Greatest Love Songs Ever: #27 “My Funny Valentine”
We live in an era of liposuction, breast augmentation, rhinoplasty, blepharoplasty, and abdominoplasty.
Turn on the television and you’ll hear pitches for hair gloss, face serum, cream blush, toner mist, anti-frizz treatment and body lotion.
The next hour, you’ll revel in ads from the likes of Nutri System touting weight loss programs, followed by ads for gym memberships … all in the quest of creating the perfect you.
But do you have to be perfect to be lovable? Of course not. No one is perfect.
By the same token, does someone have to perfect for you to fall in love with him or her?
If that were true, we’d be in a real mess, because it would suggest that love is fickle, contingent on superficial and unsustainable beauty standards.
All of this leads to my 27th entry in my countdown of the 52 Greatest Love Songs Ever: “My Funny Valentine.” Lorenz Hart penned another classic set of lyrics expressing love for another in spite of superficial imperfections. Richard Rodgers added the haunting melody, the second addition to my list by this duo. (The first was #36, “Blue Moon.”)
We live in an era where pop music is manufactured by teams of songwriters/producers. The likes of an artist like Jerome Hart are long gone. This tortured soul poured his insecurities and demons into his lyrics, expressing so much with such concision.
Here’s how the song starts:
“My funny Valentine,
Sweet comic Valentine,
You make me smile with my heart.
Your looks are laughable,
Unphotographable,
Yet you’re my favorite work of art.”
What amazing words.
As Father Time takes his toll on our bodies and our looks, a song like “My Funny Valentine” reminds us that true love is so, so much more than mere outward appearance. Hart says it beautifully:
“But don’t change a hair for me,
Not if you care for me,
Stay, little Valentine, stay.
Each day is Valentine’s day.”
Utterly beautiful.
Lyrics with ‘Hart’
The 52 songs featured in my list of love songs showcase some of the greatest American lyricists ever, including Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Dorothy Fields, Hal David, and Irving Berlin. Each of these giants injected their lyrics with wit and charm, elements largely absent in contemporary songs.
Maybe he was inspired by his name, but Lorenz Hart added a third element to his lyrics: heart. He was a difficult little man, largely forgotten these days by a culture absorbed by trite, little ditties spewed out by song factories. But “My Funny Valentine” will remain a part of the Great American Songbook forever.
It invokes an Old Testament ideal written by the prophet Samuel some three thousand years ago,
“God does not see what man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord sees the heart.”
Lorenz Hart said it more poetically 88 years ago in “My Funny Valentine.” The greatest singers ever, Sinatra, Bublé, Streisand have all sung it. Richard Rodger’s soulful melody attracts jazz artists who often perform it instrumentally. Put the words and music together and you have a love song for the ages. `
Frank Sinatra’s interpretation of the song (top of the page) is the quintessential version. Nothing new about that. He’s a fixture in this series, the greatest singer of my lifetime, especially when arranged by Nelson Riddle.
I loved the way jazz trumpeter, Chris Botti, and Sting performed the song. I heard Botti perform here in Des Moines at Hoyt Sherman in March and wrote about it in an earlier blogpost.
Chris Botti and Sting perform “My Funny Valentine”
When my first grandchild was on the way, I posted an ultrasound pic on Facebook, and someone said, “why did he do that it, it’s so ugly.” Really?
As Lorenz Hart put it:
“Your looks are laughable,
Unphotographable,
Yet you’re my favorite work of art.”
Love songs put us in touch with our humanity. They spread love, and love is the antidote to abortion. Hard to believe, but we’re now halfway through our countdown of the 52 Greatest Love Songs Ever. Help Pulse Life Advocates spread the love with your gift to our Student Scholarship fund today.
