Swinging on a Star
"Swinging on a Star" | |
---|---|
Single by Bing Crosby with the Williams Brothers Quartet and John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra | |
from the album Selections from Going My Way | |
Released | April 1944 |
Recorded | February 7, 1944 |
Genre | Traditional pop |
Songwriter(s) |
|
Official audio | |
" Swinging on a Star" on YouTube | |
"Swinging on a Star" is an American pop standard with music composed by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke.[1] It was introduced by Bing Crosby in the 1944 film Going My Way, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song that year,[1][2] and has been recorded by numerous artists since then. In 2004, it finished at No. 37 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.
Origins
Songwriter Jimmy Van Heusen was at Crosby's house one evening for dinner, and to discuss a song for the film project Going My Way. During the meal, one of the children began complaining about how he did not want to go to school the next day. The singer turned to his son Gary and said to him, "If you don’t go to school, you might grow up to be a mule." Van Heusen thought this clever rebuke would make a good song for the film.[2] He pictured Crosby, who played a priest, talking to a group of children acting much the same way as his own child had acted that night. Van Heusen took the idea to his partner lyricist Johnny Burke, who approved. They wrote the song.[3]
Composition
"The lyrics follow the usual verse-refrain format".[4] The length of the composition is unusual: the refrain is just 8 bars in length, and the verse is 12 bars.[4]
Recordings
- The first recording of "Swinging on a Star", with Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra, took place in Los Angeles on February 7, 1944, and was released as Decca Records on Disc No. 18597 paired with "Going My Way". The song topped the US charts in 1944 and Australian charts in 1945. The Williams Brothers Quartet, including a young Andy Williams, sang backup vocals behind Crosby.[3]
- A 1963 recording by Big Dee Irwin and Little Eva reached No. 38 in the Billboard Hot 100 in the US[5][6] and No. 7 in the UK Singles Chart in January 1964.[1]
- The American sitcom Out of This World (1987-1991) used a modified, updated version of "Swinging on a Star" as its theme song.[citation needed]
- Actors Bruce Willis and Danny Aiello perform the song in the 1991 action comedy Hudson Hawk in order to time out a heist their characters pull. They, however, incorrectly cite the length of the song as five minutes, thirty-two seconds as well as sing the verses in the incorrect order.[opinion]
Awards and honors
- Academy Award for Best Original Song (1944)
- Grammy Hall of Fame (2002)
See also
- List of number-one singles of 1944 (U.S.)
References
- ^ a b c Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 134. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ a b Gilliland, John (1994). Pop Chronicles the 40s: The Lively Story of Pop Music in the 40s (audiobook). ISBN 978-1-55935-147-8. OCLC 31611854. Tape 2, side A.
- ^ a b A Bing Crosby Discography, Part 1b: Commercial Recordings - The Decca Years
- ^ a b Owens, Thomas (1996). Bebop: The Music and Its Players. Oxford University Press. p. 207. ISBN 978-0-19-510651-0.
- ^ Swinging on a Star on YouTube
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2009). Top Pop Singles, 12th Edition. Record Research.
- v
- t
- e
- "My Blue Heaven" (with Paul Whiteman)
- "Ol' Man River" (with Paul Whiteman)
- "Mississippi Mud" (with Paul Whiteman)
- "Silent Night, Holy Night" (with Paul Whiteman)
- "Makin' Whoopee" (with Paul Whiteman)
- "Let's Do It" (with Dorsey Brothers)
- "Louise"
- "Three Little Words" (with Duke Ellington)
- "I Surrender Dear" (with Gus Arnheim)
- "Just a Gigolo"
- "At Your Command"
- "Stardust"
- "Goodnight, Sweetheart"
- "Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)" (Bing's Theme Song)
- "Waltzing in a Dream"
- "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?"
- "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You"
- "Temptation"
- "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?"
- "June in January"
- "Love Is Just Around the Corner"
- "I Wished on the Moon"
- "It Ain't Necessarily So"
- "I Can't Escape from You"
- "Pennies from Heaven"
- "Silent Night"
- "Adeste Fideles"
- "Sweet Leilani"
- "Blue Hawaii"
- "Never in a Million Years"
- "Sail Along, Silv'ry Moon"
- "My Reverie"
- "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby"
- "God Bless America"
- "Ciribiribin (They're So in Love)" (with Andrews Sisters)
- "Tumbling Tumbleweeds"
- "Only Forever"
- "It's Always You"
- "New San Antonio Rose" (with Bob Crosby)
- "Dolores"
- "Deep in the Heart of Texas" (with Woody Herman)
- "Easter Parade"
- "White Christmas"
- "Moonlight Becomes You"
- "Sunday, Monday, or Always"
- "People Will Say We're in Love" (with Trudy Erwin)
- "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" (with Trudy Erwin)
- "Pistol Packin' Mama" (with Andrews Sisters)
- "I'll Be Home for Christmas"
- "Jingle Bells" (with Andrews Sisters)
- "Poinciana"
- "I Love You"
- "I'll Be Seeing You"
- "Swinging on a Star"
- "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby" (with Andrews Sisters)
- "Hot Time in the Town of Berlin" (with Andrews Sisters)
- "Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral (That's an Irish Lullaby)"
- "Amor"
- "Long Ago (and Far Away)"
- "Don't Fence Me In" (with Andrews Sisters)
- "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive" (with Andrews Sisters)
- "You Belong to My Heart"
- "Along the Navajo Trail (with Andrews Sisters)
- "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe"
- "If I Loved You"
- "It's Been a Long, Long Time" (with Les Paul Trio)
- "I Can't Begin to Tell You"
- "Symphony"
- "The Bells of St. Mary's"
- "McNamara's Band"
- "Sioux City Sue"
- "South America, Take It Away"
- "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66" (with Andrews Sisters)
- "Night and Day"
- "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" (with Andrews Sisters)
- "Galway Bay
- "Ballerina"
- "Now Is the Hour"
- "But Beautiful"
- "Far Away Places"
- "Careless Hands"
- "Riders in the Sky"
- "Some Enchanted Evening"
- "Dear Hearts and Gentle People"
- "Mule Train"
- "Quicksilver" (with Andrews Sisters)
- "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?" (with Andrews Sisters)
- "Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy"
- "Play a Simple Melody" (with Gary Crosby)
- "Sam's Song " (with Gary Crosby)
- "La Vie en rose"
- "All My Love"
- "Beyond the Reef"
- "Harbor Lights"
- "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"
- "A Marshmallow World"
- "Sparrow in the Treetop" (with Andrews Sisters)
- "Gone Fishin'" (with Louis Armstrong)
- "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening" (with Jane Wyman)
- "The Isle of Innisfree"
- "Zing a Little Zong" (with Jane Wyman)
- "Silver Bells" (with Carol Richards)
- "Down by the Riverside" (with Gary Crosby)
- "Young at Heart"
- "Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep"
- "Stranger in Paradise"
- "In a Little Spanish Town" (with Buddy Cole Trio)
- "True Love" (with Grace Kelly)
- "Now You Has Jazz" (with Louis Armstrong)
- "Well, Did You Evah!" (with Frank Sinatra)