" It's A New World"--Wonderful lyrics and melody: Ira Gershwin was an accomplished and prolific lyricist, mainly with his brother George . However, when he teamed with Harold Arlen on a number of dramatic songs for Judy Garland In A Star is Born, he reached an even higher standard of expressiveness that matched the melodic brilliance of Harold Arlen. This was already quite evident in The Man That Got Away, the previous post on this blog.
That creative spark between Gershwin and Arlen continued with It's A New World. Authors Jenness and Velsey described this song as " A very beautiful example of Arlen's radiant major-key gift that kept from being simplistic by a yearning chromatic release," They also drew attention to Gershwin's lyrics for " A chaste song with an extraordinary verse, where Gershwin , using only common words, brings in a touch of early modern English poetry."
High praise indeed. It is an example of a song that is critical in explaining the relationship between Garland and James Mason who have just run away to get married and are in a tiny motel fleeing from reporters and the movie studio.
In the video excerpt, Garland gives a personal performance for her husband. It's a song that has already become a nation-wide hit song but she sings it a cappella for Mason.
It's a dramatic and compelling performance by a great singing actress.
LINK;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mf4sczAAak
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