CHARACTERISTICS OF COLE PORTER SONGS

COLE  PORTER
(1891 - 1964)

All of COLE PORTER’s shows were either REVUES or witty MUSICAL COMEDIES.  He wrote both the WORDS and MUSIC for all of his songs.  He did NOT write the books (scripts) for his shows.  He left that for professional writers dedicated to that area of work. 

A COLE PORTER song was usually written for a SOPHISTICATED New York or London  audience and often fell under one of these three song types --

    1.    Witty LIST SONGS (or “catalog” songs), sometimes with risque or double entendre meanings or with then-current topical references (that were often of necessity changed either by Cole or others with the passing of time to keep them relevant to the listener/audience and/or because of censorship problems).

    2.    Highly dramatic and INTENSE LOVE SONGS with evocative imagery.

    3.    BREEZY LOVE SONGS with interesting rhymes or ingenious wordplay.

Similar to the work of IRA GERSHWIN and the other great lyricists of this period, COLE PORTER’s lyrics often employ internal and multiple RHYME SCHEMES and REPETITION of words and phrases (although they are presented in a natural phrasing and are not always apparent to the casual listener). 

          

Classic Cole Porter Songs Introduced in the

Original 1934 Broadway Production of

A N Y T H I N G   G O E S

All Through the Night
(Intense LOVE Song)


Anything Goes
(Topical Subject LIST Song}


Blow, Gabriel, Blow
(Upbeat NOVELTY Song in the
“Black Spiritual” Tradition)


The Gypsy in Me
(Breezy LOVE Song)


 I Get a Kick Out of You
(Breezy LOVE Song)


 You’re the Top
(Name-Dropping LIST Song)

Porter YOU'RE THE TOP

 "YOU'RE THE TOP"
From Anything Goes (1934)
LYRICS BY COLE PORTER
(Music by Cole Porter)

    (First Verse HE)
  1  At words poetic, I'm so pathetic
  2  That I always have found it best,
  3  Instead of getting 'em off my chest,
  4  To let 'em rest unexpressed,
  5  I hate parading my serenading
  6  As I'll probably miss a bar,
  7  But if this ditty is not so pretty
  8  At least it'll tell you how great you are.

    (First Refrain)
  1  You're the top!  You're the Coliseum.
  2  You're the top!  You're the Louvre Museum.
  3  You're a melody from a symphony by Strauss.
  4  You're a Bendel bonnet, a Shakespeare's sonnet, 
  5  You're Mickey Mouse! 
  6  You're the Nile.  You're the Tower of Pisa.
  7  You're the smile on the Mona Lisa.
  8  I'm a worthless check, a total wreck, a flop.
  9  But if, baby, I'm the bottom you're the top!

    (Second Verse SHE)
  1  Your words poetic are not pathetic.
  2  On the other hand, boy, you shine,
  3  And I can feel after every line
  4  A thrill divine down my spine.
  5  Now gifted humans like Vincent Youmans
  6  Might think that your song is bad,
  7  But for a person who's just rehearsin'
  8  Well, I gotta say this, my lad:

    (Second Refrain)
  1  You're the top!  You're Mahatma Gandhi.
  2  You're the top!  You're Napoleon Brandy.
  3  You're the purple light of a summer night in Spain.
  4  You're the National Gallery, you're Garbo's salary,
  5  You're cellophane! 
  6  You're sublime.  You're turkey dinner.
  7  You're the time of a Derby winner.
  8  I'm a toy balloon that’s fated soon to pop.
  9  But if, baby, I'm the bottom, you're the top!

    (Third Refrain)
  1  You're the top!  You're a Ritz hot toddy.
  2  You're the top!  You're a Brewster body.
  3  You're the boats that glide on the sleepy Zuider Zee.
  4  You're a Nathan panning, you're Bishop Manning,
  5  You're broccoli!
  6  You're a prize.  You're a night at Coney.
  7  You're the eyes of Irene Bordoni.
  8  I'm  broken doll, a fol-de-fol, a blop.
  9  But if, baby, I'm the bottom, you're the top!
    (Fourth Refrain)
  1  You're the top!  You're a dance in Bali.
  2  You're the top!  You're a hot tamale.
  3  You're an angel, you, simply too, too, too diveen,
  4  You're a Boticcelli, You're Keats, You're Shelley,
  5  You're Ovaltine!
  6  You're a boon, you're the dam at Boulder.
  7  You're the moon over Mae West's shoulder.
  8  I'm the nominee of the G.O.P. or GOP.
  9  But if, baby, I'm the bottom, you're the top!

