A FEW WORDS ABOUT JOHNNY MERCER
by Julius La Rosa

"You'd never know it,
But, Buddy I'm a kind of poet
And I've got a lot of things to say."

 That line has always struck me as autobiographical.

I've been singing Johnny Mercer songs since I was a boy! One of the great regrets of my life? I never got to meet him; never got to tell him he was my favorite lyricist, never got to tell him how awed I was by his lyrics. Imagine rhyming "chalice", '"palace", and "aurora borealis!"

One of his contemporaries, E.Y. Harburg said of Mercer, "He was America's folk poet." This from the man who wrote, "Over The Rainbow." And Oscar Hammerstein, after winning the Academy Award in 1941 for "The Last Time I saw Paris", over Mercer's "Blues In The Night", sent Mercer a telegram saying simply, "Johnny, you was robbed."

But only for a while. In 1946 he won the Academy Award for "The Atchison, Topeka, and The Santa Fe", and in 1951 "In The Cool, Cool, Cool Of The Evening" won it. "Moon River" was a cinch winner in 1961, and ''The Days Of Wine and Roses" laughed and ran away in 1962.

Mercer's occasional use of the unusual word, the unexpected word has always amused and amazed me. Probably the best known example-- "huckleberry"!

"We're after the same rainbows end,
Waitin' round the bend,
My huckleberry friend,
Moon River and me,"

(The well known head of a record company turned down Moon River; asking. "What's a huckleberry?)

Imagine using the word "honeycomb" in a song?

"Kansas City, Caroline, That's my honeycomb.
'Cause ANYPLACE I HANG MY HAT IS HOME."

And how's this for invention?! "In The Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening" he told us

"Sue wants a barbecue, Sam wants to boil a ham,
Grace votes for bouillabaisse stew."

''The Waiter and the Porter and the Upstairs Maid" makes a word like harlequinade come to life! Y'ready?

If ever I'm invited to some fuddy duddys;
I ain't a gonna watch any harlequinade,
You'll find me in the kitchen
Applaudin' my buddies;
The waiter and the porter and the upstairs maid."

During World War II, this ingenious "bridge" in G.I. JIVE
If you're a P.V.T . your duty
Is to salute the L.I.E.U.T.;
But if you brush the L.I.E.U.T.,
The M.P. makes you K.P. on the Q.T.

I've always smiled at HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD!

“Hooray for Hollywood! Where you're terrific if you're even good."

And how would you classify

FOOLS RUSH IN
Where wise men never go,
But wise men never fall in love
So how are they to know?

Several years ago, while in Savannah, Georgia, where he was born, I went to the cemetery where he is buried. On his tombstone it said simply, "AND THE ANGELS SING" .Remember

We meet, and the angels sing.
You speak, and the angels sing.
You smile, and the angels sing.
We kiss, and the angels sing.

Any questions?

P.S.

Johnny and his wife, Ginger, would send Christmas cards in the form of poems written by Johnny. An excerpt, from the card they sent one year shows a side of Johnny which is consistent with the sub-text of many of his lyrics.

Then say to God--and mean it too
Thanks for today--and all year through
Thanks for the good things we all had
Now--help us overcome the bad
Teach us, like children still in school
the facts of life--the Golden Rule
Teach us to know what Jesus meant
Why we are here--why He was sent...

by Julius La Rosa
reprinted by permission of THE JOHNNY MERCER EDUCATIONAL ARCHIVES.

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For segments of Julie's tribute to Frank Sinatra, click here.

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