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20 Jun 20 - 05:07 AM (#4060275) Subject: They All Laughed (Gershwin) From: Ringer It's ages since I visited this site. I hope that you will nevertheless treat my request with the civility, erudition and consideration that I remember. It's a request about a song, though not about "folk and roots" music. George Gershwin's song, They All Laughed, begins The odds were a hundred to one against me The world thought the heights were too high to climb But people from Missouri never incensed me Oh, I wasn't a bit concerned For from hist'ry I had learned How many, many times the worm had turned... My question is this: what is the significance of "people from Missouri never incensed me?" Are Missourians renowned for provoking anger in those who come into contact with them, or what? Thanks in anticipation. |
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20 Jun 20 - 07:50 AM (#4060297) Subject: RE: They All Laughed (Gershwin) From: GUEST,John Bowden (not a typo!) It seems, from a bit of googling, that people form Missouri have a bit of a reputation for being sceptical, doubtful and not easily persuaded: Wikipedia says: "There is no official state nickname.[21] However, Missouri's unofficial nickname is the "Show Me State", which appears on its license plates. This phrase has several origins. One is popularly ascribed to a speech by Congressman Willard Vandiver in 1899, who declared that "I come from a state that raises corn and cotton, cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I'm from Missouri, and you have got to show me." This is in keeping with the saying "I'm from Missouri" which means "I'm skeptical of the matter and not easily convinced." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri#Nicknames There's a similar reference in the song "You came a long way from St Louis' too, reflecting the same "I'm not as easily impressed as most people" attitude: "You came here from the middle-west And naturally impressed The population hereabouts Listen, baby; I got news for you I'm from Missouri too So, naturally, I got my doubts" So Gershwin's lyric seems to be saying "I didn't let cynical people put me off loving you" John |
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20 Jun 20 - 09:56 AM (#4060325) Subject: RE: They All Laughed (Gershwin) From: cnd I've seen that explanation elsewhere, but it doesn't satisfy me, personally. From the context, I think Gerswhin is saying that the singer doesn't care about the opinion of people who haven't been anywhere or done anything, insinuating that Missourians are plain and boring, simple people. At least, that's how I took it. |
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20 Jun 20 - 12:17 PM (#4060344) Subject: RE: They All Laughed (Gershwin) From: leeneia I've lived in Missouri since 1976, and I agree with the "Show me" interpretation. John Bowden has nailed it. |
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20 Jun 20 - 03:34 PM (#4060376) Subject: RE: They All Laughed (Gershwin) From: GUEST,John Bowden (not a typo!) Thanks leeneia - as I'm from the UK I can't speak personally, and am grateful for comments from US Mudcatters who can agree or disagree with my suggestion! |
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21 Jun 20 - 04:13 AM (#4060492) Subject: RE: They All Laughed (Gershwin) From: Ringer Thanks, John, cnd and leeneia. |
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23 Jun 20 - 10:11 AM (#4060953) Subject: RE: They All Laughed (Gershwin) From: keberoxu Nice recording of this one as a duet by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. |
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27 Mar 23 - 05:18 AM (#4168588) Subject: RE: They All Laughed (Gershwin) From: GUEST it amuses me that at least one person on the thread appears to be " from Missouri" in spirit if not in reality |
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27 Mar 23 - 01:41 PM (#4168651) Subject: RE: They All Laughed (Gershwin) From: leeneia I think the problem is the word "but" in the line. It should be "AND people from Missouri never incensed me." I also think the word "incensed" is weak. He means that people from Missouri never discouraged him. However, he needed something to rhyme with "against." |
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27 Mar 23 - 02:05 PM (#4168654) Subject: ADD: They All Laughed (Gershwin) From: Joe Offer THEY ALL LAUGHED (George and Ira Gershwin) The odds were a hundred to one against me The world thought the heights were too high to climb But people from Missouri never incensed me Oh, I wasn't a bit concerned For from history I had learned How many, many times the worm had turned They all laughed at Christopher Columbus When he said the world was round They all laughed when Edison recorded sound They all laughed at Wilbur and his brother When they said that man could fly They told Marconi Wireless was a phony It's the same old cry They laughed at me wanting you Said I was reaching for the moon But oh, you came through Now they'll have to change their tune, They all said we never could be happy They laughed at us— and how! But ho, ho, ho Who's got the last laugh now They all laughed at Rockefeller Center Now they're fighting to get in They all laughed at Whitney and his cotton gin They all laughed at Fulton and his steamboat Hershey and his chocolate bar Ford and his Lizzie Kept the laughers busy That's how people are They laughed at me wanting you Said it would be Hello! Goodbye! But oh, you came through Now they're eating humble pie They all said we'd never get together Darling, let's take a bow For ho, ho, ho Who's got the last laugh now [not in the movie] They laughed at me wanting you Said, it would be, hello, goodbye But oh, you came through Now they're eating humble pie They all said we'd never get together Darling, let's take a bow For ho, ho, ho Who's got the last laugh Hee, hee, hee Let's at the past laugh Ha, ha, ha Who's got the last laugh now from https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/3530822107858845102/ Corrected according to the Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire performance from Shal We Dance? (1937) (Rogers does all the singing, Fred just dances): |
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31 Mar 23 - 01:06 PM (#4168884) Subject: RE: They All Laughed (Gershwin) From: Jim Dixon Wikipedia says THEY ALL LAUGHED was introduced in the 1937 film “Shall We Dance?” You can see that scene on YouTube here. In the film, Ginger Rogers sings the entire song, and then she dances to the same tune with Fred Astaire, but Astaire never sings. But that same year, Fred Astaire recorded the song with Johnny Green and His Orchestra, but Ginger Rogers doesn’t appear on the record. You can hear his recording at the Internet Archive here or here. (Those are two different Brunswick records with different catalog numbers but they were made from the same matrix.) The Internet Archive also has 1937 recordings by Nat Brandwynne, Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, Nat Harris, Ozzie Nelson, and Red Nichols; and later recordings by George Shearing (1951) and Carmen Mcrae (1955). The lyrics posted above correspond pretty closely to the way Rogers sings them in the film (except some words are unnecessarily repeated, and there is a coda she doesn’t sing) but Astaire sings them in a different order. |