Composers using the same song with different lyrics in different show?

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 1:15am

We all know that composers often used "trunk songs" or unused melodies that didn't work in one show, later in a different show with different lyrics.

But I just heard Michael Redgrave in the TV recording of RUGGLES OF RED GAP sing the Jule Styne/Leo Robin "I'm in Pursuit of Happiness," which later appeared with Sondhelm lyrics as "You'll Never Get Away from Me," of course from GYPSY.

Styne did this again, this time with Comden and Green on both shows, with "Call Me Savage" from FADE OUT, FADE IN, then with new lyrics for "Witches Brew" in HALLELUJAH BABY!

Does anyone know of other instances where songs that were actually in shows were rewritten and used again?

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 2:00am

ALW has a number, of course--I know some of the original 70s Jeeves ended up in later shows. If we count Cricket, the one act he did with Rice for Queen E's 60th anniversary, as a fully realized musical, a lot of that ended up in Aspects of Love I believe. And there is of course Our Kind of Love from Beautiful Game ending up as Love Never Does in that piece (and was originally written for a different Phantom II). Of course that doesn't even mention things like how the pop songs he had recorded that ended up in later pieces, and cut songs (ie a lot of Phantom was originally worked out for an earlier Aspects of Love but aside from Sydmonton workshops was never staged). Tire Tracks in Whistle Down the Wind was in one of the several versions of Song and Dance/Tell me on a Sunday as ENglish Girls I think (?)

I am sure there are many examples from shows from the 20s-40s in particular.

Poor Everybody Else by Fields/Coleman was written and briefly performed in Sweet Charity out of town, but Gwen Verdon found it hard to sing and dance a song with long held notes. They reused it in Seesaw, though I have no idea how much, if any, was re-written, I've always been curious.

[Leadingplayer]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 4:58am

"Dance of the Vampires" had songs from the movie Streets of Fire recycled.

[After Eight]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 6:39am

The music from Show Tune in Parade was used in It's Today in Mame.
My Wife, cut on the road from Allegro, appeared with new lyrics as Younger Than Springtime in South Pacific.


Updated On: 9/18/12 at 06:39 AM

[Jon]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 7:03am

Daddy Warbuck's song "Something Was Missing" from ANNIE, and the song "Greenhorns" from RAGS both re-used melodies from the film "The Night They Raided Minsky's". The first was "You Rat You", sung by Lilian Heyman, and the second was the instrumental accompaniment for Britt Ekland's strip tease routine.

Click below for the first song.







link here Updated On: 9/18/12 at 07:03 AM

[NoName3]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 1:07pm

Bill from Show Boat. It was written for Vivienne Segal to sing in Kern's Oh, Lady! Lady!! in 1918 but cut during previews as not being right for that show. Kern pulled it out of his trunk for Show Boat and Hammerstein heavily revised the original lyrics by P.G. Wodehouse but always insisted Wodehouse be given full credit and it is his name in the show's credits and on the sheet music.



Updated On: 9/18/12 at 01:07 PM

[wildcat]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 2:11pm

"Suddenly Lucky", cut from SOUTH PACIFIC became "Getting To Know You" in THE KING & I

[NoName3]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 4:01pm

If you want expand the list to include songs written for one show, not used but then used in a later show, that would be a much longer list.

As mentioned above, Getting to Know You started out as a soft shoe number for the Thanksgiving show in South Pacific. Will You Marry Me was written for South Pacific but not used until Pipe Dream.

Say a Prayer For Me Tonight was written for My Fair Lady but not used until Gigi.

Dumb Dog was written for the stage version of Annie. Don't know at what point it was cut.

Bernstein at one point was writing Candide and West Side Story concurrently and there is music in each show first intended for the other. The music for One Hand, One Heart was written for Candide (and first tried in WSS's balcony scene, later moved to the bridal shop scene and replaced in the earlier scene by Tonight). Gee Officer Krupke's music was written for the Venice scene in Candide. Meanwhile the music for Oh Happy We in Candide was written for a scene cut from WSS.

I remember lots of rumors at the time that a great deal, maybe half, of the music for I Remember Mama was pulled from Rodgers' trunk because of various problems he was having at the time. Have no idea to what extent that is actually true.

There's an endless list of examples like this.

ETA: I see I should have reread your original post from last night, Jay, as you did mention trunk songs in the first sentence and were looking for something else.







