Where or When
View on Wikipedia| "Where or When" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| Published | 1937 by Chappell & Co. |
| Genre | Showtune |
| Composer | Richard Rodgers |
| Lyricist | Lorenz Hart |
"Where or When" is a show tune from the 1937 Rodgers and Hart musical Babes in Arms. It was first performed by Ray Heatherton and Mitzi Green. That same year, Hal Kemp recorded a popular version. The song also appeared in the film version of Babes in Arms two years later.
| "Where or When" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Dion and the Belmonts | ||||
| from the album Presenting Dion and the Belmonts | ||||
| B-side | "That's My Desire" | |||
| Released | December 1959 | |||
| Recorded | 1959 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:37 | |||
| Label | Laurie | |||
| Songwriters | Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart | |||
| Dion and the Belmonts singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Babes in Arms
[edit]"Where or When" is the first number to appear in the original Broadway production of Babes in Arms. The musical opens in fictional Seaport, Long Island on a hectic morning that finds most of the adult population embarking on a five-month vaudeville tour. Soon after his parents' departure, 20-year-old Valentine LaMar (played by Ray Heatherton) discovers at his doorstep a young hitchhiker named Billie Smith (played by Mitzi Green). Instantly smitten, he engages her in a discussion of movie stars, self-defense maneuvers, and Nietzsche's theory of individualism, at which point Val impulsively steals a kiss. Both admit to a powerful sense of déjà vu and sing "Where or When" as a duet.[2]
MGM bought the screen rights to the play in 1938, and the following year the studio released Babes in Arms, starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. The picture bore little resemblance to its stage predecessor, with the characters and plot substantially revised by 10 studio writers, and only two numbers being retained from the score.[2] "Where or When" appeared 37 minutes into the film,[3] sung in a duet by Betty Jaynes and Douglas McPhail, and partially reprised solo by Garland.[4]
Lyrics
[edit]The lyrics of Where or When illustrate a memory phenomenon known as déjà vu. The original line in the bridge was "Some things that happen for the first time...".,[5] which fits into the context of the song - it says that things that are happening in the present seem as though they happened before, even though we know that they did not. However, some artists sing it as "Some things that happened for the first time...," which gives it an entirely different and incorrect meaning, suggesting that things that already happened in the past are happening once more.
Ultimately, the uncertainty of whether the couple had met before is never resolved in the lyrics, just wistfully chalked up to "tricks that your mind can play" in the final line of the second verse, which is not often recorded.[6]
Recorded versions
[edit]Where or When has become part of the Great American Songbook, having been recorded by scores of popular artists over the decades, starting with a successful cover by Hal Kemp and his Orchestra shortly after its debut in 1937.
Other memorable recordings[6] include those by:
- Douglas McPhail
- Betty Jaynes
- Peggy Lee and the Benny Goodman Sextet in 1941
- Lena Horne in 1948
- Ella Fitzgerald in 1956
- Frank Sinatra recorded it three times, in 1945, 1958 and 1966
- Dean Martin is credited with numerous interpretations
- A doo-wop 45 rpm single by Dion & The Belmonts in 1960[7]
More contemporary interpretations have been done by Barbra Streisand, Carly Simon, Judy Collins, Harry Connick Jr., George Michael, Bryan Ferry, Mandy Patinkin, Diana Krall, Michael Buble and Laufey.[6]
Instrumental versions were recorded by Count Basie, Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington, Red Garland, Etta Jones and others.
Pop culture
[edit]- Judy Garland in the 1939 MGM musical Babes in Arms
References
[edit]- ^ McGee, David (2004). "Dion". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 239–241. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
- ^ a b "Babes in Arms: History and Synopsis" (PDF). New World Records. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
- ^ "Film Review: Babes in Arms". Judy Garland Database. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
- ^ Burlingame, Sandra. "Where or When (1937)". JazzStandards.com. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
- ^ [1]
- ^ a b c Where or When at greatamericansongbook.net
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012. Record Research. p. 241.
