A Couple of Swells

"We're a Couple of Swells" is an American comedy duet song performed by Judy Garland and Fred Astaire in the film Easter Parade (1948). It was written by Irving Berlin. Berlin originally wrote the song Let's Take an Old-Fashioned Walk for the scene but the film's producer, Arthur Freed, convinced Berlin to change this for a song that would highlight Garland's comedic talent. Berlin wrote the song in about an hour drawing on his experience as a Tin Pan Alley popular songwriter.[1][2][3][4]

Cover of the sheet music for 'We're a Couple of Swells' from 1947

Description

The film is set in 1912 in the New York Broadway Vaudeville business in which hobo acts depicting down and outs were popular with audiences. Astaire and Garland appear as tramps in worn out clothing cast off by the very rich. A swell is slang for a wealthy, elegant person.[5] The song and dance explores the fantasy that they really are wealthy and have been invited for tea with the extremely wealthy Vanderbilt family. They have the invitation but no means of getting to the appointment.[6]

The song lyrics suggest ways they might travel up the Avenue, (most likely the opulent Fifth Avenue on which the Vanderbilts had 10 mansions[7]), to the club where the Vanderbilts are waiting. These are: to drive a car, skate on ice, ride on a bicycle, sail a yacht, drive a carriage, ride on a trolley car, or swim. All are rejected with a reason and the only way left to the two tramps is to walk up the Avenue.

The song verses close with the refrain:-

So we'll walk up the avenue

Yes we'll walk up the avenue

And to walk up the avenue's what we like

Verses in the song also satirize aspects of the lifestyle of the rich; 'sports' who play tennis all summer, Wall Street bankers who are too drunk to find the key to the safe, and wealthy playboys who are adored and chased by photographic models.

gollark: A 17x17 grid is small enough that you can probably get away with inefficiency, ubq.
gollark: I see.
gollark: Oops too many newlines.
gollark: Quoted from my notes:The relevant factors for course choice are probably something like this, vaguely in order: “personal fit” - how much I'll actually like it. This is quite hard to tell in advance. During the Y11 careers interview I was recommended some kind of trial thing for engineering, but I doubt that's on now, like many other things. Probably more important than other things, as I'd spend 3-5 years on said course, will perform better if I do enjoy it, and will probably not get much use out of studying a subject I would not like enough to do work related to. flexibility/generality - what options are opened by studying this stuff? Especially important in a changing and unpredictable world. how hard a subject is to learn out of university - relates to necessity of feedback from people who know it much better, specialized equipment needed, availability of good teaching resources, etc. Likely to decline over time due to the internet/modern information exchange systems and advancing technology making relevant equipment cheaper. earning potential - how much money does studying this bring? I don't think this is massively significant, it's probably outweighed by other things quite rapidly, but something to consider. Apparently high for quantitative and applied subjects. entry requirements - how likely I am to be able to study it. There are some things I probably cannot do at all now, such as medicine, but I didn't and don't really care about those, and there shouldn't be many. Most of the high-requirement stuff is seemingly available with more practical ones at less prestigious universities, which is probably fine.
gollark: Replying to https://discord.com/channels/346530916832903169/348702212110680064/759121895022002206Well, yes, somewhat, BUT! There are other considerations™.

References
  1. Berlin, Irving. "We're a Couple of Swells". Google.
  2. Robinson, Mark A. (2014-04-17). The World of Musicals: An Encyclopedia of Stage, Screen, and Song [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 204. ISBN 9781440800979.
  3. Mueller, John E. (1985). Astaire dancing: the musical films. Knopf. p. 283. ISBN 9780394516547.
  4. Billman, Larry (1997-01-01). Film Choreographers and Dance Directors: An Illustrated Biographical Encyclopedia, with a History and Filmographies, 1893 Through 1995. McFarland & Company, Publishers. pp. 64, 124. ISBN 9780899508689.
  5. "swell - Dictionary Definition". Vocabulary.com. Retrieved 2018-05-18.
  6. Furia, Philip; Patterson, Laurie (2010-04-07). The Songs of Hollywood. Oxford University Press. pp. 151. ISBN 9780199792665. we're a couple of swells garland.
  7. "A Guide to the Gilded Age Mansions of 5th Avenue's Millionaire Row | 6sqft". 6sqft. Retrieved 2018-05-20.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.