While working on the What’s in a Song posts about “Body and Soul,” my Big Band playlist reminded me of a song which threatened to swamp my attention to the nominal subject of the moment. “I’m Beginning to See the Light” was a #1 recording for Harry James’s band in 1945, with a vocal by Kitty Kallen. (It had also been a #6 hit for its composer, Duke Ellington, and #5 for Ella Fitzgerald and the Ink Spots.)
Unlike “Body and Soul,” this one has an unmistakable melody: each stanza consists of three lines repeating virtually the same tune, followed by a simple refrain of the song title. You couldn’t escape the tune if you tried.
But somehow the song doesn’t become boring, and I think the reason for that lies in the lyrics. The Poets of Tin Pan Alley, by Philip Furia, says:
Ellington’s luck with lyricists hit its peak in 1944 when Don George gave an exuberantly casual setting to the catch-phrase “I’m Beginning to See the Light”…
What is even more artful about the lyric is George’s witty use of a list structure; not only does he develop a catalog of “light” images, he refreshes the tritest metaphors by reading them in literal terms — from stars in the eyes, to a suggestive “afterglow,” and the paradoxical “now when you turn the lamp down low I’m beginning to see the light.”
I think Kitty Kallen’s voice helps, too — the playful, flirtatious spin she puts on the phrasing. Here’s her version:
[Below, click Play button to begin I’m Beginning to See the Light. While audio is playing, volume control appears at left — a row of little vertical bars. This clip is 3:12 long.]
Lyrics:
I’m Beginning to See the Light
(Duke Ellington, Harry James, Johnny Hodges, and Don George;
as sung by Kitty Kallen)I never cared much for moonlit skies
I never winked back at fireflies
But now that the stars are in your eyes
I’m beginning to see the lightI never went in for afterglow
Or candlelight on the mistletoe
But now when you turn the lamp down low
I’m beginning to see the lightUsed to ramble through the park
Shadowboxing in the dark
Then you came and caused a spark
That’s a four-alarm fire nowI never made love by lantern-shine
I never saw rainbows in my wine
But now that your lips are burning mine
I’m beginning to see the light
And here’s Ella Fitzgerald with the Ink Spots:
[Below, click Play button to begin I’m Beginning to See the Light. While audio is playing, volume control appears at left — a row of little vertical bars. This clip is 2:45 long.]
Jayne says
What a wonderful song for today. Somehow, fitting for me. I love both versions. But when Ella swoops in on the second, oh my…
I take it it’s a good day for you, too. ;)
s.o.m.e.one's brudder says
the beginning of the Duke version just feels like the very definition of “swing”. Wonder where this sat in the Pantheon of “Bud”? Do you know?
John says
Jayne: Love the song, especially as sung by Kitty Kallen. (Ella’s version doesn’t seem, um, Ella enough to me. Maybe because she’s with the Ink Spots? Dunno.
I said above it was in my Big Band playlist but it’s actually in several (there’s one called Songbirds, and one called Soloists, and one called… well, you get the idea). I’ve also got the first few bars as a ringtone. Whenever it pops up it always makes me grin. And I love Kallen’s voice. For some reason she doesn’t seem to have had the lingering effect in popular imagination of, say, Peggy Lee or Doris Day, but she had a really good career. I love the way she handles wordsound.
John says
brudder: Was about to ask what you were doing online at 5:34 when I remembered, oh, yeah — so was I.
No idea what Bud thought of it, sigh.
When I first heard it as an adult, it was on a Smithsonian cassette collection (from back in the ’80s?) called something like “Singers and Soloists of the Big Band Era.” I didn’t know the name Kitty Kallen, but I recognized Harry James of course. But Kallen’s voice, I think, owns that version, although it takes up only half the length. The orchestration is professional but very low-key — understated — and there’s little trumpet- or drum-work in evidence.
Which I mention because I never had a sense of Bud’s fondness of singers, in particular or general; he seemed to listen and respond primarily to the instruments.
OTOH, my memory’s not what it was either — I may be completely romanticizing (convenient synonym for “forgetting”) the actual facts!
cynth says
Okay, you need to hear Bobby Darin swing through it. And then of course, Frank…he plays with it. Oh, John, I just love this song! And it’s either the Frank or Bobby version which adds a little triangle to the end of the verse, to give it a little something extra. Dad never said much about any singer, but I can see him tapping on the recliner to this, can’t you?
John says
cynth: Gaaah! I can’t listen to EVERY version of EVERY great song!!! (And even if I could, I still wouldn’t be able to include them all in a blog post. :))
Okay, first: Darin (2:12 YouTube video). Not so crazy about that one. He seems a little too self-consciously trying to be a swingin’ cat, y’know?
Now: Sinatra (2:53 YouTube video). Much nicer. Always impressive to me, how he shades familiar lyrics and melodies with all these little nuances I haven’t heard before. It doesn’t end with a triangle (neither does the Darin above), but it does end with three strikes of a single piano key somewhere up in the higher-register right-hand keys.
Dad: yeah, mostly silent on singers. I can remember him exclaiming over Spike Jones and Jerry Colonna, though. Ha!