Songwriters Anonymous - Part Five
by Mary Dawson
Today is Ladies Day at the Songwriter's Anonymous meeting, so start the coffee pot and let's begin.
The two ladies we will meet today come from different centuries and musical backgrounds, but they share a
common obsessive-compulsive condition known as "songwriting." Both are prolific, gifted lyricists who overcame huge
obstacles to produce songs that have truly stood the test of time.
Dorothy Fields
I had to invite Dorothy to this meeting of Songwriters Anonymous because one of her many wonderful songs just happens to
be on the short-short list of my All-Time Personal Favorites.
In my never-to-be-humble opinion, "The Way You Look Tonight" is the most romantic song ever written! And apparently, I'm
not alone in my belief because it won the Oscar for Best Song in 1936 as part of the score for the movie Swing Time. It
was originally recorded by Fred Astaire, but since then, has been recorded and re-recorded by generations of singers.
The melody for "The Way You Look Tonight" was written in the traditional AABA song form by the amazing theater and film
composer, Jerome Kern. Dorothy's daunting task was to set lyrics to his gorgeous music. In later years Dorothy remembered
her first encounter with the song:
"The first time Jerry played that melody for me I had to leave the room because I started to cry. The release (B Section)
absolutely killed me. I couldn't stop, it was so beautiful."
OK, be honest! If you heard a melody that exquisite, would you know where to start in composing a lyric to match? Dorothy
did, and she did it brilliantly. But the lyrics for "The Way You Look Tonight" did not come from the heart and pen of a
novice writer. By 1936, Dorothy Fields had definitely "paid her songwriting dues."
Dorothy was one of four children born in 1905, to Lew and Rose Fields, who had achieved great success as vaudeville performers.
Dorothy grew up in a prosperous environment, complete with servants and summer homes, but, having experienced the many highs
and lows of show business, Lew and Rose were not overly enthusiastic about their children following in their footsteps. So
after graduation, Dorothy became a drama teacher and married a doctor. It was not until several years later when her marriage
was failing, that she tried her hand at songwriting and found her passion.
Of course, in the early years of the 20th Century, most popular music came from the theater, and that world was dominated by
men! Greats like George and Ira Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, Jerome Kern, and Irving Berlin were the driving forces of the day.
There were no female members of this Boys Club. For Dorothy to break into the circle would require Herculean tenacity and a
transcendent standard of excellence in her craft. She would also have to work her way in and up...patiently and consistently
writing better and better songs with each effort.
In 1927, Dorothy met Jimmy McHugh, the son of a plumber who had stumbled into songwriting after working for various music
publishing companies. Although very different in personality, demure Dorothy and brash, impetuous McHugh became a songwriting
mega-team. Together they composed over 150 songs during the next decade, including the huge hit, "I Can't Give You Anything But
Love" (the perfect song for the Great Depression) and other standards such as "Don't Blame Me" and "The Sunny Side of the Street."
In the 1930s when film became the new entertainment medium, Dorothy and Jimmy continued to write for many successful movies, but
Dorothy also began to branch out and write with other composers. With each song, Dorothy's mastery of the craft became more
apparent until she caught the eye (and the ear) of the great Jerome Kern, one of the pioneers of American Musical Theater. In
1935, Kern was in Hollywood writing music for films. He needed a lyricist and was so impressed by Dorothy's earlier work that
he asked her to set lyrics to a melody he was working on. The song became the charming, "Lovely to Look At," and convinced Kern
that Dorothy was a lyricist who could do justice to his melodies. They became fast friends and songwriting partners, turning
out over 30 wonderful songs during their collaboration, including the Oscar winning masterpiece, "The Way You Look Tonight!"
Dorothy Fields was and is a Master of the craft of songwriting -- someone every aspiring lyricist should study in depth. Here
are some of my own personal thoughts as to why she was so great:
- As a lyricist who did not write music, Dorothy teamed up with the best possible composers available to her at any given point in
her life. She started where she was (in New York) with musicians she knew and had access to. With each collaboration, she learned more
and more, carefully building not only her craft, but also her credibility
- Someone once defined a Love Song as: What every man should say, and what every woman wants to hear. As a woman, Dorothy Fields was
uniquely qualified to write exactly what women wanted to hear and what men would say if they only knew how.
- Dorothy's lyrics always started with a Great Idea, which -- in my opinion -- is the DNA of a Hit Song. Then she meticulously crafted the
lyrics to sound so spontaneous and natural that any artist would be honored to sing them. This is the pinnacle of lyric writing - the goal
each of us should aspire to as writers.
Do yourself a favor and Google Dorothy Fields someday. Then download her Oscar winning song, "The Way You Look Tonight." (Michael Buble has
a wonderful new version). Study the intricacy of the lyric, that matches every nuance of Jerome Kern's exquisite melody. This is
songwriting at its finest.
