What makes for a ‘standard’
I was finally able to put a song to a name once this video showed up on Gawker:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEj0z0maxzM
It’s a brilliant mashup between RJD2’s ‘A Beautiful Mine’ which is also the theme of Mad Men, and ‘Nature Boy’. I’d probably heard ‘Nature Boy’ dozens of times before - notably when it showed up in Moulin Rouge (though i think I originally heard it on Natalie Cole’s ‘Unforgettable’ album, because my parents played it ad nauseum). When I heard it in MR, I was so frustrated that I couldn’t place it. There were so many stolen lines in that movie - they even stole from a Lamb song (Gorecki). But now that I can place it, I’ll be hunting down covers for a while. So far my favorite is one of the first by Nat King Cole attached here — the darker end of exotic lounge music that would come later and such a strange thing to hear from someone who sang all the Christmas carols I listened to as a kid. But even in the video, he sings it with a hint of a smile. He’s just always that charming.
Just found this version by Grace Slick too - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et0LLAdBpLM
Apparently the song is based off this original piece by classical composer Antonin Dvorak: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WP1anygqjKc&p=F55FAAF4FA02BEC4&playnext=1&index=50
What’s funny to me is figuring out why and how this song became a ‘standard’. Apparently, it was a great hit for Nat King Cole. But it seems too downtempo to be something that people want to cover over and over again. But it’s like the first time I realized that ‘Summertime’ sung by Janis Joplin wasn’t something she composed in a bourbon-drenched haze. Discovering that a song you love is a ‘standard’ is like scoring a Double Jeopardy. You have endless material to discover.
