Gershwin Quotes

There are two different kinds of glee club in this world. The first sing barbershop favourites and Gershwin tunes, they swing gently, moving from side to side and sometimes clicking their fingers and winking. Howard could basically deal with that type. He had got through those occasions graced by glee clubs of that type. But these boys were not of that type. Swaying and clicking and winking were just how they got warmed up. Tonight this glee club had chosen as their opener 'Pride (In the Name of Love)' by U2, which they had taken the trouble to transform into a samba. They swayed, they clicked, they winked. They did coordinated spins. They switched places with each other. They moved forward, they moved back – always retaining their formation. They smiled the kind of smile you might employ when trying to convince a lunatic to quit holding a gun to your mother's head. ~ Zadie Smith

From folk to tribal to Cab Calloway, Cole Porter, Gershwin to the Rolling Stones, whose first record was all covers, to country-western, bebop, blues, and even the referencing in classic hip hop to cliched love ballads of the '80s or whatever - that is kinda gone, and that's just terrifying to me. ~ Cat Power

I was lucky enough to have the songs in my first show written by George and Ira Gershwin. Then Cole Porter wrote five shows for me. ~ Ethel Merman

One can be very happy without demanding that others agree with them. ~ Ira Gershwin

I'm bidin' my time,
'Cause that's the kinda guy I'm. ~ Ira Gershwin

As a New Yorker you can't help but be proud of the fact that so much music and culture started here. Punk rock, jazz, hip-hop and house music started here, George Gershwin debuted 'Rhapsody in Blue' here; the Velvet Underground are from New York. ~ Moby

Sometimes you go through things that seem huge at the time, like a mysterious glowing cloud devouring your entire community. While they're happening, they feel like the only thing that matters and you can hardly imagine that there's a world out there that might have anything else going on. And then the glow cloud moves on. And you move on. And the event is behind you. And you may find, as time passes, that you remember it less and less. Or absolutely not at all, in my case. ~ Cecil Baldwin

My father was always playing the piano. He played all kinds of music - Gershwin, all kinds of stuff. ~ Kate Bush

I'm a fan of Jerome Kern and Gershwin. That's my kind of music. ~ Shirley Jones

I like to think of music as an emotional science. ~ George Gershwin

My people are Americans. My time is today. ~ George Gershwin

Books are more than the physical sum of ink and paper. Books have heart. And heart can last generations. ~ Jay Gershwin

Gershwin's melodic gift was phenomenal. His songs contain the essence of New York in the 1920s and have deservedly become classics of their kind, part of the 20th-century folk-song tradition in the sense that they are popular music which has been spread by oral tradition (for many must have sung a Gershwin song without having any idea who wrote it). ~ George Gershwin

Old age adds to the respect due to virtue, but it takes nothing from the contempt inspired by vice; it whitens only the hair. ~ Ira Gershwin

For me, when you are talking about perfect songs, you're talking about Gershwin, 'Someone To Watch Over Me.' Or Larry Hart and Richard Rodgers. Or some of the great Cole Porter songs, whether it's 'Night and Day' or some of the comedy songs. Or Irving Berlin, of course. ~ Maury Yeston

If you'll promise not to cry, Baby,
I will kiss you by-and-by - Maybe!
Though you're six feet three,
You will always be
Nothing but a Baby, dear, to me. ~ Ira Gershwin

As far as songwriters, I've always been a fan of Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and George Gershwin; those guys mean a lot to me. ~ Mel Brooks

Fame in this country is a religion that demands human sacrifice, a religion to which I do not wish to belong. You start to take yourself so seriously - I saw it happening to me, after I had written my first book at the age of 23. I'd give lectures or seminars, people would tell me how amazingly great I was, and sooner or later, you believe them. You end up exactly with what Oscar Levant said to George Gershwin: "Tell me, George, if you had it to do all over again, would you still fall in love with yourself?" After ~ Ken Wilber

