cathy Ann was born in 1943 and they were married from 1945 until 1953. In 1942 the couple moved to Coney Island, across the street from Marjorie's mother, Aliza Greenblatt, a well-respected Yiddish poet and songwriter in her own right.

Although no direct connection has been documented, a similarity can be found between the themes that arise in most of Guthrie's Hanukah songs and a Yiddish Hanukah poem written by Greenblatt that was published during the same period. This poem, Hanukah, was released in her 1947 collection of children's poems and songs Ikh Zing, and can point towards a possible inspiration and template for Guthrie's songs. This five verse poem (one of the few holiday songs in the book published without music), like the themes interspersed between Guthrie's Hanukah themed texts, combines the telling of part of the holiday story -- in this case the story of Hannah and her seven sons – with verses on family rituals, eating Hanukah food, and a general sense of happiness and togetherness.

                G Tippy tap toe! Happy Hanuka! D ‘Round you go! My little latke! G On your toes! Happy Hanuka! A D And around and around you go! G Clap your hands! Happy Hanuka! D Clap clap hands! My little strudel! G On your toes! Happy Hanuka! A D And around and around you go! G Jump real high! Happy Hanuka! D Jump jump high! My little fruitycake! G On your toes! Happy Hanuka! A D And around and around you go! G Run real fast! Happy Hanukkah! D Runny run run! My little sugar pie! G On your toes! Happy Hanuka! A D And around and around you go! G Hop hop hop! Happy Hanukkah! D Hoppity hop! My little rabbit! G On your toes! Happy Hanuka! A D And around and around you go! G Skippy skip skip! Happy Hanukkah! D Skippity skip! My little honeybun! G On your toes! Happy Hanuka! A D And around and around you go!

Medusa In Chains - The Fratellis

Medusa In Chains

Artist: The Fratellis

Album: Eyes Wide, Tongue Tied

Released: 2015

Art by Peter Marček

Intro D Bm7 Em A x2

D                 Bm7                  Em                             A 
Turn off the light when you leave, switch off that evil sound
D               Bm7          Em                          A
I'm trying hard not to breathe, till I'm on solid ground
D                          C#             F#m    D                 C#                  F#m
Sometimes that's just how it goes-,   take it from someone who knows
G                D                F#m                 G        Gm
Eyes wide, tongue tied, she   replied, "I'm lost in-side"

D                  Bm7     Em                         A 
I'm not your miracle man I'm not your spirit guide
D                Bm7              Em                       A 
Before this whole thing began I had some sense of pride
D                      C#                   F#m    D                        C#        F#m
Just one more night with your lips-,   your company is hard to eclipse
G                   D                F#m           G             Gm
Weak knees, yes indeed guaranteed, make my heart ble-ed

D               Bm7        Em                            A 
Give me a reason to breathe don't let my sun go down!
D                   Bm7         Em                      A 
I'll make you sad and receive I'll be your sa-cred ground
D              Bm7      Em          A 
Be my Medusa in Cha-ins, petrified
D               Bm7       Em 
Only your beauty rema-ins
A#                                                                                      D   Bm7 Em A      
Tell me, baby, one more time won't you be a friend o-f mine?

D  Bm7 Em A      

D                 Bm7      Em                            A 
Put out your e-   cigarette, take off your sequin shawl
D                  Bm7        Em                      A 
Just try your best to forget, that I once made you crawl
D                      C#                F#m   D                               C#              F#m
Just one more sway of your hips-,    I love the way your con-fidence slips
G                      D             F#m          G                             Gm
You should be out-lawed, dear  God, every single breath, I  a-ppla-ud

D               Bm7       Em                            A 
Give me a reason to breathe don't let my sun go- down!
D                   Bm7        Em                       A 
I'll make you sad and receive I'll be your sa-cred ground
D         Bm7             Em          A 
Be my Medusa in Cha-ins, petrified
D               Bm7        Em 
Only your beauty rema-ins        
A#                                                                                    D        
Tell me, baby, one more time won't you be a friend o-f- mine?