Week 4

For this week, I decided to listen to "Taking a Chance on Love" arranged by Fletcher Henderson and performed by Benny Goodman and his orchestra. This song hit #1 on hit parade chart on the billboard and it even was performed by multiple singers such as Helen Foster in the original track, Bill Bailey on the Broadway show " Cabin in The Sky", and even Frank Sinatra did his own rendition of this song. It is hard not to see why it became so popular with its wonderful up-beat instrumentals and romantic lyrics. In the original soundtrack, the song had a long introduction that gave the melody the clarinet and trumpets which they start off strong but subtly the trumpets and clarinets decrescendo. The instruments have a call back and forth as if they are having a conversation between the sections where one section plays the melody and the other plays when the melody is not playing. 

I love when Helen Foster comes in because she is very quiet and the orchestra gets quiet so that her singing can be heard it is quite a wonderful. The lyrics are obviously about someone who is positive and elated to try again at love as if they already have someone they have become infatuated with. I especially noticed how the word "again" was repeated at least once in all the lines sang. They emphasis on that word means that they have felt these emotions all before and the way that Helen sings it, she puts more meaning into the word as if delighted she can once again feel those happy feelings. I really enjoyed listening to this song as my grandmother and grandfather would sing this song several times when I was child visiting them at their house. My grandma used to say that it was one of her mom's favorite songs and it brought back all those memories of being at their house listening to this song again.