Was an American compo… Read Full Bio ↴Harold Arlen (February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986)
Was an American composer of popular music. Having written over 400 songs, a number of which have become known the world over, Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the Great American Songbook. His 1938 song "Over the Rainbow” was voted the twentieth century's No. 1 song by the Recording Industry Association of America
Biography
Arlen was born Hyman Arluck, in Buffalo, New York, the child of a Jewish cantor. His twin brother died the next day. He learned the piano as a youth and formed a band as a young man. He achieved some local success as a pianist and singer and moved to New York City in his early 20s. He worked as an accompanist in vaudeville.[1] At this point, he changed his name to Harold Arlen. He performed on record with the "Buffalodians" orchestra, as well as those of Red Nichols, Henny Hendrickson and Arnold Johnson.
Between 1926 and about 1934, Arlen appeared occasionally as band vocalist on records by The Buffalodians, Red Nichols, Joe Venuti, Leo Reisman and Eddie Duchin, usually singing his own compositions.
In 1929, Arlen composed his first well-known song: "Get Happy" (with lyrics by Ted Koehler). Throughout the early and mid-1930s, Arlen and Koehler wrote shows for the Cotton Club, a popular Harlem night club, as well as Broadway musicals and Hollywood films. Arlen also continued to perform with some success, most notably on records with Leo Reisman's society dance orchestra.
Arlen's compositions have always been popular with jazz musicians because of his facility at incorporating a blues feeling into conventional American popular songs.
Arlen and Koehler wrote several hit songs during the early and mid-1930s.
In the mid-1930s, Arlen married, and spent increasingly more time in California, writing for movie musicals. It was at this time that he began working with lyricist E.Y. "Yip" Harburg. In 1938, the team was hired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to compose songs for The Wizard of Oz. The most famous of these is the song "Over the Rainbow" for which they won the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song. They also wrote "Down with Love", a song later featured in the 2003 movie Down with Love.
Arlen was a longtime friend and former roommate of actor Ray Bolger who would star in The Wizard of Oz, the film for which "Over the Rainbow" was written.
In the 1940s, Arlen teamed up with lyricist Johnny Mercer, and continued to write hit songs like "Blues in the Night" ("My Mama Done Tol' Me") and "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive".
Let's Fall In Love
Harold Arlen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To be or not to be, let our hearts discover
I have a feeling, it's a feeling I'm concealing, I don't know why
It's just a mental, incidental, sentimental, alibi
But I adore you, so strong for you
Why go on stalling, I am falling, love is calling, why be shy
Let's fall in love
Why shouldn't we fall in love
Why be afraid of it
Let's close our eyes
And make our own paradise
Little we know of it, still we can try
To make a go of it
We might have been meant for each other
To be or not to be, let our hearts discover
Let's fall in love
Why shouldn't we fall in love
Now is the time for it, while we are young
Let's fall in love
The lyrics of Harold Arlen's song Let's Fall in Love expresses a strong desire for the singer to fall in love with the person they are addressing. The first two lines suggest that they believe that they are meant to be together. Their hearts need to discover whether that is the case or not. The singer admits that they are concealing their true feelings about the person they are addressing. The reason might be that they don't know why they feel that way or they are simply making up an alibi for feeling that way. However, despite that, the singer states that they strongly adore the person they are addressing and cannot continue to stall. The singer is falling in love and love is calling, so instead of being shy, they should let themselves fall in love. The chorus makes a clear plea that they should fall in love; our hearts are made of it, so why be afraid of it? They should close their eyes and make their own paradise. Though they may not know much about it, they should try to make a go of it because they might have been meant for each other.
The lyrics of the song are an expression of the feeling of uncertainty that comes with falling in love. It acknowledges that falling in love is risky, but it also suggests that the potential rewards of falling in love are worth the risk. The song encourages the listener to embrace their feelings and take a chance, knowing that they might end up with the love they have been searching for. The song is an ode to love, and its lyrics celebrate the power of love to change our lives.
Line by Line Meaning
We might have been meant for each other
It's possible that we were destined to be together
To be or not to be, let our hearts discover
Let's take a chance and see if our hearts lead us to love or not
I have a feeling, it's a feeling I'm concealing, I don't know why
I have emotions for you that I'm hiding, but I don't understand them fully
It's just a mental, incidental, sentimental, alibi
I'm using the excuse of having sentimental feelings to justify my emotions for you
But I adore you, so strong for you
I love and admire you deeply
Why go on stalling, I am falling, love is calling, why be shy
Why delay or hide my feelings when love is beckoning us to be together
Let's fall in love
Let's give in to our emotions and become lovers
Why shouldn't we fall in love
There's no reason not to follow our hearts and fall in love
Our hearts are made of it, let's take a chance
Since our hearts are capable of love, we should take the risk and give in to it
Why be afraid of it
There's no reason to be scared of love
Let's close our eyes
Let's forget our fears and trust our hearts
And make our own paradise
We can create a special place just for us, filled with love and happiness
Little we know of it, still we can try
We might not know much about love, but we can still give it a chance
To make a go of it
Let's make an effort to succeed in our love for each other
Now is the time for it, while we are young
Since we are young and have time on our side, we should seize the opportunity to love now
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: COLE PORTER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Chickens and Gardening
Sung by the song's composer, Harold Arlen (b. Hyman Arluck, 1905-1986), who also composed some 500 other songs including "Over the Rainbow". Mr. Arlen's unsophisticated but heartfelt rendition of his own composition evokes a different, more innocent era.
Barry I. Grauman
A very wistful rendition, to be sure.
Mike Frizzi
My lord. What a painfully gorgeous song.
Jim Hilliker
So fun to hear Harold Arlen.
The78Prof
That's my own personal favorite version...he sounds so 'wistful.'
Tero Nuotio
Wonderfull rendition by the composer himself.
Bill Oehlschlager
Even after 90 years, this beautiful song still sounds fresh and new every time you listen to it.
sudipto bhadra
what a wonderful song.
Much love from India 2022.
Alan Senzaki
A great american composer!
PAUL VIARDOT
Époustouflante version par Mr Arlen !