Updated On: 9/18/12 at 04:01 PM

[Jon]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 4:29pm

The three note "Jet whistle" motif from WSS can be heard in the Auto Da Fe scene in CANDIDE.

[morosco]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 4:32pm

Strouse had used his Tomorrow melody with different lyrics long before ANNIE in some industrial or trade film of some sort. It used to be posted on YouTube but can't find it anymore.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 4:41pm

"The music for One Hand, One Heart was written for Candide (and first tried in WWS's balcony scene, later moved to the bridal shop scene and replaced in the earlier scene by Tonight). Gee Officer Krupke's music was written for the Venice scene in Candide. Meanwhile the music for Oh Happy We in Candide was written for a scene cut from WSS."

Of course One Hand was slightly changed when Sondheim suggested using dotted notes to make it easier to write lyrics. Oh Happy We was intended for the One Hand segment in the dress shop I am pretty sure--as a fantasy wedding sequence.

Didn't Sondheim admit to re-using some music for Road Show from another project? I know he rarely does otherwise, let alone admits to it...

[NoName3]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 5:00pm

The Sondheim Guide says Oh Happy We was written for a tea party scene. Who knew they were Republicans?

[Smaxie]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 5:02pm

Barnum's "Love Makes Such Fools Of Us All" is the underscoring during the scene on the ferris wheel in Sweet Charity.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 5:05pm

Interesting--not all composers even do their own underscore, so it's interesting that Coleman used that.

NoName I'm sticking to what I heard about a fantasy sequence in the Bridal Shop--maybe it was meant to be a post marriage tea party... :P

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 5:06pm

Cole Porter.

"Be A Clown"
"Make 'Em Laugh"

And, although they are not exactly the same song, and have different composers, but the same lyricist, Alan Jay Lerner, Lowe's Nimue's Song and Lane's Come Back To Me almost qualify; they are almost the same song, one low key and minor, the other uptempo and major.

[NoName3]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 5:13pm

@Eric: Sounds right to me.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 5:19pm

"Cole Porter.

"Be A Clown"
"Make 'Em Laugh" "

Except Make 'Em Laugh is a Freed/Brown song (obviously based/ripped off of Be a Clown).

[NoName3]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 5:22pm

Years ago I read that Cole Porter visited the set of Singing in the Rain and the staff were horrified to realize Make 'Em Laugh was being shot that day. Everyone knew the song was a ripoff of the Porter song but nobody said anything because the lyrics were by Arthur Freed, the film's producer. Porter was very diplomatic and didn't mention it either but he obviously wasn't happy. Can't source it.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 7:52pm

I can't source it either, NoName. The version I read omitted Cole Porter and just had the cast horrified and wondering what Porter would say when he saw the film.

But both versions have the horrified listeners keeping silent on the subject, which begs the question whether Freed knew what he was doing.

The SINGIN' IN THE RAIN score is a collection of existing songs and, since THE PIRATE was an MGM film, MGM would have owned the copyright to "Be a Clown."

Freed was probably legally within his rights to use the tune, but that doesn't excuse his failing to give Porter credit for it.

[NoName3]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 8:48pm

Gaveston, the version I read was actually worse. Freed bragged to Porter about his new song (the rest of the score was Brown/Freed standards; it was the only new song in the score). He sat him down in a director's chair and then asked for a complete run-through. Everyone there was mortified.

Again, I read this years ago and can't source it. Maybe it's in Hugh Fordin's book about the Freed unit, a book noted for its errors.

I found a short article at The Straight Dope about the similarity of the songs. Evidently Stanley Donen was the only person who called him out and accused him of plagiarism. Freed as producer ordered him to use the song.

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/334/arent-the-show-tunes-be-a-clown-and-make-em-laugh-suspiciously-similar



Updated On: 9/18/12 at 08:48 PM

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 9:06pm

Thanks for the link. I wouldn't have expected THE STRAIGHT DOPE to cover that. (Adams' version is particularly damning because it has Donen telling Freed to use "Be a Clown" as a model.)

For the record, I'm a lyricist and every composer I've worked with has said something to the effect of "We're all working with the same 12 notes. We're bound to duplicate ourselves or somebody else eventually." But this is an extreme example.


Updated On: 9/18/12 at 09:06 PM