Jimmy Durante
sings "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World"
Thank you for reading Jasini’s Thoughts and Ideas
Note: Funny thing, a couple of weeks ago, Bing let me create an image based on Jimmy Durante, but today it was verboten. Bing is funny that way. So I asked it to create an image of an older man with a big nose singing. I thought this one looked rather like Jimmy Durante, crossed with Cyrano. He’d probably think it was funny. I think all four images Bing came up with were based on some celebrity or another.
The last few weeks have been off enough that I have stopped listening to the Bible for the last few weeks. Instead, I’ve been listening to my Jimmy Durante radio station on Pandora. I felt bad enough that I thought I could get more edification from hearing Jimmy Durante sing “Chidabee Chidabee Chidabee” than from Ezekiel channeling Exodus (And does anyone talk about Ezekiel being called “Son of Man”?)
I have always been one to prefer the older generation’s music to my own. As I’ve gotten older, I realized that in part it was the rock of my youth was played so darn loud, and I’ve got sensitive ears. I don’t think that my hearing is better, just that it takes less volume to turn music (and other sounds) from something pleasant to listen to into painful white noise.
So, I grew up listening to Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Danny Kaye, and the Big Band sounds. I didn’t discover Jimmy Durante until the last five years or so. My first thought, listening to that gravelly voice, was astonishment that he could become famous as a singer. Comedian, yes, that was easy to understand. But why would anyone want to listen to him sing?
Of course, the more I heard him, the more my opinion changed. Sure, his voice wasn’t so great, but he had such fun doing it! (Or at least gave that impression. He was an actor, after all.) And every song he sang, he actually sang. He was there, singing the song, with all its meaning, whether it was comedic, or heartfelt, or inspiring, or all three.
Then yesterday, I heard him singing the following song (hopefully it links), “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World (Reprise)”, and it just about broke my heart, he was singing it so meaningfully. I’m assuming that since it is from a Doris Day movie, the most beautiful girl is Doris Day, and he’s singing it as an uncle, or similar authority figure, rather than being the love interest. It being a reprise probably explains why I’m not finding the lyrics when I try to look them up. (ETA: He plays Doris Day's father. But he is singing the song to Martha Raye, the character’s long time fiance, which makes it even more heart warming. 💝)
Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
Jimmy Durante: The Most Beautiful Girl in the World
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