Sing Books with Emily, the Blog

I LOVE the song “Surrey with the Fringe on Top,” and it has been illustrated into two Singable Picture Books by James Warhola and Rosemary Wells.

“The Surrey with the Fringe on Top” was written with Music by Richard Rodgers and Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II for the groundbreaking  Broadway Musical ”OKLAHOMA” in 1943, with a story based on the 1931 play “Green Grown the Lilacs.  Amazingly, it was Rodgers and Hammerstein’s first project as a team.

And it was made into a movie in 1955,
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James Warola illustrates the WHOLE SONG in his book,

The Surrey with the Fringe on Top
Words by Oscar Hammerstein II
Music by Richard Rodgers
Illustrated by James Warhola

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You can sing-along with this YouTube clip from the movie “Oklahoma,”:

This YouTube stars Shirley Jones (as Laurey), Gordon MacRae (as Curly), and Charlotte Greenwood (as Aunt Eller)

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A “surrey” is, ”A four-wheeled pleasure carriage, (commonly two-seated)…”
http://www.drwords.com/define/Surrey

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Interesting wiki article about James Warhola, here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Warhola

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James Warola’s “official” website, here:
http://www.jameswarhola.com/

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This book Getting to Know You contains an abbreviated version of The Surrey with the Fringe on Top:

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

Rosemary Wells wonderfully illustrates 16 of Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s Favorites and it includes a songbook!

This song book includes printed music for each song, but only the melody line.  If you would like to sing-along with the full vocal arrangement, look for the printed sheet music in the Oklahoma Vocal Selection:

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OKLAHOMA – Vocal Selection
Words by Oscar Hammerstein II
Music by Richard Rodgers
Cover Illustration by Hilary Knight

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One of my favorite versions of this song, is as sung by the great Blossom Dearie (you might remember her wonderful, unique voice from “School House Rock” songs “Figure 8″ and “Adjectives”):

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Blossom Dearie recorded “Surrey” for her album “Once Upon A Summertime,”

“Surrey with the Fringe on Top” is Track 2,
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000V66S5E/ref=dm_dp_trk2?ie=UTF8&qid=1282386854&sr=8-3

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Miles Davis Quintet

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OnTcJwq-eU

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Other favorite recordings by:

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Nancy LaMott:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QVNM8U/ref=dm_dp_trk2?ie=UTF8&qid=1282386960&sr=1-49

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Mel Torme:
http://www.amazon.com/Surrey-Fringe-Top/dp/B000W1Q5II/ref=sr_1_24?ie=UTF8&qid=1282387474&sr=1-24

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Marlene Deitrich:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0026AT0QC/ref=dm_dp_trk17?ie=UTF8&qid=1282387827&sr=1-167

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Barbara Cook:
http://www.amazon.com/Surrey-Fringe-Top/dp/B0010WPKOI/ref=sr_1_172?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1282387827&sr=1-172

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THE SURREY WITH THE FRINGE ON TOP
Words by Oscar Hammerstein II
Music by Richard Rodgers
From the musical “Oklahoma”

When I take you out, tonight, with me,
Honey, here’s the way it’s goin’ to be:
You will set behind a team of snow-white horses,
In the slickest gig you ever see!

Chicks and ducks and geese better scurry
When I take you out in the surrey,
When I take you out in the surrey with the fringe on top!
Watch that fringe and see how it flutters
When I drive them high steppin’ strutters.
Nosey pokes’ll peek thru’ their shutters and their eyes will pop!
The wheels are yeller, the upholstery’s brown,
The dashboard’s genuine leather,
With isinglass curtains y’ can roll right down,
In case there’s a change in the weather.
Two bright sidelight’s winkin’ and blinkin’,
Ain’t no finer rig I’m a-thinkin’
You c’n keep your rig if you’re thinkin’ ‘at I’d keer to swap
Fer that shiny, little surrey with the fringe on the top!

Would y’ say the fringe was made a’ silk?

Wouldn’t have n’ other kind but silk.

Has it really got a team of snow-white horses?

One’s like snow, the others more like milk.

All the world’ll fly in a flurry
When I take you out in the surrey,
When I take you out in the surrey with the fringe on top!
When we hit that road, hell fer leather,
Cats and dogs’ll dance in the heather,
Birds and frogs’ll sing all together and the toads will hop!
The wind’ll whistle as we rattle along,
The cows’ll moo in the clover,
The river will ripple out a whispered song,
And whisper it over and over:
Don’t you wisht y’d go on forever?
Don’t you wisht y’d go on forever?
Don’t you wisht y’d go on forever and ud never stop
In that shiny, little surrey with the fringe on the top!

I can see the stars gettin’ blurry,
When we ride back home in the surrey,
Ridin’ slowly home in the surrey with the fringe on top!
I can feel the day gettin’ older,
Feel a sleepy head near my shoulder,
Noddin’, droopin’ close to my shoulder, till it falls kerplop!
The sun is swimmin’ on the rim of a hill;
The moon is takin’ a header,
And jist as I’m thinkin’ all the earth is still,
A lark’ll wake up in the medder.
Hush, you bird, my baby’s a-sleepin’!
Maybe got a dream worth a-keepin’
Whoa! you team, and jist keep a-creepin’ at a slow clip clop.
Don’t you hurry with the surrey with the fringe on the top!