      (Fifth Refrain)
  1  You're the top!  You're an arrow collar. 
  2  You're the top!  You're a Coolidge dollar,
  3  You're the nimble tread of the feet of Fred Astaire.
  4  You're an O'Neill drama, you're Whistler's mama,
  5  You're camembert!
  6  You're a rose.  You're Inferno's Dante,
  7  You're the nose on the great Durante.
  8  I'm just in the way, as the French would say, "de trop."
  9  But if, baby, I'm the bottom, you're the top!

      (Sixth Refrain)   
  1  You're the top!  You're the Tower of Babel.
  2  You're the top!  You're the Whitney stable.
  3  By the river Rhine you're a sturdy stein of beer.
  4  You're a dress from Sak's, you're next year's taxes,
  5  You're stratosphere!
  6  You're my thoist.  You're a Drumstick Lipstick.
  7  You're da foist in the Irish svipstick.
  8  I'm a frightened frog that can find no log to hop.
  9  But if, baby, I'm the bottom, you're the top!

    (Seventh Refrain)
  1  You're the top!  You're a Waldorf salad.
  2  You're the top!  You're a Berlin ballad.
  3  You're a baby grand of a lady and a gent.
  4  You're an old Dutch master, you're Mrs. Astor,
  5  You're Pepsodent!
  6  You're romance, you're the steppes of Russia.
  7  You're the pants on a Roxy usher.
  8  I'm a lazy lout that's just about to stop.
  9  But if, baby, I'm the bottom, you're the top!

 

Porter I GET A KICK OUT OF YOU

"I GET A KICK OUT OF YOU"
From Anything Goes (1934)
LYRICS BY COLE PORTER
(Music by Cole Porter)

    (Verse)
  1  My story is much too sad to be told,
  2  But practically ev'rything leaves me totally cold.
  3  The only exception I know is the case
  4  When I'm out on a quiet spree
  5  Fighting vainly the old ennui,
  6  And I suddenly turn and see
  7  Your fabulous face.

    (Refrain)
  1  I get no kick from champagne.
  2  Mere alcohol doesn't thrill me at all,
  3  So tell me why should it be true
  4  That I get a kick out of you?
  5  Some get a kick from cocaine.
  6  I'm sure that if I took even one sniff
  7  That would bore me terrific'ly too.
  8  Yet I get a kick out of you.
  9  I get a kick ev'rytime I see
10  You standing there before me.
11  I get a kick though it's clear to me
12  You obviously don't adore me.
13  I get no kick in a plane,
14  Flying too high with some guy in the sky
15  Is my idea of nothing to do,
16  Yet I get a kick out of you.


The lyrics were first altered shortly after being written. The last verse originally went as follows:

    I get no kick in a plane
    I shouldn't care for those nights in the air
    That the fair Mrs. Lindbergh goes through
    But I get a kick out of you.

After the Lindbergh kidnapping,[1] Porter changed the second and third lines to:

    Flying too high with some guy in the sky
    Is my idea of nothing to do

In the 1936 movie version, alternative lyrics in the second verse were provided to replace a reference to the drug cocaine, which were not allowed due to the Hays Code.

The original verse goes as follows:

    Some get a kick from cocaine
    I'm sure that if
    I took even one sniff
    That would bore me terrifically, too
    Yet, I get a kick out of you

Porter changed the first line to:

    Some like the perfume in Spain

One alternative version popularised by Alyson Ottaway changes the verse to:

    Some like the bop-type refrain
    I'm sure that if
    I heard even one riff
    It would bore me terrifically, too
    Yet, I get a kick out of you

On different occasions, Sinatra recorded the original ("cocaine") and both post-Hays versions: the first in 1953 ("perfume in Spain") and the second ("bop-type refrain") in 1962.

Porter ANYTHING GOES

"ANYTHING GOES"
From Anything Goes (1934)
LYRICS BY COLE PORTER
(Music by Cole Porter)

    (Verse)
  1  Times have changed,
  2  And we've often rewound the clock
  3  Since the Puritans got a shock
  4  When they landed on Plymouth Rock.
  5  If today any shock they should try to stem,
  6  'Stead of landing on Plymouth Rock,
  7  Plymouth Rock would land on them.

    (First Refrain)
  1  In olden days, a glimpse of stocking
  2  Was looked on as something shocking,
  3  But now, God knows,
  4  Anything goes.
  5  Good authors, too, who once knew better words
  6  Now only use four-letter words writing prose.
  7  Anything goes.
  8  If driving fast cars you like,
  9  If low bars you like,
10  If old hymns you like,
11  If bare limbs you like,
12  If Mae West you like,
13  Or me undressed you like,
14  Why, nobody will oppose.
15  When ev'ry night the set that's smart is in-
16  Truding in nudist parties
17  In Studios,
18  Anything goes.

