Last month I wrote about Oscar Levant. Another great talent at that time was Cole Porter. I have always loved his songs, can play most of them, and have, over the years, learned to understand who he was, through his music. I can tell you that he had to be nearly schizophrenic, as his daily persona seems almost 180 from the expression of his songs.
Here’s what Wikipedia tells us –
“Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, Porter defied his grandfather’s wishes for him to practice law and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn to musical theatre. After a slow start, he began to achieve success in the 1920s, and by the 1930s he was one of the major songwriters for the Broadway musical stage. Unlike many successful Broadway composers, Porter wrote the lyrics as well as the music for his songs.”
Here’s how he hits me –
Every time I play “True Love” or “Every Time We Say Goodbye,” tears come. Those songs reach me on an emotional level that not many others do, though I have to admit that tears come with the truly beautiful songs of those days gone by, much more frequently for me than they used to.
“Every time we say goodbye, I die a little
Every time we say goodbye, I wonder why a little
Why the Gods above me, who must be in the know
Think so little of me, they allow you to go
When you’re near, there’s such an air of spring about it
I can hear a lark somewhere, begin to sing about it
There’s no love song finer, but how strange the change
from major to minor
Every time we say goodbye”
Here’s my version of Every Time We Say Goodby –
If you’re under 60, there’s a good chance all this means absolutely nothing to you. In any event, Cole Porter was a poet, a romantic, a musical wizard. His lyrics matched his music so beautifully, or it might have been the other way around… that’s how good his songs were. Here’s another that absolutely kills me every time. “True Love” in the movie “High Society”
Intro –
“Suntanned, windblown
Honeymooners at last alone
Feeling far above par
Oh, how lucky we are” (And if you’re really lucky, you’re hearing Bing Crosby sing this in your head!)
Verse –
“While I give to you and you give to me
True love, true love
So on and on it will always be
True love, true love
For you and I have a guardian angel
On high, with nothing to do
But to give to you and to give to me
Love forever true,
Love forever true.”
A few of my favorite Cole Porter songs –
– Too Darn Hot
– My Heart Belongs to Daddy
– Begin the Beguine
– You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To
– It’s de-Lovely
– True Love
– Love For Sale
– Anything Goes
– Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love)
– Let’s Misbehave
– Easy to Love
– What Is This Thing Called Love
– Just One of Those Things
– I Get a Kick Out of You
– In the Still of the Night
– Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye
– Night and Day
– You Do Something to Me
And that great line from “You Do Something To Me” –
“When I’m under your spell, do do that voodoo that you do so well”
Porter’s life story was much different from most famous composers. He was born into wealth, graduated from Yale, and soon moved to Paris during WW I and married. He lived lavishly in both Paris and Venice, all the time writing songs for Broadway productions.
In 1918, he met Linda Lee Thomas, a rich, Louisville, Kentucky-born divorcée eight years his senior. She was beautiful and well-connected socially; the couple shared mutual interests, including a love of travel, and she became Porter’s confidante and companion. The couple married the following year. She was in no doubt about Porter’s homosexuality, but it was mutually advantageous for them to marry.
In 1923, Porter came into an inheritance from his grandfather, and the Porters began living in rented palaces in Venice. He maintained a luxury apartment in Paris, where he entertained lavishly. His parties were extravagant and scandalous, with “much gay and bisexual activity, Italian nobility, cross-dressing, international musicians and a large surplus of recreational drugs.”.
Cole Porter lived so large, so sophisticated and so extravagant, I don’t relate to any of it… which makes it so curious for me, loving and understanding his music as I do. I will always be grateful for those with special talents, who are willing to pursue and share those wonderful talents with us, and at the same time I’m equally mystified by the personalities behind those talents.
It turns out that loving certain songs and understanding them on a fairly deep level, still gives me absolutely no clue as to the personalities of their composers. Hm. Maybe the sages were right…perhaps the depth of another human being is beyond our ability to understand. Or perhaps a person’s artistry belies their daily persona. Either way, Cole, you do something to me!
Steve Hulse
