Durante was born in New York City, the third of four children born to Mitch Durante (1855 –1929) and Margaret Durante (1858–1936). A product of working-class New York, Durante dropped out of school in the eighth grade to become a full-time ragtime pianist, working the city circuit and earning the nickname "Ragtime Jimmy," before he joined one of the first recognizable jazz bands in New York, the Original New Orleans Jazz Band. Durante was the only member of the group who didn't hail from New Orleans. His routine of breaking into a song to deliver a joke, with band or orchestra chord punctuation after each line became a Durante trademark. In 1920, the group was renamed Jimmy Durante's Jazz Band.
Durante became a vaudeville star and radio attraction by the mid-1920s, with a music and comedy trio called Clayton, Jackson and Durante. (Lou Clayton and Eddie Jackson, probably Durante's closest friends, often reunited with Durante professionally.) By 1934, he had a major record hit, his own novelty composition "Inka Dinka Doo," and it became his signature song for practically the rest of his life. A year later, Durante starred in the Billy Rose stage musical, Jumbo, in which a police officer stopped him while leading a live elephant and asked him, "What are you doing with that elephant?" Durante's reply, "What elephant?", was a regular show-stopper.
He began appearing in motion pictures at about the same time, beginning with a comedy series pairing him with silent film legend Buster Keaton and continuing with such offerings as The Wet Parade (1932), The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942, playing Banjo, a character based on Harpo Marx), Ziegfeld Follies (1946), Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962, based on the 1935 musical) and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963).
In The Other Fellow's Yard
Jimmy Durante Lyrics
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Don?t believe the air is always cleaner in the other fellow?s yard.
Don?t spend your time in grieving and moaning through the day,
Or you?ll wake up some evening to find you moaned your life away.
Don?t believe the road is never bumpy in the other fellow?s yard.
Don?t believe the outlook isn?t jumpy and the way isn?t hard
Be satisfied. Look over the fence, and if you do, you?ll see the other fellow standing there admiring you.
Be satisfied. Look over the fence, and if you do, you?ll see the other fellow standing there admiring you.
In this song, Jimmy Durante is expressing the idea that we often overlook the positive aspects of our lives and instead focus on what we perceive as the greener grass in other people's lives. He warns us not to fall into that trap, pointing out that the grass isn't always greener on the other side, and that we should be content with what we have. Durante advises us to view our own lives with a positive outlook, and not to waste our time wishing we had what others have.
He encourages us not to spend our lives moaning and grieving, but to take time to appreciate the good things we have. Durante suggests that if we look over the fence, we may realize that the other person is actually admiring us and what we have, instead of us constantly admiring them. He's reminding us that no one has a perfect life, no matter how much it may seem like it from the outside, and it's important not to compare ourselves to others as it can lead to unnecessary unhappiness.
Overall, the message of the song is to be content with what we have and to view our own lives in a positive light.
Line by Line Meaning
Don?t believe the grass is always greener in the other fellow?s yard.
Don't believe that everything in other people's lives is always better than your own.
Don?t believe the air is always cleaner in the other fellow?s yard.
Don't believe that the environment in other people's lives is always better than your own.
Don?t spend your time in grieving and moaning through the day, Or you?ll wake up some evening to find you moaned your life away.
Don't waste your time and energy on negative emotions and complaints, or you may look back on your life with regret.
Don?t believe the road is never bumpy in the other fellow?s yard.
Don't believe that other people don't face challenges and difficulties in their lives.
Don?t believe the outlook isn?t jumpy and the way isn?t hard
Don't believe that everything in life is easy and straightforward for other people.
Be satisfied. Look over the fence, and if you do, you?ll see the other fellow standing there admiring you.
Be content with your own life and accomplishments. If you compare yourself to others, you may find that they admire you just as much as you admire them.
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
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