    (Second Refrain)
  1  When Missus Ned McLean (God bless her)
  2  Can get Russian reds to "yes" her,
  3  Then I suppose
  4  Anything goes.
  5  When Rockefeller still can hoard enough money
  6  To let Max Gordon produce his shows,
  7  Anything goes.
  8  The world has gone mad today
  9  And good's bad today,
10  And black's white today,
11  And day's night today,
12  And that gent today
13  You gave a cent today
14  Once had several chateaux.
15  When folks who still can ride in jitneys
16  Find out Vanderbilts and Whitneys
17  Lack baby clo'es,
18  Anything goes.

    (Third Refrain)
  1  If Sam Goldwyn can with great conviction
  2  Instruct Anna Sten in diction,
  3  Then Anna shows
  4  Anything goes.
  5  When you hear that Lady Mendl standing up
  6  Now turns a handspring landing up on her toes,
  7  Anything goes.
  8  Just think of those shocks you've got
  9  And those knocks you've got
10  And those blues you've got
11  From that news you've got
12  And those pains you've got
13  (If any brains you've got)
14  From those little radios.
15  So Missus R., with all her trimmin's,
16  Can broadcast a bed from Simmons
17  'Cause Franklin knows
18  Anything goes.

Porter JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS

"JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS"
From Jubilee (1935)
LYRICS BY COLE PORTER
(Music by Cole Porter)

    (Verse)
  1  As Dorothy Parker once said to her boyfriend:
  2  "Fare thee well!"
  3  As Columbus announced
  4  When he knew he was bounced:
  5  "It was swell, Isabelle, swell!
  6  "As Abelard said to Heloise:
  7  "Don't forget to drop a line to me, please."
  8  As Juliet cried in her Romeo's ear:
  9  "Romeo, why not face the fact, my dear?"

    (Refrain)
  1  It was just one of those things,
  2  Just one of those crazy flings,
  3  One of those bells that now and then rings,
  4  Just one of those things.
  5  It was just one of those nights,
  6  Just one of those fabulous flights --
  7  A trip to moon on gossamer wings.
  8  Just one of those things.
  9  If we'd thought a bit of the end of it
10  When we started painting the town,
11  We'd have been aware that our love affair
12  Was too hot not to cool down. 
13  So, goodbye, dear, and amen!
14  Here's hoping we meet now and then.
15  It was great fun,
16  But it was just one of those things!

Porter YOU DON'T KNOW PAREE

"YOU DON'T KNOW PAREE"
From Fifty Million Frenchmen (1929)
LYRICS BY COLE PORTER
(Music by Cole Porter)

    (Verse)
  1  You come to Paris, you come to play.
  2  You have a wonderful time.  You go away.
  3  And from then on, you talk of Paris knowingly.
  4  You may know Paris, you don't know Paree.

    (Refrain)
  1  Though you've been around a lot,
  2  And danced a lot, and laughed a lot,
  3  You don't know Paree.
  4  You may say you've seen a lot,
  5  And heard a lot, and learned a lot--
  6  You don't know Paree.
  7  Paree will still be laughing after ev'ry one of us disappears,
  8  But never once forget, her laughter is the laughter that hides the tears.
  9  And until you've lived a lot, and loved a lot, and lost a lot,
10  You don't know Paree, you don't know Paree.

Porter LOVE FOR SALE

"LOVE FOR SALE"
From The New Yorkers (1930)
LYRICS BY COLE PORTER
(Music by Cole Porter)

  1  When the only sound in the empty street
  2  Is the heavy tread of the heavy feet
  3  That belong to a lonesome cop,
  4  I open shop.
  5  When the moon so long has been gazing down
  6  On the wayward ways of this wayward town
  7  That her smile becomes a smirk,
  8  I go to work.
  9  Love for sale.
10  Appetizing young love for sale--
11  Love that's fresh and still unspoiled,
12  Love that's only slightly soiled.
13  Love for sale.
14  Who will buy?
15  Who would like to sample my supply?
16  Who's prepared to pay the price
17  For a trip to paradise?
18  Love for sale.
19  Let the poets pipe of love
20  In their childish way;
21  I know every type of love
22  Better far than they.
23  If you want the thrill of love,
24  I've been through the mill of love--
25  Old love, new love --
26  Every love but true love.
27  Love for sale.
28  Appetizing young love for sale.
29  If you want to buy my wares,
30  Follow me and climb the stairs.
31  Love for sale.