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“The wonderful
Ray Charles is given free rein at
the piano as trombonist Steve Turre
leads the group through a medium-paced
version of the song.” |
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- Ben Maycock
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Fred
Astaire introduced “The Way
You Look Tonight” in the RKO musical
Swing Time, the sixth of
ten films he would star in with
Ginger Rogers. For the film,
Dorothy Fields and Jerome Kern wrote
one of the most popular film scores
of all time, with “The Way You Look
Tonight,” beating out “I’ve
Got You Under My Skin” and “Pennies
from Heaven” to win the 1936
Academy Award for best song.
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Swing Time was a goldmine
for
Fred Astaire. He recorded five
of the seven songs that composed
the score and each one became a
hit. “The Way You Look Tonight”
climbed up the pop charts to settle
at the number one slot for six weeks.
The flip side to that record was
“Pick
Yourself Up” which rose to number
six. “A
Fine Romance” was nearly as
well received, rising to number
one for five weeks while its flip
side, the instrumental “Waltz in
Swing Time,” peaked at number sixteen.
“Never Gonna Dance” was a number
five hit with its flip side, “Bojangles
of Harlem,” attaining seventeenth
position. Each of the recordings
was made with
Johnny Green and His Orchestra,
and the only song that did not become
a hit was the short dance number
“It’s Not in the Cards.”
“The Way You Look Tonight” was
covered by a number of groups, notably
- Guy Lombardo and His Royal
Canadians (1936, #3)
-
Teddy Wilson and His Orchestra
(1936,
Billie Holiday, vocal, #3)
-
Benny Goodman and His Orchestra
(1942, Peggy Lee, vocal, #21)
- The Letterman (1961, #13)
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Originally titled I Won’t
Dance, after the Kern song in
1935’s
Roberta, then Never Gonna
Dance,
Swing Time presents Fred
and Ginger at the top of their form
dancing to a phenomenal score. The
film proved a commercial success
and endures to this day as one of
their top vehicles despite a flimsy
plot that critics have called tedious,
practically non-existent, and even
asinine.
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Rather than Astaire singing
“The Way You Look Tonight”
directly to Rogers, perhaps in an
evening gown on a balcony, the film
takes a lighter approach. Astaire
plays the piano and sings to no
one, while
Ginger Rogers is washing her
hair in the next room. Unexpectedly,
she walks in on him as he completes
the song.
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The instant popularity of Kern’s score was no
accident. In
The Melody Lingers On: The Great Songwriters and
Their Movie Musicals, author Roy Hemming
says of
Swing Time, “Neither the picture nor the
score ‘swings’ in the true sense of the era’s swing
music craze. But Kern’s score is, overall, his most
unabashedly and buoyantly pop-oriented.” True to
the pop style, “The Way You Look Tonight” is in
the A-A-B-A, 32-bar form with no verse.
Also in top form is Dorothy Fields, who supports
Kern’s sensuous composition with lyrics that tell
of the desire to capture a moment, saving a beautiful
memory for the future. Statements of admiration:
“you’re lovely,” “your smile so warm,” “your cheeks
so soft,” describe the vision to be saved. Fields
is regularly praised for “The Way You Look Tonight”
and her contribution to the Swing Time score
in general. In
Easy to Remember: The Great American Songwriters
and Their Songs, author William Zinsser
comments on the pairing of the 50-year-old Kern
and the 30-year-old Fields saying, “The young lyricist
drew out of the famously intractable older composer
a score of unusual zest.” Allen Forte, in
Listening to Classic American Popular Songs
says of “The Way You Look Tonight”: “In short, she
has created extraordinarily intricate and, yes,
poetic lyrics, lyrics that I would compare with
the best of
Lorenz Hart’s.” -JW
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Musical analysis of
“The Way You Look Tonight”
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| Original
Key |
Eb major;
bridge shifts to Gb major |
| Form |
A – A – B
– A with an eight-bar extension |
| Tonality |
Primarily
major |
| Movement |
There are
downward leaps, ascending step-wise in “A”
section. The “B” section contains repeated
notes moving in skips and steps in both
directions over a fairly narrow range (less
than an octave). There are sustained notes
throughout. |
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Comments
(assumed
background)
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This is the I – vi – ii – V7 progression
(“Heart
And Soul,” “These
Foolish Things”) but with some substitutions
and variations. For example, the second
time through the progression in “A,” a iii
chord is substituted for I, and the vi becomes
a VI7(b9). “B” does the same thing in the
bIII key (Gb in the original), substituting
a #i˚7 for the vi (in the
original: Gb – G˚7 – Abm). Modulation
back to the tonic key is
accomplished by way of going to the
relative minor (Eb minor) with the vi –III7
becoming a “pivot,” turning into the V7
of the initial tonic key. |
K. J. McElrath - Musicologist for JazzStandards.com
