Having played drums in his high school band, Vallee played clarinet and saxophone in various bands around New England in his youth. In 1917, he felt that Uncle Sam needed one more brave young man in the Great War, but was discharged when the Navy authorities found out that he was only 15. In 1924-5, he played with the "Savoy Havana Band" in London, England. He then returned to the States to obtain a degree in Philosophy from Yale and to form his own band, "Rudy Vallee and the Connecticut Yankees." With this band, which featured two violins, two saxophones, a piano, a banjo and drums, he started taking vocals (supposedly reluctantly at first). He had a rather thin, wavering tenor voice and seemed more at home singing sweet ballads than attempting vocals on jazz numbers. However his singing, together with his suave manner and handsome boyish looks attracted great attention, especially from young women. Vallee was given a recording contract, and in 1928 started performing on the radio.
Vallee became the most prominent and arguably the first of a new style of popular singer, the "crooner". Previously, popular singers needed strong projecting voices to fill theaters in the days before the electric microphone. Crooners had soft voices that were well suited to the intimacy of the new medium of radio. Vallee's trombone-like vocal phrasing on "Deep Night" would inspire later crooners such as Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Perry Como to model their voice on jazz instruments.
Vallee also became what was perhaps the first complete example of the 20th century mass media pop star. Flappers (the predecessors of "bobby-soxers") mobbed him wherever he went. His live appearances were usually sold out, and even if his singing could hardly be heard in those venues not yet equipped with the new electronic microphones, his screaming female fans went home happy if they had caught sight of his lips through the opening of the trademark megaphone he sang through.
In 1929 Vallee did his first film, The Vagabond Love. His first films were made to cash in on his singing popularity, but Hollywood was pleasantly surprised to find that Vallee could act as well. Also in 1929 Vallee started hosting The Fleischmannâs Yeast Musical Variety Hour. Performers first introduced to the American public on that program included Jack Benny and Kate Smith.
Vallee would continue hosting popular radio variety shows through the 1940s, including: "The Royal Gelatin Hour, directed by Rudy Vallee", which featured various film performers of the era, such as Fay Wray and Richard Cromwell, in dramatic skits.
Along with his group, "The Connecticut Yankees," Vallee's best known popular recordings included: "The Stein Song" (aka University of Maine fighting song) in the early part of the decade and "Vieni, Vieni" in the latter '30s. A note of trivia: "Vieni, Vieni" can be heard in the background as Jimmy Stewart enters the restaurant in Frank Capra's holiday classic, It's a Wonderful Life. Remarkably for an American, Vallee sang fluently in three Mediterranean languages, and always varied the keys, thus paving the way for later pop crooners such as Dean Martin, Andy Williams and Vic Damone. Another memorable rendition of his is "Life Is Just A Bowl of Cherries", in which he imitates Willie Howard's voice in the final chorus. Vallee was also entertaining in George Gershwin's witty "Kitty from Kansas City", not to mention the first recording of tipsy laughter in "There is a Tavern in the Town", decades before Elvis Presley was to use that gimmick on stage in "Are You Lonesome Tonight?". His last significant hit song was the reissue of the melancholic ballad "As Time Goes By" from the soundtrack of Casablanca in 1943, which he had recorded fifteen years before it was used in this classic movie. During WWII, Vallee performed with the Coast Guard Band, entertaining US troops with this forty-piece orchestra until 1944.
When Vallee took his contractual vacations from his national radio show in 1936, he insisted his sponsor hire Louis Armstrong as his substitute (this was the first instance of an African-American fronting a national radio program). That same year Vallee also wrote the introduction for Armstrong's book "Swing That Music".
Vallee acted in a number of Hollywood films in the 1930s and 1940s. One of his best acting roles is as the millionaire playboy on whom Claudette Colbert relies in the 1942 screwball comedy directed by Preston Sturges, "The Palm Beach Story".
In 1955, Vallee displayed his comedic abilities in Gentlemen Marry Brunettes, co-starring Jane Russell, Alan Young, and Jeanne Crain. The production was filmed on location in Paris. The film was based on the Anita Loos novel that was a sequel to her acclaimed Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Gentlemen Marry Brunettes was popular throughout Europe at the time and was released in France as A Paris Pour les Quatre ("Paris For The Four"), and in Belgium as Tevieren Te Parijs.
In middle age Vallee's voice matured into a robust baritone. (In his later years he told a collector of his early records that "Everything I did before 1950 you can shit on.") He performed on Broadway in the show How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and appeared in the film of the same name. He appeared in the campy 1960s Batman television show as the character "Lord Marmaduke Fogg". He toured with a one-man theater show into the 1980s.
His reputation in Hollywood was that of a tightwad, but he wasn't the only one. He also had a reputation for being one of the most difficult people in show business to work for. It was said that the two happiest days in a performer's life were 1) when they signed a contract to work for Rudy Vallee and 2) when their contract finally expired so that they could stop working for him. On several occasions, Vallee was known to have rushed into his audience in order to punch audience members who booed. He was widely suspected of being bisexual, although not much hard evidence exists, and his blatant affair with glamour queen and pioneer inventor Hedy Lamarr (and a self-confessed 144 starlets of lesser ilk) stifled the malicious whispers. He was married briefly to the much-younger and sexy actress Jane Greer, but that ended in divorce in 1944. His previous marriage to Leonie Cuachois was annulled and the one to Fay Webb ended in divorce. After divorcing Jane Greer he married Eleanor Norris in 1946, who wrote a memoir, My Vagabond Lover. Their marriage lasted until his death in 1986.
Rudy Vallee died on July 3, 1986 at the age of 84, and he was interred in St. Hyacinth's Cemetery, Westbrook, Maine, from which his headstone was stolen. Famous last words: "I do love parties", while watching a TV show.
These Foolish Things
Rudy Vallee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh! Will you never set me free?
The ties that bound us
Are still around us
There's no escape that I can see
And still those little things remain
That bring me happiness or pain
An airline ticket to romantic places
And still my heart has wings
These foolish things remind me of you
A tinkling piano in the next apartment
Those stumbling words that told you what my heart meant
A fair ground's painted swings
These foolish things remind me of you
You came you saw you conquer'd me
When you did that to me
I knew somehow this had to be
The winds of March that make my heart a dancer
A telephone that rings but who's to answer?
Oh, how the ghost of you clings!
These foolish things remind me of you
First daffodils and long excited cables
And candle lights on little corner tables
And still my heart has wings
These foolish things remind me of you
The park at evening when the bell has sounded
The "Ile de France" with all the gulls around it
The beauty that is Spring's
These foolish things remind me of you
How strange how sweet to find you still
These things are dear to me
They seem to bring you near to me
The sigh of midnight trains in empty stations
Silk stockings thrown aside dance invitations
Oh, how the ghost of you clings!
These foolish things remind me of you
Gardenia perfume ling'ring on a pillow
Wild strawb'ries only seven francs a kilo
And still my heart has wings
These foolish things remind me of you
The smile of Garbo and the scent of roses
The waiters whistling as the last bar closes
The song that Crosby sings
These foolish things remind me of you
How strange how sweet to find you still
These things are dear to me
They seem to bring you near to me
The scent of smould'ring leaves, the wail of steamers
Two lovers on the street who walk like dreamers
Oh, how the ghost of you clings!
These foolish things remind me of you
These lyrics of Rudy Vallee's song, These Foolish Things, describe a love that lingers on, even when the relationship has ended. The singer is trapped in the memories of the past and is unable to move on from the ties that used to bind them to their former lover. The little things that they shared still bring them both joy and pain, such as the scent of gardenia perfume, wild strawberries, and smoldering leaves.
The lyrics describe a love that is associated with a particular time and place, such as the daffodils of spring, the bell ringing in a park at sunset, and the "Ile de France" ship surrounded by gulls. All these little details serve as triggers that remind the singer of their former lover. The lyrics evoke a sense of nostalgia and longing, as the singer is haunted by ghosts of their former relationship, symbolized by the "ghost of you".
The overall message of the song is that while the relationship may be over, the memories live on. The singer is unable to escape the past and is trapped in their own feelings. Even these foolish things that remind them of their former lover bring them both joy and suffering.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh! Will you never let me be?
Will you never release me from the emotional ties that bind us?
Oh! Will you never set me free?
Will you never allow me to move on from our relationship?
The ties that bound us
The emotional and physical connections that were present in our past relationship
Are still around us
The connections that were established during our past relationship still linger
There's no escape that I can see
I can't see a way to break free from these lingering emotions
And still those little things remain
Small reminders of our past relationship still exist
That bring me happiness or pain
These reminders can elicit both positive and negative emotions from me
A cigarette that bears a lipstick's traces
A cigarette with remnants of your lipstick on it
An airline ticket to romantic places
A ticket to a destination that we once traveled to together
And still my heart has wings
My heart is still capable of feeling the joy and excitement of love
These foolish things remind me of you
These small reminders of our relationship bring you to the forefront of my mind
A tinkling piano in the next apartment
The sound of an adjacent piano being played softly
Those stumbling words that told you what my heart meant
The words that conveyed my deepest emotions to you, even if I had trouble articulating them
A fair ground's painted swings
The joy and excitement of riding on swings at a local carnival or fair
You came you saw you conquer'd me
You entered my life, made an impact, and won me over
When you did that to me
When you won me over with your charm and love
I knew somehow this had to be
I felt that our relationship was meant to be from the very beginning
The winds of March that make my heart a dancer
The refreshing winds of spring that bring me joy and vitality
A telephone that rings but who's to answer?
The sound of a phone ringing but no one to answer it, highlighting the emptiness I feel without you
The ghost of you clings!
Your memory still haunts me
First daffodils and long excited cables
The excitement and newness of discovering the first signs of spring, and the anticipation of a long-distance communication with you
And candle lights on little corner tables
The romantic ambiance of a candle-lit table in a cozy corner of a restaurant
The park at evening when the bell has sounded
The peacefulness and serenity of a park setting at dusk
The "Ile de France" with all the gulls around it
The idyllic sight of seagulls flying around the cruise ship "Ile de France"
The beauty that is Spring's
The natural beauty that accompanies the arrival of spring
The smile of Garbo and the scent of roses
The timeless elegance of the actress Greta Garbo, accompanied by the fragrant aroma of roses
The waiters whistling as the last bar closes
The lightheartedness and camaraderie of the waitstaff as closing time approaches
The song that Crosby sings
The sweet and soothing melodies of the singer Bing Crosby
How strange how sweet to find you still
It's strange yet comforting to still be reminded of you in these small ways
These things are dear to me
These small reminders are important to me and hold great sentimental value
They seem to bring you near to me
These reminders evoke a sense of your presence and closeness, as if you were still with me
The scent of smould'ring leaves, the wail of steamers
The crisp and earthy smell of burning leaves, accompanied by the distant sounds of steam-powered boats
Two lovers on the street who walk like dreamers
The sight of two people deeply in love, lost in their own world
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Harry Link, Holt Marvell, Jack Strachey
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Imani M
This is my favorite version đ So beautiful, it gets stuck in my head all the time. I love Rudy's voice đ¶
Gen Dalton
This is my absolute favorite version! Thank you!
Gregory Palmer
The Nat Brandwynne and Joe Sanders versions are my favorites but this is very good.
Anthony Frew
This is the sort of song that makes it into the Overlook Hotel - it is about love and loss - and how the ghost hangs around - the ghost in question may be very much alive - but gone from the performer's life - thus the haunting remains the same.