Category: Movies

“Lascia ch’io pianga” (“Let Me Weep”), originally “Lascia la spina, cogli la rosa” (“Leave the Thorn, Take the Rose”), is an Italian-language soprano aria by composer George Frederick Handel that has become a popular concert piece. Its melody is first found in act 3 of Handel’s 1705 opera Almira as a sarabande; the score for […]

“Cry Me a River” is a popular American torch song, written by Arthur Hamilton, first published in 1953 and made famous in 1955 with the version by Julie London. In 2001. the Julie London version of “Cry Me a River” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame Arthur Hamilton later said of the song: […]

“It’s Been a Long, Long Time” is a big band-era song that was a hit at the end of World War II, with music by Julie Styne and lyrics by Sammy Cahn. The lyrics are written from the perspective of a person welcoming home their spouse at the end of the war. The most popular […]

“Come and Get Your Love” is a song by the American rock band Redbone. The song was originally released as a promo track under the name “Hail” and was later featured on their fifth album, Wovoka (1973), under its current name. The song was released as the album’s first single the following year. Written and […]

“Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” is a show tune written by American composer Jerome Kern and lyricist Otto Harbach for the 1933 musical comedy Roberta. The song was sung in the Broadway show by Tamara Drasin. It was first recorded by Gertrude Niesen, with orchestral direction from Ray Sinatra, Frank Sinatra’s second cousin, on October […]

The Pink Panther Theme” is a jazz composition by Henry Mancini written as the theme for the 1963 film The Pink Panther and subsequently nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score at the 37th Academy Awards but lost to the Sherman Brothers for Mary Poppins. The eponymous cartoon character created for the film’s […]

“Blues in the Night” is a popular blues song which has become a pop standard and is generally considered to be part of the Great American Songbook. The music was written by Harold Arlen, the lyrics by Johnny Mercer, for a 1941 film begun with the working title Hot Nocturne, but finally released as Blues […]

“Meglio stasera” (known in English as “It Had Better Be Tonight“) is a 1963 song in samba rhythm with music by Henry Mancini, Italian lyrics by Franco Migliacci and English lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It was composed for the 1963 film The Pink Panther, in which it was performed by Fran Jeffries. In addition to […]

“Un Bel dì, Vedremo” (“One fine day we’ll see”) is a soprano aria from the opera Madame Butterfly (1904) by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is sung by Cio-Cio San (Butterfly) on stage with Suzuki, as she imagines the return of her absent love, Pinkerton. It is […]

“Sous le Ciel de Paris” is a song initially written for the 1951 French film Sous le Ciel de Paris, directed by Julian Duvivier. In the film it was sung by Jean Bretonniere.The song was written for the film by Hubert Giraud (music) and Jean Drejac (lyrics). “Sous le Ciel de Paris” (Under the Sky […]