The final song of this week of songs my parents liked is one that I don’t really know whether they liked it or not, but they probably did. I certainly like it. The song is “Once Upon a Time” and it comes from the musical All-American, which opened (and closed) on Broadway in 1962. The song is one of the saddest, most moving pieces of music I know.
“Once Upon a Time” was composed by Charles Strouse with lyrics by Lee Adams. The two of them had previously collaborated on the music for Bye Bye Birdie and would go on to write tunes for Applause, Golden Boy, and some lesser musicals. This song, in my estimation, is the best of their work.
All-American, the musical, was somewhat of a failed endeavor. The book was by comedian Mel Brooks, of all people, some of his first work after leaving Sid Caesar and Your Show of Shows. Mel couldn’t be bothered to finish the second act, however; director (and noted script doctor) Joshua Logan stepped in to complete the thing, even though his comic sensibility was much different from Mel’s. It apparently showed.
Ray Bolger had the starring role but he was a few years past his prime and not the audience draw he used to be. The play got mostly bad reviews and closed after just 80 performances. (It’s said that Brooks’ experience with All-American inspired his later and greater comedy, The Producers.) For all that, All-American is largely forgotten now, even though “Once Upon a Time” (sung on Broadway by Bolger and Eileen Herlie) lives on, at least in the memories of many.
That’s only fitting, because “Once Upon a Time” is all about memories. The lyrics reminisce about a long-lost love and the memories of better days. Hearing it never fails to cause some dampness around my eye sockets, it’s just a perfect pairing of wistful words and moving melody that pulls at the heartstrings. It’s worth quoting all the words to the thing:
Once upon a time
A girl with moonlight in her eyes
Put her hand in mine
And said she loved me so
But that was once upon a time
Very long ago
Once upon a hill
We sat beneath a willow tree
Counting all the stars and waiting for the dawn
But that was once upon a time
Now the tree is gone
How the breeze ruffled up her hair
How we always laughed as though tomorrow wasn’t there
We were young and didn’t have a care
Where did it go
Once upon a time
The world was sweeter than we knew
Everything was ours
How happy we were then
But somehow once upon a time
Never comes again
Tony Bennett had the first recording of the song back in 1962, but I find his version a little strident in spots. Frank Sinatra also recorded it, but that arrangement has too strong a beat and isn’t lush enough for me. Better are versions by Robert Goulet, Andy Williams, Levi Stubbs and the Four Tops, Bobby Darrin, and Bob Dylan, whose version is surprisingly good.
The best version, to my ears, is by somnambulant crooner Perry Como, from his 1962 album By Request. The backing is by Como’s long-time collaborator Mitchell Ayres and his orchestra; although the arranger is uncredited, it was likely Ayres himself.
I’m pretty sure my parents would have liked this song and they probably had it on one long-playing album or another. I do know they listened to a lot of Perry Como and watched him when he hosted Perry Como’s Kraft Music Hall on the NBC television network in the early ’60s. So they probably knew the tune.
“Once Upon a Time” isn’t played much today, unfortunately, although it should be. It’s a damned fine song, even if it was written to appeal to an older generation. Since I’m older now, I guess that’s why it appeals to me more than it used to.