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Addendum 3/16/2013

One of my favorite songs to sing is The Surrey with the Fringe on Top.  And, I absolutely love that that my children love to make artwork.  AND, just as Martha Graham expressed, it is also important for children to understand that it is the MAKING of the art and the THOUGHT that goes into it that is so much more important than the objective “quality” of it.

With all this in mind, my heart is a-flutter with the picture my daughter Eloise just brought to me, saying that it is a picture of her and me riding in a surrey with fringe on top.  She mentioned that the horse is not white like in the song but that she just didn’t know how to draw a white horse and to please notice that the sun is wearing sunglasses.  She also said that the picture commemorates our horse and buggy rides through Central Park together.

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The Surrey with the Fringe on Top
Art by Eloise Pauline Gleichenhaus (March 2013)

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“Surrey with the Fringe on Top” is one of the songs we selected to be part of
“Oh, What a Beautiful Day: Sing Books with Emily, the Cabaret.”

When working on a song, I always complete my Song Craft Worksheet as part of the 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!

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: Beginning of their collaboration together as a songwriting team

5Q: What is the song from?
5A: The GREAT American 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: The character Curly is singing this song to Laurey (all the while knowing that Laurey’s Aunt Eller is listening in enjoying the fireworks between to two who fancy each other but don’t want to admit it yet!), trying to impress her.  He wants her to go to the dance with him, so he lies to her about the fancy car that will get them to the dance.

8Q:  What other contextual elements of the song are significant?
8A: These are two young people in love who desperately want to be with each other, but don’t yet know how to admit it.

9Q: Was the song written for a particular singer?  Why?
9A: This song was written for the purpose of advancing the plot of the story.

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 song spins a delightful yarn about driving a fancy buggy and enjoying a glorious drive in the country, in the company of a loved one.  The beauty of the surrey represents the wonderful things (not just material things like the fancy buggy, but also things like joyous experiences together) the singer WANTS to be able to give to the girl he loves.  The whole scene also represents a feeling that all the puzzle pieces of life will fall into place when two people in love make their way through life together.  Curly doesn’t want to be alone. He loves Laurey and he is doing his best to woo her with all the wonderful things he would like to provide for her…even if he doesn’t have them at the moment…

12Q: Does the song tell a story or just express feelings or ideas?
12A: This song tells a wonderful story, but in doing so, expresses very deep feelings of love and longing for someone just out of reach.

13Q: Who else has recorded this song:
13A: Gordon MacRae (so fabulous), Blossom Dearie (my favorite), Marlene Deitrich (in German!), Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby duet with Helen O’Connell, Michael Cochrane and Alan Nelson (jazz!), Nancy LaMott, Barbara Cook, Miles Davis
This song, in particular, has inspired an incredible number of really wonderful recordings from swing to Broadway, to Jazz.  The deliciousness of it can’t be overstated.

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

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Releated Posts:

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GETTING TO KNOW YOU, A BOOK WITH 16 RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN SONGS:
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2011/04/04/getting-to-know-you-a-singable-picture-book-with-16-songs-by-rodgers-and-hammerstein/

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OH, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MORNING, A SONG IN A SINGABLE PICTURE BOOK:
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2011/04/03/oh-what-a-beautiful-morning-a-song-in-a-singable-picture-book/

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SINGABLE PICTURE BOOK CELEBRATING LOVE FOR VALENTINE’S DAY
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/singable-picture-books-celebrating-love-for-valentines-day/

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SINGABLE PICTURE BOOKS FOR CHRISTMAS:
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2010/11/28/singable-picture-books-for-christmas/

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SURREY WITH THE FRINGE ON TOP, A SINGABLE PICTURE BOOK:
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2010/08/21/surrey-with-the-fringe-on-the-top-a-singable-book/

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SONGS FOR SUMMER, A LIST OF SUMMERY SINGALBE PICTURE BOOKS:
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2010/07/15/songs-for-summer-a-list-of-summery-singable-picture-books/

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SINGABLE PICTURE BOOK LISTS FOR ALL OCCASIONS:
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/song-book-lists-for-all-occasions/

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GETTING TO KNOW YOU, “DITES-MOI”
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2010/04/20/getting-to-know-you-dites-moi/

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SINGABLE PICTURE BOOKS OF RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN SONGS:
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2010/04/10/a-few-favorite-singable-books-part-59-rodgers-hammerstein/

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OH, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY: SING BOOKS WITH EMILY, THE CABARET:
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/sing-books-with-emily-the-cabaret/

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Eloise Colors a Surrey with a Fringe on Top (and a sun with sunglasses)
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2013/03/17/eloise-colors-a-surrey-with-a-fringe-on-top-and-a-sun-with-sunglasses/