“Oh, What a Beautiful Morning,” a Song in a Singable Picture Book

Posted by: Sing Books with Emily on: April 3, 2011

In: Art of Singing a Song | Cabaret | Case for Singable Books | Heartfelt Musings | SBWE in Person | Sing Along Tracks | Sing Books with Emily - the Cabaret | Singable Book Title | Singable Picture Book Video | Song History | Vocal Tracks
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When the movie for the groundbreaking Rodgers and Hammerstein musical opens, we see rapturous blue skies and fields heavy with crops. Then we see handsome Gordon MacRae astride a horse as he breaks into the jubilant “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” in his gorgeous baritone.

What a wonderful way to start a movie!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cGS4fkvifs

The story of “Oklahoma” comes from the play “Green Grown the Lilacs,” and the story remains nearly the same, with a few changes and embellishments for the musical. The play did include some folk music, but all new music and lyrics were written for “Oklahoma” by the greats Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.

The musical “Oklahoma,” opened in 1943 on Broadway and was Rodgers and Hammerstein’s first project together.

Although I wish this wonderful song had been given its own individual and complete treatment, we CAN sing a segment of “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” in,

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“Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” from

Getting to Know You
Words by Oscar Hammerstein II
Music by Richard Rodgers
Illustrated by Rosemary Wells
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers, New York, 2002
ISBN 0-06-626845-5

Getting to Know You contains illustrations and lyrics for 16 Rodgers and Hammerstein songs. The book features thoughts from the children of Rogers and Hammerstein, Mary Rogers and William Hammerstein, and from the illustrator Rosemary Wells, articulating the importance and social relevance of Singable Picture Books.

“Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” appears in the first pages of the book, but only the first verse and chorus are included:

Oh, What a Beautiful Morning
Words by Oscar Hammerstein II
Music by Richard Rodgers
From the Musical OKLAHOMA

There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow.
There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow.
The corn is as high as an elephant’s eye,
And it look like it’s climbin’ right up to the sky.

Oh, what a beautiful morning.
Oh, what a beautiful day.
I’ve got a beautiful feelin’,
Everythin’s goin’ my way.

The title of my show, “Oh, What a Beautiful Day: Sing Books with Emily, the Cabaret” comes from this song. I was excited to stumble upon the idea to use this line from the song as the title of my show because the show’s songs fit in an order which takes us through a day in song (from morning songs like “Late for School” to afternoon songs like “Sunshine on My Shoulders“ to nighttime songs like “Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night.” Plus, it was fun that “Day” rhymes with “Cabaret” and that the lyric is also sung in the show.

Here are the complete lyrics:

Oh, What a Beautiful Morning
Words by Oscar Hammerstein II
Music by Richard Rodgers
From the Musical OKLAHOMA

There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow.
There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow.
The corn is as high as an elephant’s eye,
And it look like it’s climbin’ right up to the sky.

Oh, what a beautiful morning.
Oh, what a beautiful day.
I’ve got a beautiful feelin’,
Everythin’s goin’ my way.

All the cattle are standing like statues,
All the cattel are standing like statues,
They don’t turn their heads as they see me ride by.
But a little brown mav’rick is winking her eye.

Oh, what a beautiful morning.
Oh, what a beautiful day.
I’ve got a beautiful feelin’,
Everythin’s goin’ my way.

All the sounds of the earth are like music,
All the sounds of the earth are like music,
The breeze is so busy it don’t miss a tree,
And an ol’ Weepin’ Willer is laughin’ at me.

Oh, what a beautiful morning.
Oh, what a beautiful day.
I’ve got a beautiful feelin’,
Everythin’s goin’ my way.

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8/4/2012

“Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” is one of my very favorite songs of all time.

And I just re-discovered that one can put a little soul into a beautiful morning!

I was striding about listening to my iPod when this version of “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” paraded into my ear and lodged itself in my heart:

Ray Charles sings “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning,”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGoJxZqyFAc

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I’m thrilled to write that “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” is one of the songs we selected to be part of
“Oh, What a Beautiful Day: Sing Books with Emily, the Cabaret.”

I make a strong committment to each song I perform and completing my Song Craft Worksheet is part of that process,

Emily’s Song Craft Worksheet

Because the first section of the Song Craft Worksheet involves background research on the song, I’ll share the answers with you so you can know about the song, too. The more about the song you know (both concrete facts and less tangible artistic choices), the more “authority,” and heart and soul you can put into the singing and sharing of the song with others. If you are interested in improving your artistic abilities for singing songs in any capacity, just simply filling out the Song Craft Worksheet is a great place to start! After the background research, the rest of the Song Craft Worksheet gets VERY personal…don’t worry! I won’t bore you with that.

1 Q: Who wrote the words?
1 A: Oscar Hammerstein II

2Q: Who wrote the music?
2A: Richard Rodgers

3Q: When was the song written?
3A: 1943

4Q: At what point in the lyricists’ and composer’s career was the song written?
4A: It was written after they’d both enjoyed much success in their careers, but this was the very beginning of an illustrious collaboration

5Q: What is the song from?
5A: The musical, “OKLAHOMA”

6Q: If from a show, what character sang it?
6A: Curly

7Q: If from a show, from what situation does the song arise? Why does the character sing the song? What function does the song/character play in the story?
7A: At the very beginning of the show, we are introduced the character of Curly, with a glimmer of his inner life and self-confidence and the high hopes he’s got to win the girl.

8Q: What other contextual elements of the song are significant?
8A: Curly is on the way to see the girl he fancies.

9Q: Was the song written for a particular singer? Why?
9A: The song was written to open the show…however, they may have had someone in mind…

10Q: If not from a show, why did the songwriter write the song?
10A: NA

11Q: What do you feel the lyricist is trying to say?
11A: The jubilance of a gorgeous day and how that makes a person feel hopeful and alive, with the undercurrent of hope and looking forward to something one wishes for…

12Q: Does the song tell a story or just express feelings or ideas?
12A: The song describes a time and a place. It tells the story of a present moment, in doing so, it expresses the jubilance of the singer.

13Q: Look Up Newspaper Articles and Reviews
13A: This musical is generally accepted as a groundbreaking piece of American Theatre, with songs which have become touchstones of the Great American Songbook.

14Q: Who else has recorded this song:
14A: Ray Charles (GREAT!), James Taylor, Rosemary Clooney (YUM), Debra Holly (YES!), Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby (and a female companion in duet with ensemble), Glenn Miller Orchestra (and many others)

The rest of the questions require VERY personal answers and I will spare you those!

Hugh Jackman singing in the 1998 revival of Oklahoma

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZbAKYQkP_Q&feature=fvsr