This week's tune is what is commonly called a standard, and for whatever reason I really love the hell out of it. As I was doing my weekly half-assed research, I became curious as to how many different versions I had on some form of music media, and I had seven: Nat King Cole, Tony Bennett, Barbra Streisand, Johnny Mathis, Natalie Cole, Rickie Lee Jones, and this week's artist. Unsurprisingly, with the exception of Nat King Cole (who will be featured in an upcoming post), all of them have been (or will be this week) featured at one time or another on Friday Night Jukebox. I guess one could say I'm quite the standard bearer....
Madeleine Peyroux was born in Athens, Georgia in 1974. When her parents divorced in 1987, Peyroux and her mother moved to France and shortly thereafter she began her musical career by busking on the streets of Paris. She was discovered by an agent from Atlantic Records and released her debut album in 1996. Oddly, she didn't release another full-length record until 2004, but it turned out to be a hit, becoming her first (and only) gold record and reaching #71 on the Billboard 200. In the intervening years, Peyroux has released six more studio albums, an EP, a live album, and a great hits compilation. She is currently in the midst of a world tour, and her next studio album is a work in progress.
"Smile" was on Peyroux's 2006 album, the rather hemispherically named Half the Perfect World. The song was not released as a single, but the album became the highest charting LP of her career, hitting #33 on the Billboard 200.
Fun Fact: The music for "Smile" was written by Hollywood icon Charlie Chaplin for his 1936 film Modern Times. The lyrics, as well as the title, were not written until 1954 (using scenes and lines from the movie), and Nat King Cole released the first version of the song with the lyrics that same year.
A few years back my wife and I were grocery shopping when I heard this week's tune over the PA system--with the unmistakable sound of a ukulele--and I looked up at the ceiling and high-tailed it to the nearest speaker (Wife: "Where the heck did you go?" Me: "I had to hear a song."--she's used to it by now). I have a real fondness for the Rickie Lee Jones version I noted above, but the ukulele sealed the deal on this one (there's a great trumpet solo, too). It's an especially lovely song with an especially lovely sentiment--it's easy in this jaded world to forget that tomorrow will bring another--and potentially better--day, and a smile here and there will go a long way to making that better day. A crooner's classic.
Lyric Sheet: "That's the time you must keep on trying/Smile, what's the use of crying/You'll find that life is still worthwhile/If you just smile..."
Enjoy:
Republicans = Nazis
Peace,
emaycee
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