"Nature Boy" is a song by eden ahbez, published in 1947. The song tells a fantasy of a "strange enchanted boy... who wandered very far" only to learn that "the greatest thing... was just to love and be loved in return". Nat King Cole's 1948 recording of the song was a major hit and "Nature Boy" has since become a pop and jazz standard, with dozens of major artists interpreting the song.
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The first two measures of the song's melody parallel the melody of the second movement in Antonín Dvořák's Piano Quintet No. 2 in A, Op. 81 (1887). It is unknown if ahbez was familiar with Dvořák's piece, or if he arrived at the same melodic idea independently.
Yiddish theater star/producer Herman Yablokoff, in Memoirs of the Yiddish Stage, claimed that the melody to "Nature Boy" was plagiarized from his song "Shvayg, Mayn Harts" ("Hush, My Heart"), which he wrote for his play Papirosn (1935).[1] ahbez protested his innocence, claiming to have “heard the tune in the mist of the California mountains,” but later agreed to pay Yablokoff $25,000 in an out-of-court settlement.[2]
The song is based on a 1940s Los Angeles-based group called "Nature Boys," a subculture of proto-hippies of which ahbez was a member.[3]
Written as a pop ballad, "Nature Boy" follows an "A,B" format, with both sections being melodically and harmonically similar until the final 4-bar phrase of each. The primary melodic theme is a pickup note on the 5 of the minor i chord, then three notes descending on a minor triad above the pickup note. An ascending line over the diminished ii chord returns to the initial minor triad.
The harmonic structure makes frequent use of the standard ii-V-i progression in the key of D minor. The second 4-bar section featured a chromatic descending line based on the lowering of the tonic (Dm, Dmmaj7, Dm7, Dm6). The same descending line then continues through Gm6, Dm, then finally ending with a whole-step down to the G in the chord Em7(b5).
The song was a primary theme of the film score for The Boy with Green Hair (1948), for which the original version was used.
The writing of "Nature Boy" is the theme of a 2000 Canadian TV film of the same title, directed by Kari Skogland. In the film, nomadic poet and songwriter eden ahbez, played by Callum Keith Rennie, writes a tune for Nat King Cole in 1947, after falling in love with a woman named Anna Jacobs. Nat records the song and the rest is history.[4]
A recording by Kate Ceberano featured in the film The Crossing (1990). The tune and lyrics feature prominently in the film Untamed Heart (1993), for which the Roger Williams and Nat King Cole versions are used. Miles Davis's recording is used in the film The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999). The song is performed in a jazz club in the film Angel Eyes, (2001). A recording by Jon Hassell (trumpet) with Ronu Majumdar (flute) is featured on the soundtrack. The French film To Paint or Make Love (2005) also featured the song.
David Bowie's version was a theme in the musical film Moulin Rouge! (2001). The version used in the film was sung by John Leguizamo, as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, during the introductory scenes. Some of the film's premise is based on the lyrics, in particular the lines "There was a boy... A very strange, enchanted boy." The lyric "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is (just) to love and be loved in return" is used throughout the film. Massive Attack's remix of Bowie's version was used in the film's closing credits. Both Bowie's version and Massive Attack's remix appear on the soundtrack.
A parody named "Serutan Yob" was recorded by Red Ingle and his Natural Seven. It was released by Capitol Records as catalog number 15210. The record first reached the Billboard magazine charts on 1 October 1948 and lasted 4 weeks on the chart, peaking at #24.[5] There was also a version named "Serutan Yob" by Yma Sumac in the 1950s.
| Preceded by "Mañana (Is Soon Enough for Me)" by Peggy Lee |
U.S. Billboard Best Sellers in Stores number-one single May 15–June 26, 1948 (Nat King Cole) |
Succeeded by "The Woody Woodpecker Song" by Kay Kyser |