Originally Posted By: Noel96
I bet that any musician who plays this tune is singing the words in his or her head while s/he plays. As a result of this, the musician's playing would largely represent an interpretation of the lyrics that are playing through the musician's mind. Without these lyrics, I suspect that the song would not have been nearly as popular.

My observation is that those songs that achieve immense popularity have all elements working perfectly (lyrics, melody, harmony, prosody, believability). Once such a song is heard, all these elements are then in one's mind and colour subsequent performances of the song - even if they are instrumental performances.
Hi Noel,

Your insights serve to highlight how myopic and simplistic my assertions were. I wasn't entirely unaware of this, however you've done a wonderful job of filling in the blanks more accurately and comprehensively than I could have. You also took the time and effort to reproduce the lyrics in order to justify your points. Thank you.

No question that the power of composer Bernice Petkere has elevated the piece into membership in the Great American Songbook, something that surely would not have happened without the lyrics and the voice of Ruth Etting.

Have a look at this wonderful picture of "America's Sweetheart of Song" on the cover of the Radio Mirror, a magazine of the day available for 10 cents:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4c/Ruthetting.jpg

You'll notice the name of Father Charles E. Coughlin at the top of the front page. He was the most influential radio preacher in American history. In the 1930's fully one third of American radios were tuned to his sermons. At the time, Coughlin was one of the most powerful men in the country.

Finally, I hope that my vocal version of Close Your Eyes measures up. At least no one will confuse me with Ruth.

Dean

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