I’ve Got Plenty To Be Thankful For

I’ve Got Plenty To Be Thankful For is an Irvin Berlin classic. He wrote the son for the 1942 film “Holiday Inn“. The movie stared Bing Crosby, whose version of this song is best known. In the film, Crosby’s character, Jim, is depressed and lonely after losing his sweetheart. Asked to write a song for Read More

Last Christmas

Last Christmas was written by George Michael and released in 1984. Michael’s wrote it when he and his Wham! bandmate, Andrew Ridgeley were visiting his parents. He wrote it in his bedroom.  Michael wrote, performed and produced every single instrument on the track. The song was a commercial success in the U.K. and reached #1 Read More

Autumn Leaves

Autumn Leaves is a popular jazz standard. The song was composed by Joseph Kosma and the original lyrics were written in French by Jacques Prévert. The duo collaborated on the song for  ”Les Feuilles mortes” (“The Dead Leaves”) for the 1946 French film translated into Gates of the Night.  Irene Joachim sung the song in Read More

Mele Kalikimaka

Bing Crosby popularized the song Mele Kalikimaka. In 1949, Robert Alex Anderson wrote the Christmas song Mele Kalikimaka. Anderson wrote many popular Hawaiian songs including Lovely Hula Hands. The phrase Mele Kalikimaka means “Merry Christmas” in Hawaiian. In 1950, Bing Crosby and the Andrew Sisters recorded the song. It has since been covered by many Read More

She’ll Be Coming Around the Mountain

She’ll Be Coming Around the Mountain is a traditional folk song, but is derived from the spiritual “When the Chariot Comes”. The song first appeared in Carl Sandburg’s 1927, The American Songbag. He reported that “the spiritual  “When the Chariot Comes“, which was sung to the same melody, was adapted by railroad workers in the Read More

American Soldier

American Soldier was co-written and recorded by country music artist Toby Keith. He wrote the song with Chuck Cannon. Keith said the  song was written “for all the times that I get to meet the troops on these USO tours, and since Courtesy of Red, White, and Blue, the P.O.W.s and the families that have Read More

Oh! Susanna

Oh! Susanna is a popular American folk song. In 1846, Stephen Foster moved to Cincinnati, Ohio and worked in his brother’s steamship company as a bookkeeper. He wrote Oh! Susanna during this time. “The name Susanna may refer to Foster’s deceased sister Charlotte, whose middle name was Susannah.” Many historians believe he wrote it for Read More

Ghostbusters song

Ray Parker, Jr. wrote the theme song for the movie Ghostbusters. He was only given a few days to write the song. One evening he was watching late night television, when he saw a cheap commercial for a business similar to the fictional business in the film. He was inspired to write the song as Read More

Dream a Little Dream of Me

Dream a Little Dream of Me  was written in 1931 by Fabian Andre and Wilbur Schwandt with lyrics by Gus Kahn. Ozzie Nelson first recorded the song in February 1931. Two days later Wayne King and his orchestra recoded the song.   The song became a popular standard of the time. Doris Day released the song Read More

The Deadwood Stage

The Deadwood Stage was written for the 1953 film Calamity Jane, in which Doris Day had the staring role. The song was written by Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster. The song is the opening song of the musical, and often familiar by the opening line I just flew in from the windy city.  The Read More