Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love
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"Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love" is a popular song written in 1928 by Cole Porter. It was introduced in Paris (1928) by Irène Bordoni.
The first of Porter's famous "list songs", it features a string of suggestive and droll comparisons and examples, preposterous pairings and double-entendres, dropping famous names and events, drawing unexpectedly from highbrow and popular culture.
The first refrain covers human ethnic groups, the second refrain birds, the third refrain marine life, the fourth refrain insects (plus centipedes) and the fifth refrain non-human mammals.
The song has been covered many times since, although usually excerpting only a limited portion of the original lyrics. In the 1950s, Noel Coward wrote his own lyrics for the song for his cabaret performances in Las Vegas and New York.
A hard rock version performed by Joan Jett and Paul Westerberg was used as the theme song in the 1995 movie Tank Girl; the song is also performed by star Lori Petty in a musical revue number within the film. It was originally recorded with Joan Jett and Greg Graffin, but Atlantic Records didn't want them using Greg so they deleted his voice and recorded Paul's. Joan Jett and Greg Graffin's version of "Let's Do It" was eventually released in 2000 on the compilation CD Laguna Tunes (Blackheart Records).
The White Stripes' song, "Forever For Her (Is Over For Me)" from their 2005 album Get Behind Me Satan borrows lyrics and themes from this song:
"So let's do it, just get on a plane and just do it // Like the birds and the bees and get to it"
Porter's original opening line was to have been:
And this line is in the Rudy Vallee recording.
But upon being informed that this was offensive, it was changed to "Birds do it, Bees do it" [1]
[edit] Notable recordings
- Rudy Vallée and His Connecticut Yankees (1928)
- Lee Wiley - "Sings Cole Porter" (1940)
- Louis Armstrong - Ella and Louis Again (1957)
- Dee Dee Bridgewater - Dear Ella (1997)
- Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook (1956), The Stockholm Concert, 1966 (1966), Montreux '75 (1975)
- Alanis Morissette - Alanis Morissette: The Collection (2005) (Originally released on the soundtrack of De-Lovely)
- Come Shine - Come Shine (2001)
- Frank Sinatra - Frank Sinatra in Hollywood 1940-1964 (2001)
- Hildegard Knef - träume heißen du ("Sei mal verliebt" — German version, 1968)
[edit] External Links
[edit] References
- ^ Philip H. Herbst (1997). The Color of Words: an encyclopaedic dictionary of ethnic bias in the United States. Intercultural Press. ISBN 1877864978.
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