Fanny Crosby
Imagine fifteen hymn books stacked on top of one another. How many songs do you think there would be? Not sure? Neither am I. Some
mathematicians calculate there would be over 8000! But however we calculate, I think we could agree that there would be a whole lotta
songs in that stack. And that stack represents the number of songs that Frances Jane Crosby wrote during the last 50 of her 95 years on earth.
Frances -- known primarily by her nickname, Fanny -- was born in 1820, almost a century before Dorothy Fields. If you thought Dorothy had big
hurdles to cross in her passion to communicate her heart through lyrics, you ain't seen nothin' yet!
When Fanny was only six weeks old, she contracted a minor eye infection as the result of a cold. The regular family doctor was out of town,
so another doctor was summoned. He applied the wrong medication to her eyes, blinding her for the rest of her life.
Although they were not wealthy in material possessions, little Fanny and her family lived a happy life -- filled with faith and gratitude.
Self-pity was not part of the family dynamic so despite her disability, Fanny grew into a happy, healthy and very bright child. Her
grandmother fostered Fanny's inquisitive mind by patiently describing the beauties of creation to her and reading the stories of the
Bible. Fanny memorized as her grandmother read, and while still a child, she had committed most of the New Testament to memory.
When she was only eight, she penned her first poem:
Oh what a happy soul am I
Although I cannot see
I am resolved that in this world
Contented I will be
How many blessings I enjoy
That other people don't
To weep and sigh because I'm blind
I cannot and I won't!
At fifteen, Fanny entered the New York School for the Blind. After her graduation, she continued at the school as a teacher for the next
twenty-three years, marrying a fellow instructor, Alexander Van Alstyne, who was also blind. They had one child who died in infancy.
Her early talent for poetry and rhyme continued to develop as Fanny became an adult and experienced the joys and sorrows of life. She was
often called upon to write poems for special events or to recite her work at various functions. For a time she even wrote secular songs
for a publisher, but it was not until 1864 - when Fanny was over forty years old -- that she met composer William Bradbury and wrote her first
hymn. That experience would ignite her "life mission" to express her faith through Gospel songs -- and would carry her on a musical journey
lasting over a half century!
Critics have often faulted Fanny's lyrics as being "crudely sentimental" and even somewhat trite in a literary sense. But her sincerity
and simplicity have crossed the decades to bless millions of people around the world through hymns such as "Blessed Assurance," "Safe in the
Arms of Jesus," "Rescue the Perishing," "He Hideth My Soul," "To God Be the Glory," "Praise Him Praise Him" and hundreds of others.
Though she continued to write with William Bradbury (who, incidentally, is credited as the composer of the children's favorite,
"Jesus Loves Me"), Fanny outlived several other gifted young composers...continuing to write the hymns of her heart until well into her nineties.
Some years ago I heard an interview with the amazing Sir Elton John. The interviewer asked him if he had ever experienced "writer's block."
Sir Elton responded that he (as well as every other writer in the world) had suffered from the condition. But he added that he had found a
sure-fire cure for the problem. He would simply start playing the hymns he had heard and learned as a child. Surprised, the interviewer
asked him why this solution worked so well. Sir Elton's response was one I took to heart. He said: "Because the hymn writers knew how to
write songs for non-musical people...songs that ordinary people could sing and remember." He added: "The simplicity of the hymns always
brings me back to center and jumpstarts my creativity."
Point made! If you happen to be suffering from writer's block just now, perhaps Fanny's hymns are just the tonic you need. At the very
least, you will be inspired and blessed as you study this woman's legacy of faith expressed in her simple, sincere lyrics.
Well, that concludes the Ladies Meeting of Songwriters Anonymous. This has been an inspiring one for me, and I hope for you as well.
Join me here next time when we will meet more of the "unsung heroes" behind our favorite songs.
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**From her earliest childhood years writing simple songs and poems with her father, through her twelve years as an overseas
missionary, to her present, multi-faceted career as an author, lyricist/songwriter and conference speaker,
Mary has always been adept at using words to communicate her heart to others. She is the President of
CQK Records & Music of Dallas, Texas, a company which creates and produces songs in a panorama of musical styles for a
variety of audiences, She is the host of "I Write the Songs," a nationally syndicated radio talk show,
especially created to inspire and instruct the more than 40 million aspiring songwriters in the U.S.
Mary is a frequent public speaker and seminar lecturer and teacher of songwriting in her popular Living Room Seminars.
She is a Contributing Editor for The Internet Writing Journal ®. You can visit her website at:
www.cqkmusic.com. You can reach Mary by email.
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