Where or When
View on GrokipediaOrigins and Composition
The Musical Babes in Arms
Babes in Arms is a 1937 Broadway musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart, and book by Rodgers and Hart, set in the fictional town of Seaport on [Long Island](/page/Long Island) during the Great Depression. The story centers on a group of teenagers whose vaudeville performer parents leave them behind with minimal resources while heading out on tour, prompting the young characters to band together against the local sheriff's plan to send them to a work farm. Led by ambitious teen Val LaMar, the group decides to stage their own variety show, titled Lee Calhoun's Follies, in a barn to raise funds and demonstrate their self-sufficiency, weaving in elements of budding romances, rivalries, and triumphs over obstacles like funding shortages and social prejudices.[4] The production premiered on April 14, 1937, at the Shubert Theatre in New York City, later transferring to the Majestic Theatre, and ran for 289 performances until closing on December 18, 1937. Directed by Robert B. Sinclair, it featured a youthful cast including Ray Heatherton as Val LaMar, Mitzi Green as Billie Smith, Wynn Murray as Baby Rose, and Alfred Drake as Marshall Blackstone. As part of Rodgers and Hart's prolific output of successful musicals in the 1930s, the show captured the era's spirit of youthful resilience and provided escapist entertainment amid economic hardships.[5][6] Within the musical, "Where or When" is introduced early in Act I as a duet between Val and Billie during their first meeting, where they share a mysterious sense of déjà vu that hints at the show's romantic undercurrents. This placement helps establish the central love interest while highlighting the characters' dreams and uncertainties in a time of instability.[7]Creation by Rodgers and Hart
Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart formed one of the most influential songwriting partnerships in American musical theater, beginning their collaboration in 1919 when Rodgers, then 16 years old, was introduced to the 23-year-old Hart through a mutual friend.[8] Over the next two decades, they created more than 500 songs for 28 stage musicals, with "Where or When" emerging as a standout from their 1937 output.[9] By this time, Hart was grappling with severe personal challenges, including alcoholism that increasingly disrupted his productivity and reliability, though it did not yet halt their creative synergy.[10] The song's inspiration stemmed from Hart's fascination with the psychological phenomenon of déjà vu applied to romantic encounters, portraying the eerie sense of reliving a first meeting, laughter, and love without pinpointing its origin.[1] Drawing on emerging ideas of memory and involuntary recognition in early 20th-century psychology, Hart crafted lyrics that captured this disorienting familiarity, a concept Rodgers later noted as innovative enough to prompt letters from psychiatrists intrigued by its depiction.[1] Rodgers complemented this with a melody in A-flat major and 3/4 waltz time, employing ascending chromatic lines in the vocal phrasing to heighten the nostalgic, dreamlike quality, evoking a hazy recollection.[11] Composed in early 1937 specifically for the musical Babes in Arms, the song underwent initial sketches and revisions, including Hart's refinement of the bridge lyrics to emphasize paradoxical "first time" events that feel recurrent, such as "Some things that happen for the first time / Seem to be happening again."[1] It was published later that year by Chappell & Co., with Rodgers providing holograph piano-vocal scores that reveal the iterative process.[12] The final structure follows a verse-chorus form, enriched by sophisticated harmonies featuring prevalent seventh chords that add emotional depth and tension.[13] In the bridge, a subtle key modulation provides an emotional lift, shifting the mood to underscore the lyrical theme of elusive repetition.[13]Lyrics and Themes
Structure and Content
"Where or When" follows the classic 32-bar AABA form typical of American popular song standards from the era, consisting of two 10-bar A sections, an 8-bar B section (bridge), and a 12-bar final A section (with tag), with an introductory verse preceding the chorus.[14] The introductory verse establishes a philosophical scene about the interplay between dreams and reality, while the chorus depicts a moment of romantic reunion tinged with déjà vu, and the bridge delves into the theme of events recurring as if predestined.[14] This structure builds emotional tension through repetition and contrast, culminating in a reflective resolution.[14] Key phrases in the lyrics evoke cyclical romance and sensory familiarity, such as the repeated "It seems we stood and talked like this before" and "But I can't remember where or when," alongside imagery of enduring elements like "The clothes you're wearing are the clothes you wore" and "The smile you are smiling you were smiling then."[7] The rhyme scheme primarily employs an ABAB pattern in the A sections (e.g., before/then/when), complemented by internal rhymes for rhythmic flow, such as "Thought has wings / And lots of things / Are seldom what they seem" in the verse.[14] These elements create a seamless, flowing lyric that mirrors the song's theme of temporal ambiguity.[14] Lorenz Hart employs poetic devices like paradox to capture the emotional ambiguity of something feeling both novel and familiar, as in the bridge's "Some things that happen for the first time / Seem to be happening again," which underscores the core narrative of rediscovered love defying linear time.[14] Sensory details, including visual cues of smiles and clothing alongside introspective references to dreams and mental "tricks," heighten the song's evocative quality, blending wit and tenderness.[14] Richard Rodgers' melody, with its graceful stepwise motion and subtle chromaticism, supports these lyrics by enhancing their lyrical inevitability and emotional depth.[14] The original 1937 lyrics, as printed in the vocal score for Babes in Arms, are as follows: VerseWhen you're awake, the things you think
Come from the dreams you dream.
Thought has wings,
And lots of things
Are seldom what they seem.
Sometimes you think you've lived before,
All that you live today.
Things you do
Come back to you
As though they knew the way.
Oh, the tricks your mind can play! Chorus
It seems we stood and talked like this before.
We looked at each other in the same way then,
But I can't remember where or when. The clothes you're wearing are the clothes you wore.
The smile you are smiling you were smiling then,
But I can't remember where or when. Some things that happen for the first time
Seem to be happening again. And so it seems that we have met before,
And laughed before and loved before,
But who knows where or when? (Repeat Chorus)[7]