Call Me Irresponsible
Call Me Irresponsible is a song written by Jimmy Van Heusen (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics) that was released in 1963.
Origin and use of the song
The songwriter duo Van Heusen / Cahn wrote Call Me Irresponsible for the feature film Papa's Delicate Condition (1963, director: George Marshall ), in which he is introduced by lead actor Jackie Gleason . Call Me Irresponsible was in the category Best Song in 1964 with an Oscar award.
Cahn remembered: When writing the song, songwriter Cahn asked his partner Jimmy Van Heusen: “ How do you like the title 'Call Me Irresponsible'? Van Heusen said as always: What do you mean by 'the title'? I replied: Call me irresponsible, call me undependable, toss in unreliable, too. . . . Van Heusen stared at the ceiling for five minutes before sketching the melody with one finger. The title irresponsible came straight from the script; the expression formed the cadence for the lyrics, which at the same time formed the structure of the song ":
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- Call me irresponsible,
- call me undependable,
- throw in unreliable, too.
"Because the cadence of these three lines was a little stiff because of the use of five-syllable words, we went from now on to a broader lyric and melodic line":
- Do my foolish alibis bore you?
- Wellme I'm impractical,
- Rainbows I'm inclined to pursue.
Call me irresponsible,
- Yes, I'm undependable,
- But it's undeniably true,
- I'm irresponsibly mad for you.
Cahn turned to Van Heusen and suggested replacing undependable and unreliable at the beginning, since undependable would then no longer occur; "So we had unreliable , which undeniably strikes, and gave a more graceful sound. He understood and the song was finished. "
First recordings and cover versions
Jackie Gleason recorded the song on his Capitol album Movie Themes for Lovers Only , where he was accompanied by a string orchestra and jazz musicians such as Pee Wee Erwin and Charlie Ventura . Call Me Irresponsible was recorded by numerous musicians in the 1960s, including a. by tex Beneke , Julie London , Sarah Vaughan , Jack Jones , Frank Sinatra , Andy Williams , Dinah Washington , Joe Mooney , The Four Freshmen , Steve Allen , Nancy Wilson , Joe Pass , Duke Ellington , Benny Goodman , Count Basie , Sweets Edison , George Shearing , Ahmad Jamal , Henry Mancini and later successfully from Michael Bublé . Tom Lord lists 64 cover versions of the title.
Web links
- Inclusion in the catalog of the German National Library: DNB 359481507
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.jimmyvanheusen.com/bio.htm
- ↑ Sammy Cahn: Sammy Cahn's Rhyming Dictionary , 2002 - page xix
- ↑ Tom Lord The Jazz Discography (online, accessed January 7, 2014)