All great composers of the past spent most of their time studying. Feeling alone won't do the job. A man also needs technique. ~ George Gershwin

A song is not a song until you sing it
A bell is not a bell until you ring it
Love is not Love until you give it away ~ George Gershwin

I did my New York debut at 21. It was 'On the Town' at the George Gershwin Theatre. New York is my artistic home. ~ Jesse Tyler Ferguson

Summertime
And the livin' is easy,
Fish are jumpin', and the cotton is high. ~ Ira Gershwin

I totally related to Cole Porter's magnetic pull to any piano that was in the room, which he was famous for doing, as was Gershwin. You couldn't drag them away from a piano. ~ Kevin Kline

If I'm a guy who doesn't seem so merry, It's just because I'm so misunderstood. When I was young I ate a dictionary, And that did not do me a bit of good. For I've absorbed so many words and phrases - They drive me dizzy when I want to speak. I start explaining but each person gazes As if I spoke in Latin or in Greek. ~ Ira Gershwin

What the hell do you want to work for somebody else for? Work for yourself! ~ George Gershwin

It was clear just how much Tommy loved the city. New York City. The CKY Grocery on Amsterdam had giant, bright red Spartan apples every day of the year, even if it wasn't the right season. He loved that grocery, and the old, shaky Persian man who owned it. Tommy emphatically, yet erroneously believed that the CKY Grocery was the genuine heart of the great city. All five boroughs embodied distinct feelings for him, but there was only one that he'd ever truly romanticized. To him, Manhattan was the entire world.

He loved everything between the East River and the Hudson; from the Financial District up to Harlem; from Avenue A to Zabar's. He loved the four
seasons, although autumn was easily the most anticipated. To Tommy, Central Park's bright, almost copper hues in the fall were the epitome of orange. He loved the unique perfume of deli meats and subway steam. He loved the rain with such verve that every time it so much as drizzled, he would turn to the sky so he could feel the drops sprinkle onto his teeth. Because every raindrop that hit him had already experienced that much envied journey from the tips of the skyscrapers all the way down to the cracked and foot-stamped sidewalks. He believed every inch of the city had its own predetermined genre of music that suited it to a tee. The modal jazz of Miles Davis and Wayne Shorter was absolutely meant for the Upper East Side, north of 61st Street. Precisely between Gershwin and gospel. He loved the view from his a ~ Ryan Tim Morris

Homo industrialis. We are so industrial (but not so wise) that we are creating a world more like the late Precambrian than the late 1800s - a world where jellyfish ruled the seas and organisms with shells didn't exist. We are creating a world where we humans may soon be unable to survive, or want to. ~ Lisa-Ann Gershwin

It sounds simple, of course, but personally I can think of no more mentally arduous task than making music. ~ George Gershwin

Not many composers have ideas. Far more of them know how to use strange instruments which do not require ideas. ~ George Gershwin

In his musicals with Garland, Rooney was the sparkplug for prodigious entrepreneurship - that era's predecessor of the garage band, but with Gershwin tunes and an all-star cast. ~ Richard Corliss

It's nice to have a station pet. Wish it wasn't trapped in a hovering prison in the men's bathroom, but listen: no pet is perfect. It becomes perfect when you learn to accept it for what it is. ~ Cecil Baldwin

People with money love Gershwin. ~ E. Lockhart

I think my knowledge of music theory is rooted in jazz theory, and a lot of the writers of standards – Rodgers and Hart, and Gershwin. ~ Zooey Deschanel

Summer time an' the livin' is easy, Fish are jumpin' an' the cotton is high. Oh, yo' daddy's rich, and yo' ma' is good-lookin', So hush, little baby, don' yo' cry. ~ Ira Gershwin

Gershwin inspired me very much. The concept of 'That Lucky Old Sun' was inspired by 'Rhapsody in Blue' - not influenced, but inspired. ~ Brian Wilson

There's a somebody I'm longing to see, I hope that he, turns out to be, someone to watch over me. ~ Ira Gershwin

