2 May 1895 – 22 November 1943
A song like I Wish I Were In Love Again proves, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that Lorenz Hart was the latter type of artist –– a sensitive, educated, highly articulate individual who possessed a faultless understanding of modern North American vernacular and used this knowledge of it to create instantly memorable works of art which, in his time, were often dismissed as popular entertainment that, of course, would 'never last.'
How many lyricists, then or now, are able to combine words like 'toboggan,' 'mis-mating,' 'self-deception,' 'furtive' and, my favorite, 'congeals' in such a seamless way while simultaneously managing to be riotously funny even as they suggest a sophisticated but world-weary form of loneliness? If Hart had never written anything besides the lines 'When love congeals/it soon reveals/The faint aroma of performing seals/The double-crossing of a pair of heels' he would still be the greatest lyricist to emerge from the Broadway/Tin Pan Alley tradition despite having some formidable competition in the likes of Harold Arlen, Dorothy Fields, Ira Gershwin, Frank Loesser, Cole Porter and many others whose names are not as well known as they should be despite the fact their songs continue to serve as the soundtracks to many of our lives.
There is a reason people keep performing Rodgers and Hart material decade after decade. It is the same reason directors keep staging productions of Shakespeare and actors keep lining up to perform in them –– to live with and inside that glorious language for a while and be reminded that true wit, like true talent, is as fine as gossamer and just as difficult to find.
Special thanks to everyone who takes the time to upload music to YouTube. Your efforts are appreciated by music lovers everywhere.
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Last updated 5 April 2021
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