Robert Meredith Willson (18 May 1902 - 15 June 1984) was an American compos… Read Full Bio ↴Robert Meredith Willson (18 May 1902 - 15 June 1984) was an American composer and playwright, best known as the writer of The Music Man.
note the spelling Willson ... www.last.fm/music/Meredith+Willson

Born Robert Meredith Reiniger in Mason City, Iowa, Willson attended Damrosch Institute (later The Juilliard School) in New York City. A flute and piccolo player, Willson was a member of John Philip Sousa's band (1921 - 1923) and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini (1924 - 1929). Willson then moved to San Francisco, California as the concert director for KFRC, and then as a musical director for the NBC radio network in Hollywood.

His work for films included the music for Charlie Chaplin's 1940 film The Great Dictator, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. During World War II, he worked for the United States' Armed Forces Radio Service. His work with the AFRS teamed him with George Burns, Gracie Allen and Bill Goodwin. (He would work with all three as the bandleader, and a regular character, on the Burns and Allen radio program.) Returning to network radio after WWII, he created the Talking People, a choral group which spoke in unison while delivering radio commercials.

Willson's most famous work, The Music Man, premiered on Broadway in 1957 and was adapted twice for film (in 1962 and 2003). He referred to the play as "an Iowan's attempt to pay tribute to his home state." It took Willson some eight years and thirty revisions to complete the musical, for which he wrote more than forty songs. The cast recording of The Music Man won the very first Grammy award ever issued.

His second musical, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, ran on Broadway for 532 performances from 1960 to 1962 and was made into a 1964 motion picture starring Debbie Reynolds.

His third (and apparently last) musical was an adaptation of the film Miracle On 34th Street, called Here's Love! (1963).

His Symphony No. 1 In F Minor, A Symphony Of San Francisco, and Symphony No. 2 In E Minor, Missions Of California, were recorded in 1999 by William T. Stromberg conducting the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra.

Willson penned a number of very well-known songs, such as "Seventy-Six Trombones," "Gary Indiana," "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas," and even "Till There Was You," which was a hit for the Beatles in 1963. He also wrote the University of Iowa's fight song.

In general, it was recognized that Willson wrote surprisingly well-crafted, complex, and subtle music that classical music fans could appreciate, with intricate and sometimes startling counterpoint, well-crafted melody, and subtle orchestration, all while still appealing to mass audiences.

Willson and his wife lived for years in the Mandeville Canyon section of Brentwood, California. In the 1960s, Willson was fondly remembered by friends and neighbors as a warm and gregarious host who loved nothing more than to play the piano and sing at numerous parties. Willson often gave out autographed copies of his record album, Meredith Willson Sings Songs from The Music Man.

It's You
Meredith Wilson Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Quartet:
It's you in the sunrise, it's you in my cup.
It's you all the way into town.
It's your sweet "Hello, dear" that sets me up
And it's your "Got to go, dear" that gets me down.
It's you on my pillow in all my dreams.
'Til once more the morning breaks through
What words could be saner or truer or plainer

Than it's you, it's you.

Yes, it's you.
Oh, yes it's you.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of "It's You" by Meredith Willson are a poetic ode to the constant presence of a loved one in the singer's life. The opening line "It's you in the sunrise, it's you in my cup" sets the tone for the rest of the song, as the singer goes on to describe how their partner is present in everything from their morning coffee to their dreams. The repetition of "It's you" throughout the song serves as a reminder of the all-encompassing nature of love and how it can permeate every aspect of one's life.

The lyrics also touch on the bittersweet moments of love, as demonstrated by the lines "It's your sweet 'Hello, dear' that sets me up / And it's your 'Got to go, dear' that gets me down." These moments of joy and longing are further contrasted with the image of the singer lying alone on their pillow, dreaming of their loved one. The refrain of "What words could be saner or truer or plainer / Than it's you, it's you" emphasizes the simplicity and inevitability of love, and how nothing else could make the singer feel as complete and content.

Overall, "It's You" is a tender and romantic song that captures the feeling of being in love and the many ways in which it can permeate one's daily life.

Line by Line Meaning

It's you in the sunrise, it's you in my cup.
You are what I think of when I wake up and you fill me up like a morning cup of coffee.

It's you all the way into town.
My thoughts are consumed with you everywhere I go, even on my way into town.

It's your sweet 'Hello, dear' that sets me up
Your greeting is what brightens my day and uplifts my spirits.

And it's your 'Got to go, dear' that gets me down.
Your farewell is what saddens me and brings me down from the happiness you bring me.

It's you on my pillow in all my dreams.
My subconscious is filled with thoughts of you and it carries over into my dreams.

'Til once more the morning breaks through
Until I wake up in the morning and reality sets in once again.

What words could be saner or truer or plainer
There are no more rational, honest, or simple words I could say than this:

Than it's you, it's you.
It's you, only you.

Yes, it's you.
Absolutely, it's you.

Oh, yes it's you.
Oh, it's without a doubt you.

Contributed by Savannah S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.