It's Still "De-Lovely"

Revisiting a Delightful Song

Last fall, when our Word of the Week was “mirth,” I devoted a Sometimes a Song post to one of the great wits of the mid-century American music scene, that genius, Cole Porter. If you hadn’t yet joined us at Word & Song when the post came out, you can click here, and listen to what I shared then: a really mirthful spin on Porter’s song, “It’s De-Lovely,” in the form of a “duet” between the great (and then young) Frank Sinatra and the perpetually middle-aged comedian, Milton Berle. I guarantee you’ll love it.

But of all the great songs I haven’t yet done, including most of Cole Porter’s 300 or more gems, why would I revisit “It’s De-lovely?” Well, why else? Because our word this week is “delight,” and the song isn’t just funny; it’s genuinely delightful. But more than that, the song is delightful in that way we’ve been discussing this week, showing that men and women are at their best when they delight in rather than scorn each other. As the French used to say (and I hope they…