Thanks for the memory
Thanks for the memory | |
---|---|
Bob Hope and Shirley Ross with Shep Fields and His Orchestra | |
publication | 1938 |
length | 4:16 |
Genre (s) | Movie song |
text | Leo Robin |
music | Ralph Rainger |
Publisher (s) | Paramount Music |
Award (s) |
Oscar # 170 of Songs of the Century |
album | Soundtrack to the film The Big Broadcast of 1938 |
Thanks for the Memory is an American song by Ralph Rainger (music) and Leo Robin (lyrics).
background
Thanks for the Memory was written by Rainger and Robin for the film The Big Broadcast of 1938 . The film version was recorded by Shep Fields and His Orchestra and sung by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross .
In the film, the two played a married couple who are about to divorce . Towards the end of the movie, they sing this song, which is about the ups and downs of their relationship. The two describe vacation trips together, arguments, gifts they gave each other, each other's mistakes, but also good moments. Every enumeration of these moments and thus almost every stanza is introduced by the phrase "Thanks for the Memory" (Eng. "Thank you for this memory"). This mutually reassures each other that ultimately every memory, whether good or bad, was important and correct and that you can now part as a seasoned couple without a fight. In fact, the couple stays together in the film afterwards.
The song won an Oscar for Best Song at the Academy Awards in 1939 . Hope then used the song as a signature tune , which he applied with changed lyrics in many different situations.
The song is often compared to Two Sleepy People , which is also sung by Hope and Ross. The title comes from the film Thanks for the Memory , which named itself after the song to build on its success. Two Sleepy People , however, was written by Hoagy Carmichael and Frank Loesser .
Cover versions
The song was very popular in the late 1930s / early 1940s. A first cover came from Dorothy Lamour , who also starred in The Big Broadcast of 1938 . Many then thought that she would have been Hope's duet partner. Other cover versions were:
- 1952: Stan Getz on the album Stan Getz Plays
- 1956: Bing Crosby on the album Songs I Wish I Had Sung the First Time Around
- 1967: Ella Fitzgerald on the album Whisper Not with the support of Marty Paich and orchestra
- 1973: Harry Nilsson on the album A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night
- 1979: Wayne Shorter's saxophone solo on the Weather Report Live album 8:30
- 1981: Frank Sinatra on the album She Shot Me Down
- 1983: Susannah McCorkle on the album Thanks for the Memory - Songs of Leo Robin
- 1985: Rosemary Clooney on the album Rosemary Clooney Sings Ballads
- 2001: Stacey Kent on the Dreamsville album
In the field of jazz , the song was also interpreted by Mildred Bailey , Ray Brown , Serge Chaloff , Erroll Garner , Rebecca Kilgore , Lee Konitz , Dave McKenna and by Anita O'Day / Cal Tjader .
Parodies
- Marilyn Monroe ended her serenade Happy Birthday, Mr. President to US President John F. Kennedy in 1962 with a verse sung to the tune of Thanks for the Memory : “Thanks, Mr. President / For all the things you've done / The battles that you've won / The way you deal with US Steel / And our problems by the ton / We thank you so much. "
- Estelle Getty sings a verse on Medicare on an episode of the sitcom Golden Girls
- Connie Chung and her husband Maury Povich sing the song on the final episode of the talk show Weekends with Maury and Connie .
- Judi Dench sang the song for Michael Parkinson on his last show The Final Conversation .
Individual evidence
- ^ David Roberts: British Hit Singles & Albums , 19th. Edition, Guinness World Records Limited, London 2006, ISBN 1-904994-10-5 , p. 134.
- ^ William H. Young, Nancy K. Young: Music of the Great Depression . 2005, ISBN 978-0-313-33230-2 , pp. 58 .
- ↑ See Bielefeld catalog 1985 and 2003 as well as information on the song at Jazzstandards.com