Manhattan

Rogers and Hart

The song that came to my mind for this week is arguably THE great American popular song, “Manhattan,” music by Richard Rogers and words by Lorenz Hart, a lyricist who rivals Ira Gershwin (not to be confused with his brother, George, the great composer) — and that’s saying a lot. Manhattan, of course, is the setting of this week’s classic film, “You Can’t Take It With You” which posits the counter-cultural idea that becoming Somebody Important is really not the best goal to aim for in life and offers, albeit in a rather zany way, an alternative goal, the soul-elevating example of the Scriptural “lilies of the field.” (Matt. 6:28-33) “Manhattan,” the song, in a charming and playful way, with musical and lyrical virtuosity, gives us a young man describing to his “intended” the wonders he and she will discover on their “isle of joy,” even while admitting that they two will be living pretty small.

”Manhattan,” written for a now largely-forgotten Broadway play, was the first big hit for …