Quotes & Sayings About Gershwin

I'm bidin' my time,
'Cause that's the kinda guy I'm. — Ira Gershwin

I never liked hearing anyone say I was the new George Gershwin, because I knew I could have never even carried that man's music case. If George Gershwin hadn't died when he was thirty-nine years old, there is no knowing how much more great music he would have written. — Burt Bacharach

The very first hit factory was T.B. Harms, a Tin Pan Alley publishing company overseen by Max Dreyfus. With staff writers like Jerome Kern, George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Richard Rodgers, T.B. Harms was the dominant publisher of popular music in the early twentieth century. Dreyfus called his writers "the boys" and installed pianos for them to compose on around the office on West Twenty-Eighth, the street that gave Tin Pan Alley its name, allegedly for the tinny-sounding pianos passersby heard from the upper-story windows of the row houses. The sheet-music sellers also employed piano players in their street-level stores, who would perform the Top 40 of the 1920s for browsing customers. — John Seabrook

The future of this nation, with the present generation, You must admit is nothing but a joke — Ira Gershwin

Gershwin's melodic gift was phenomenal. His songs contain the essence of New York in the 1920s and have deservedly become classics of their kind, part of the 20th-century folk-song tradition in the sense that they are popular music which has been spread by oral tradition (for many must have sung a Gershwin song without having any idea who wrote it). — George Gershwin

Why become a second-rate Ravel when you're already a first-rate Gershwin? — Maurice Ravel

Jazz I regard as an American folk music; not the only one, but a very powerful one which is probably in the blood and feeling of the American people more than any other style of folk music. — George Gershwin

Oh, lady be good To me. — Ira Gershwin

As far as songwriters, I've always been a fan of Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and George Gershwin; those guys mean a lot to me. — Mel Brooks

Not many composers have ideas. Far more of them know how to use strange instruments which do not require ideas. — George Gershwin

There's a somebody I'm longing to see, I hope that he, turns out to be, someone to watch over me. — Ira Gershwin

I do miss the stage. There's nothing like it, nothing. When I did my one-woman show and played the Palace and played the Gershwin and all that, I did - what? - eight shows or maybe more a week. Of course you can't do anything else, and you can't run quickly for a cab in the rain, and you can't have a drunken love affair. You can't do any of that. Because you've got to be perfectly healthy. And I guess I value enjoying my life a little bit more than the discipline these days. — Shirley Maclaine

I want to say at once that I frankly believe that Irving Berlin is the greatest songwriter that has ever lived ... His songs are exquisite cameos of perfection, and each one of them is as beautiful as its neighbor. Irving Berlin remains, I think, America's Schubert. — George Gershwin

The composer does not sit around and wait for an inspiration to walk up and introduce itself ... Making music is actually little else than a matter of invention aided and abetted by emotion. In composing we combine what we know of music with what we feel. — George Gershwin

Gershwin inspired me very much. The concept of 'That Lucky Old Sun' was inspired by 'Rhapsody in Blue' - not influenced, but inspired. — Brian Wilson

But the age of miracles hadn't passed. — Ira Gershwin

On Ira Gershwin:
I remember when he was given the manuscript of a novel written by a woman friend who had hopes of having it published. To his astonishment it turned out to be the dirtiest, most pornographic book he had ever read. When the lady mentioned that she intended to use a nom de plume, Ira suggested she call herself Henrietta Miller. — Oscar Levant

My first role was in the George Gershwin musical 'Crazy for You' at the Orlando Repertory Theatre when I was 11 - I grew up in Florida - and I wasn't old enough to be in it, but they let me anyway. I was just this little shrimp in a leotard. — Aubrey Peeples

Originality is the only thing that counts. But the originator uses material and ideas that occur round him and pass through him. And out of his experience comes the original creation. — George Gershwin

Leonard Bernstein was probably the most significant formative influence on me - he was such an encompassing musician. I spent my teenage years absorbing him, and my other interests stemmed off of that. Bernstein led me to Sondheim and to Gershwin, and Sondheim led me to listening to Joni Mitchell. — Jason Robert Brown

Why should I limit myself to only one woman when I can have as many women as I want? — George Gershwin

I'm a fan of Jerome Kern and Gershwin. That's my kind of music. — Shirley Jones

Aladdin's lamp is mine. — Ira Gershwin

I love Gershwin. I love musicals. — Gloria Estefan

The European boys have small ideas but they sure know how to dress 'em up. — George Gershwin

Upper berth, lower berth, that's the difference between talent and genius. — George Gershwin

As a New Yorker you can't help but be proud of the fact that so much music and culture started here. Punk rock, jazz, hip-hop and house music started here, George Gershwin debuted 'Rhapsody in Blue' here; the Velvet Underground are from New York. — Moby

Look at the piano. You'll notice that there are white notes and black notes. Figure out the difference between them and you'll be able to make whatever kind of music you want. — George Gershwin

Summer time an' the livin' is easy, Fish are jumpin' an' the cotton is high. