The Four Freshmen began as a American vocal group popular from the 1950s th… Read Full Bio ↴The Four Freshmen began as a American vocal group popular from the 1950s through to the early 1960s. Founded by brothers Ross and Don Barbour in 1948 as freshmen at Butler University, the other two original members included their cousin Bob Flanigan and Hal Kratzsch. Well-known for their multi-part harmonies, they are notable as early purveyors of vocalese and as the forerunners of vocal-harmony based rock music, particularly that of The Beach Boys. In their current configuration, The Four Freshmen continue to perform.

The group took off after being signed to Capitol Records in 1952 at the insistence of high profile fan, Stan Kenton. They remained popular throughout the 50s and early 60s, releasing a wide array of successful albums, movie and television appearances and performing countless sold-out concerts. The band eventually lost mainstream attention with the emergence of the British pop bands of the 1960s, even though they managed to stay together even after the retirement of final original member Bob Flanigan in 1992.

As of 2001, the Freshmen have been composed of Bob Ferreira, Brian Eichenberger, Curtis Calderon, and Vince Johnson. Although the new lineup of the Four Freshmen have continued the legendary vocal tradition of the original band and perform many of the same standards, the current sound has more of a lounge sound rather than focusing primarily upon harmonies. This modernized sound has proven quite successful, as the group won Down Beat magazine's reader's poll award for Vocal Group of the Year in 2000, proving the quartet's prominence in the jazz world today.

Opus I
The Four Freshmen Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I'm racking my brains to think of a name
To give to this tune so Perry can croon
And maybe old Bing will give it a fling
And that'll start everyone humming this thing
The melody's done, repeat and repeat
And if you can swing, it's got a good beat
And that's the main thing to make it complete
'Cause everyone's a-swinging today

So we called it Opus One
It's not for Sammy Kaye, hey, hey, hey
It's Opus One, it's good to swing that sway, baby!

If Mr Les Browne can make it renown
And Ray Anthony'll rock it for me
There's never a doubt, you'll knock yourself out
Whenever you can hear Opus One

(Doo-doody-oo's)

So they call it Opus One
Come on, latch on and jump, hey, hey, hey
It's Opus One, come on, latch on and jump, oo-oo-ooh, baby!

(Doo-doody-oo's)

Opus One

Overall Meaning

The Four Freshmen's song, Opus I, is a playful and upbeat tune about the creation of a new musical composition. The lyrics describe the process of constructing the melody and deciding on a name, with hopes that popular singers such as Perry Como and Bing Crosby will perform it. The song even offers suggestions on how the tune should be played, noting its good beat and ability to swing. The chorus, which repeats the name "Opus One" multiple times, emphasizes the infectious nature of the song and encourages listeners to join in and "jump" along.

Overall, Opus I is a lighthearted celebration of music and the joy it can bring to people. The lyrics possess a childlike innocence and a sense of fun, as if the writers were simply thrilled to have created something that could make people happy. The use of singers' names such as Perry Como and Bing Crosby also places the song in a specific time and cultural context, revealing the era's excitement about the power of music and the personalities who performed it for the masses.

Line by Line Meaning

I'm racking my brains to think of a name
I'm trying really hard to come up with the perfect name for this song

To give to this tune so Perry can croon
So that Perry can sing this melody beautifully

And maybe old Bing will give it a fling
And hopefully Bing Crosby will take an interest in it

And that'll start everyone humming this thing
And then everyone will start humming and singing the song

The melody's done, repeat and repeat
The melody of the song is complete and will be repeated throughout the song

And if you can swing, it's got a good beat
If you can dance to it, the song has a good rhythm

And that's the main thing to make it complete
The most important thing to make the song complete is for it to be danceable

'Cause everyone's a-swinging today
Because swing music is very popular right now

So we called it Opus One
Therefore, we decided to name it Opus One

It's not for Sammy Kaye, hey, hey, hey
It is not intended for Sammy Kaye to perform, no matter how good he is

It's Opus One, it's good to swing that sway, baby!
Therefore, we named it Opus One because it's great for dancing and it will make you sway

If Mr Les Browne can make it renown
If Les Brown can bring fame to this song

And Ray Anthony'll rock it for me
And if Ray Anthony performs this for me, he will make the song even better

There's never a doubt, you'll knock yourself out
There's no doubt that you'll love this song and dance to it all night long

Whenever you can hear Opus One
Whenever you hear this song, it will make you want to dance and move

So they call it Opus One
And that's why everyone knows it as Opus One

Come on, latch on and jump, hey, hey, hey
So come on, let's dance and jump to the beat of Opus One

It's Opus One, come on, latch on and jump, oo-oo-ooh, baby!
It's Opus One, the perfect song to dance and jump to, baby!

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Peermusic Publishing, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., MUSIC SALES CORPORATION
Written by: SID GARRIS, SY OLIVER

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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