Loewe was born in Berlin to Viennese parents Edmond and Rosa Loewe. His father Edmond was a noted Jewish operetta star who traveled considerably, to North and South America and throughout much of Europe. Fritz grew up in Berlin and attended a Prussian cadet school from the age of five until he was thirteen.
At an early age Loewe learned to play piano by ear and helped his father rehearse. He eventually attended a music conservatory in Berlin, one year behind virtuoso Claudio Arrau. Both won the coveted Hollander Medal awarded by the school, and Fritz gave performances as a concert pianist while still in Germany.
In 1925, his father received an offer to appear in New York, and Loewe traveled there with him, determined to write for Broadway. This proved to be difficult, and he found work playing piano in German clubs in Yorkville and in movie theaters as the accompanist for silent pictures.
Loewe began to visit The Lambs Club, a hangout for theater performers, producers, managers, and directors. It was here that he met Alan J. Lerner in 1942. Their first collaboration was a musical adaptation of Barry Connor's farce The Patsy called Life of the Party for a Detroit stock company. It enjoyed a nine-week run and encouraged the duo to join forces with Arthur Pierson for What's Up?, which opened on Broadway in 1943. It ran for 63 performances and was followed two years later by The Day Before Spring. One of Broadway's most successful partnerships had been established.
Their first hit was Brigadoon (1947), a romantic fantasy set in a mystical Scottish village, directed by Robert Lewis. It was followed in 1951 by the less successful Gold Rush story Paint Your Wagon.
In 1956 Lerner and Loewe unveiled My Fair Lady. Their adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion retained his social commentary and added unusually appropriate songs for the characters of Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins, played originally by Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison. It was hugely popular and set box-office records in New York and London. Together with Lerner, he won the Tony Award for Best Musical. With My Fair Lady a smash hit, MGM took notice, and commissioned them to write the 1958 film musical Gigi, which won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
Their next Broadway production, Camelot, received mediocre reviews when it opened. The director and producer arranged for stars Richard Burton, Julie Andrews, and Robert Goulet to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show and sing a few numbers from the musical, along with an appearance by Lerner and Loewe. The following morning the box office was swamped with requests, and Camelot became a huge hit.
Loewe then decided to retire to Palm Springs, California, not writing anything until he was approached by Lerner to augment the Gigi film score with additional tunes for a 1973 stage adaptation, which won him his second Tony, this time for Best Original Score. The following year they collaborated on a musical film version of The Little Prince, based on the classic children's tale by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. This film was a critical and box office failure, but has become a cult favorite, with the soundtrack recording and the film itself back in print (on CD and DVD) after many years of being unavailable.
Loewe was inducted into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame in 1972. He remained in Palm Springs until his death.
On The Street Where You Live
Frederick Loewe Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She completely done me in.
And my heart went on a journey to the moon,
When she told about her father and the gin.
And I never saw a more enchanting farce
Than that moment when she shouted
"Move your bloomin' "...
I have often walked down this street before;
All at once am I Several stories high.
Knowing I'm on the street where you live.
Are there lilac trees in the heart of town?
Can you hear a lark in any other part of town?
Does enchantment pour Out of ev'ry door?
No, it's just on the street where you live!
And oh! The towering feeling
Just to know somehow you are near.
The overpowering feeling
That any second you may suddenly appear!
People stop and stare. They don't bother me.
For there's no where else on earth that I would rather be.
Let the time go by, I won't care if I
Can be here on the street where you live.
The lyrics to Frederick Loewe's song "On the Street Where You Live" are about the overwhelming feeling of being in love and the power of someone's presence. The singer describes how he is enchanted by stories the woman he loves tells him about her family and how even her shouting at someone is enchanting to him. He then goes on to describe how just being on the street where she lives makes him feel high and how he can't imagine being anywhere else. He wonders if the street is somehow enchanted because of her presence and describes the overpowering feeling of knowing she is near.
The first two lines of the song reference the woman telling a story about her aunt biting off a spoon and her father drinking gin. These details, even though they may seem trivial, are important to the singer because they make him feel closer to the woman he loves. The mention of the street where she lives is also important because it is a physical representation of her presence in his life.
The singer's obsessive love is evident throughout the lyrics, as he obsesses over the possibility of seeing the woman he loves. The line "Let the time go by, I won't care if I/Can be here on the street where you live" emphasizes this. Overall, the song is about the overwhelming power of love and how it can change one's perspective on the world.
Line by Line Meaning
When she mentioned how her aunt bit off the spoon,
The storyteller was mesmerized by their lover's every word, even simple ones about a family member biting a spoon.
She completely done me in.
The storytelling person was left completely vulnerable and fascinated by this story.
And my heart went on a journey to the moon,
The storyteller was so spellbound that they felt like their heart was soaring through outer space.
When she told about her father and the gin.
The storytelling person became even more enraptured when their lover recounted a story about their father and his experiences with a type of alcohol.
And I never saw a more enchanting farce
The lover found the whole interaction to be amusing and magical.
Than that moment when she shouted
The ultimate magical moment occurred when the lover shouted something, which further enchanted the storytelling person.
"Move your bloomin' "...
The exact words shouted by the lover remain unknown, but they must have been quite impactful.
I have often walked down this street before;
The storyteller is familiar with this street and has walked down it many times before.
But the pavement always stayed beneath my feet before.
Nothing out of the ordinary usually happens on this street, so it's not typically noteworthy or memorable.
All at once am I Several stories high.
Suddenly, the storyteller feels elevated and ecstatic, as if flying many stories above the ground.
Knowing I'm on the street where you live.
The reason for this newfound elation is because the storyteller is on the street where their lover lives.
Are there lilac trees in the heart of town?
The storyteller wonders about the flowers and nature in this area.
Can you hear a lark in any other part of town?
The storyteller is curious if the birdsong is unique to this location or if it can be heard elsewhere in the town.
Does enchantment pour Out of ev'ry door?
The storyteller wonders if the place is truly as enchanting as it feels, or if it's just their perception due to their love for their lover.
No, it's just on the street where you live!
The conclusion the storyteller draws is that the enchantment is tied to their lover and this specific location.
And oh! The towering feeling
The storyteller is overwhelmed with powerful emotion.
Just to know somehow you are near.
The reason for this emotion is knowing that their lover is nearby.
The overpowering feeling
The sensation of being overwhelmed continues even stronger than before.
That any second you may suddenly appear!
The unpredictability of their lover appearing at any moment only adds to the overwhelming emotion the storyteller is feeling.
People stop and stare. They don't bother me.
The storyteller is so consumed by their love and surroundings that they don't even notice people staring at them.
For there's no where else on earth that I would rather be.
The storyteller feels like there's no better place to be than on this street near their lover.
Let the time go by, I won't care if I
The storyteller is content to just be in this moment with their lover, and time passing doesn't matter.
Can be here on the street where you live.
The storyteller's ultimate desire is to be on this street with their lover.
Writer(s): FREDERICK LOEWE, ALAN JAY LERNER
Contributed by Elizabeth L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.