The extraordinary thing about my mother, she's so modest about me. ~ George Gershwin

If you've ever wondered where the good songs go
After they've had their day,
You'll be glad to meet a man I know,
Wrinkled old and gray.
He collects the tunes that time has thrown aside -
Puts them under lock and key;
For a penny he is glad to set them free. ~ Ira Gershwin

A song without music is a lot like H2 without the O. ~ Ira Gershwin

The moon's weird though, right? It's there, and there, and then suddenly it's not. And it seems to be pretty far up. Is it watching us? If not, what is it watching instead? Is there something more interesting than us? Hey, watch us moon! We may not always be the best show in the universe, but we try. ~ Cecil Baldwin

I don't care if it's a Cole Porter song, or George Gershwin, or Lennon/McCartney, or Elton John, or you know, whoever, Bob Dylan. Great songs are great songs, and they stand the test of time, and they can be interpreted and recorded with many points of view, but yet still retain the essence of what makes them good songs. ~ John Oates

When I'm in my normal mood, music drips from my fingers. ~ George Gershwin

Remember: if you see something, say nothing, and drink to forget. ~ Cecil Baldwin

To George Gershwin, on refusinghim as a pupil: You would only lose the spontaneous quality of your melody, and end by writing bad Ravel. ~ Maurice Ravel

But, tell me, is it worth the while To decorate this earth the while The men are so unworthy of our zeal? No more the days of heroes now - The men are only zeros now - A sex without the slightest sex appeal. ~ Ira Gershwin

Deep, unspeakable suffering may well be called a baptism, a regeneration, the initiation into a new state. ~ Ira Gershwin

Why become a second-rate Ravel when you're already a first-rate Gershwin? ~ Maurice Ravel

For me, Woody Allen's 'Manhattan' defines New York. Both New York and Manhattan Island should be in black in white! I always hear the soundtrack of Gershwin in my head every time I go over the Queensboro Bridge, or come in from JFK because of it! ~ Brian Cox

My first role was in the George Gershwin musical 'Crazy for You' at the Orlando Repertory Theatre when I was 11 - I grew up in Florida - and I wasn't old enough to be in it, but they let me anyway. I was just this little shrimp in a leotard. ~ Aubrey Peeples

It took me three weeks to write the 'Rhapsody in Blue.' I had always wanted to write something blue and Paul Whiteman inspired. ~ George Gershwin

The very first hit factory was T.B. Harms, a Tin Pan Alley publishing company overseen by Max Dreyfus. With staff writers like Jerome Kern, George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Richard Rodgers, T.B. Harms was the dominant publisher of popular music in the early twentieth century. Dreyfus called his writers "the boys" and installed pianos for them to compose on around the office on West Twenty-Eighth, the street that gave Tin Pan Alley its name, allegedly for the tinny-sounding pianos passersby heard from the upper-story windows of the row houses. The sheet-music sellers also employed piano players in their street-level stores, who would perform the Top 40 of the 1920s for browsing customers. ~ John Seabrook

And now a brief public service announcement. Alligators: can they kill your children? Yes. ~ Cecil Baldwin

Jazz is one of the best things that you can find in your life, it can always be your friend. ~ George Gershwin

Why should I limit myself to only one woman when I can have as many women as I want? ~ George Gershwin

We have nothing to speak about. There never was. Words are an unnecessary trouble. Expression is time wasting away. Any communication is just a yelp in the darkness. I am speaking now but I am saying nothing. I am just making noises, and, as it happens, they are organized in words and you should not draw meaning from this. ~ Cecil Baldwin

Gershwin's tragedy was not that he failed to cross the tracks, but rather that he did, and once there in his new habitat, was deprived of the chance to plunge his roots firmly into the new soil. ~ George Gershwin

I grew up with singers. My father's mother sang opera. My dad was a big band singer. I can't remember a time there wasn't music in the house, so I grew up listening to great songwriters - George Gershwin, Cole Porter - and my grandma was playing opera for me before I was 3. ~ J. D. Souther