Check out K. J. McElrath's book of Jazz Standards Guide Tone Lines at his web site (www.bardicle.com). |
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Add a comment and we'll credit you with a link
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“The Way You Look Tonight”
was included in these films:
- Swing Time (1936, 1-Fred Astaire,
2-George Metaxa, 3-instrumental)
- Chinatown (1974)
- Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Carrie Fisher
- Alice (1990, Erroll Garner)
- Father of the Bride (1991,
Steve Tyrell)
- Father of the Bride Part II
(1995, Steve Tyrell)
- Deconstructing Harry (1997,
Erroll Garner Trio)
- My Best Friend's Wedding (1997,
Tony Bennett)
- National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation
(1997, Gary LeMel)
- Love's Labour's Lost (2000,
Geraldine McEwan, Richard Briers)
- Manna from Heaven (2002, Shirley
Jones, Buffalo Philharmonic)
- Anything Else (2003, Billie
Holiday, Teddy Wilson and His Orchestra)
- What a Girl Wants (2003, Oliver
James)
And on stage:
- Never Gonna Dance (2003, danced
by Noah Racey, Nancy Lemenager) Broadway musical
And on television:
- New York: A Documentary Film
(1999, Jacqueline Schwab) PBS American Experience
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
(1999, James Darren) Season 7, Episode 125,
"What You Leave Behind, Part I"
- Friends (2000, Tony Bennett)
NBC sitcom, Season 6, Episode 17, "The One with
Unagi"
- Young Americans (2000, Julius
La Rosa) WB drama series, Season 1, Episode
4, "Cinderbella"
- Six Feet Under (2002) HBO
drama series, Season 2, Episode 24, "The Liar
and the Whore"
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Click on a CD for more details
at Amazon.com
Lionel Hampton
The Lionel Hampton Quintet
2001, Universal
Original recording, 1954, Verve
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| Vibraphonist Hampton leads heavyweights,
such as pianist Oscar Peterson and drummer
Buddy Rich, through a swinging “The Way
You Look Tonight.” Clarinetist Buddy DeFranco
tops them all with his sentimental solo. |
Fred Astaire
Steppin’ Out: Fred Astaire Sings
1994, Polygram #523006
Original recording, 1952
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| Astaire displays the vocal phrasing
and delivery that made him a favorite of
composers and lyricists. His stellar jazz
sextet includes Charlie Shavers (t), Flip
Phillips(ts), Oscar Peterson (p), Barney
Kessel(g), Ray Brown (b), and Alvin Stoller
(d). |
Steve Turre
In the Spur of the Moment
2000, Telarc 83484
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| The wonderful Ray Charles is given
free rein at the piano as trombonist Steve
Turre leads the group through a medium-paced
version of the song. Charles is terrific
in an improvisatory role that he rarely
commits to CD. |
Tete Montoliu
The Music I Like to Play, Vol. 4
1990, Soul Note #121250
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| The Catalonian pianist goes for
broke in this solo outing. “The Way You
Look Tonight,” taken in waltz time, rises
above the ordinary in his creative hands. |
Tina Brooks
Minor Move
2000, Blue Note 22671
Original recording, 1958
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| Trumpeter Lee Morgan and drummer
Art Blakey join saxophonist Brooks for a
searing bop version of the song. JazzTimes
commented on the recording: “the gem of
the date is an inspired reading of ‘The
Way You Look Tonight.’” |
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Often an interpretation of a song is so engrained
in the psyche that it’s hard to think of it in another
way.
Fred Astaire’s version of this opus as a ballad
led the way for a number of covers by vocalists,
most notably
Billie Holiday’s with the
Teddy Wilson Orchestra and Peggy Lee’s with
the
Benny Goodman Sextet.
Guitarist and nightclub owner Eddie Condon was
an indefatigable proponent of the style of jazz
referred to as “Dixieland,” although he and his
musicians disliked the stereotypical term. On a
rare occasion when they were allowed to record something
other than “Muskrat
Ramble” and “Jazz
Me Blues,” Condon’s crew laid down a scorching,
up-tempo version of this in 1946 that led the way
for other versions at a similar tempo.
Chris Tyle - Jazz Musician and Historian
Benny Goodman
1942
Classics 1324
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This section shows the jazz standards
written by the same writing team. Click on a name
to see all of a writer's jazz standards.
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Additional information on “The Way You Look Tonight” may be found in:
6 pages including the following types of information: history, lyric analysis, music analysis and song lyrics. (Book includes CD).
3 paragraphs including the following types of information: music analysis.
5 pages including the following types of information: music analysis.
1 paragraph including the following types of information: summary, lyric analysis and music analysis.
1 paragraph including the following types of information: history and performers.
5 paragraphs including the following types of information: history.
Includes the following types of information: song lyrics.
1 paragraph including the following types of information: music analysis.
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