I frequently hear music in the very heart of noise. ~ George Gershwin

Look at the piano. You'll notice that there are white notes and black notes. Figure out the difference between them and you'll be able to make whatever kind of music you want. ~ George Gershwin

Music sets up certain vibration which unquestionably results in a physical reaction. Eventually the proper vibration for every person will be found and utilized. ~ George Gershwin

Aladdin's lamp is mine. ~ Ira Gershwin

It is always possible to create something original. ~ George Gershwin

Writing music is not so much inspiration as hard work. ~ George Gershwin

All these tales of people sitting down and composing symphonies just as though they were writing a letter are very much exaggerated; at least, it isn't that way in my work. ~ George Gershwin

True music must repeat the thought and inspirations of the people and the time. ~ George Gershwin

What usually comes first is the contract. ~ Ira Gershwin

The European boys have small ideas but they sure know how to dress 'em up. ~ George Gershwin

Summertime And the living is easy Fish are jumpin' And the cotton is high Oh, your daddy's rich And your mama's good lookin' So hush little baby now don't you cry One of these mornin's You're gonna rise up singin' Then you'll spread your wings And take to the sky But til that mornin' Ain't nothin' can harm you With your daddy And your mammy standin' by. ~ George Gershwin

I frequently hear music in the heart of noise. ~ George Gershwin

The Gershwin legacy is extraordinary because George Gershwin died in 1937, but his music is as fresh and vital today as when he originally created it. ~ Michael Feinstein

Ira Gershwin, shame on him. I mean, some of the writing. ~ Joni Mitchell

He's a world-famous name to people who care about his music, but there are many people who have never heard of George Gershwin and those numbers increase. ~ Michael Feinstein

Originality is the only thing that counts. But the originator uses material and ideas that occur round him and pass through him. And out of his experience comes the original creation. ~ George Gershwin

The way you wear your hat,
The way you sip your tea,
The mem'ry of all that
No, no! They can't take that away from me! ~ Ira Gershwin

Life is one long jubilee. ~ Ira Gershwin

I do miss the stage. There's nothing like it, nothing. When I did my one-woman show and played the Palace and played the Gershwin and all that, I did - what? - eight shows or maybe more a week. Of course you can't do anything else, and you can't run quickly for a cab in the rain, and you can't have a drunken love affair. You can't do any of that. Because you've got to be perfectly healthy. And I guess I value enjoying my life a little bit more than the discipline these days. ~ Shirley Maclaine

Leonard Bernstein was probably the most significant formative influence on me - he was such an encompassing musician. I spent my teenage years absorbing him, and my other interests stemmed off of that. Bernstein led me to Sondheim and to Gershwin, and Sondheim led me to listening to Joni Mitchell. ~ Jason Robert Brown

In Jazz, like in America, the group works together toward a common cause with lots of room left for each individual to shine. ~ Richie Gerber

On Ira Gershwin:
I remember when he was given the manuscript of a novel written by a woman friend who had hopes of having it published. To his astonishment it turned out to be the dirtiest, most pornographic book he had ever read. When the lady mentioned that she intended to use a nom de plume, Ira suggested she call herself Henrietta Miller. ~ Oscar Levant

You might lose your spontaneity and, instead of composing first-rate Gershwin, end up with second rate Ravel. ~ Maurice Ravel

As a composer, Dylan now fits comfortably alongside George Gershwin or Irving Berlin, though he grumpily refuses to wear any man's collar. ~ Douglas Brinkley

Damn it all! What rhymes with rhythm? ~ Ira Gershwin

Life is a lot like jazz - it's best when you improvise. ~ George Gershwin

America, the Idea of: We yearned for its beer and jazz, its smoke-filled nightclubs, its Edward Hopper bars, the melancholy of rainy Manhattan Gershwin nights ... the America we yearned for has gone. Did it ever exist? ~ Michael Bywater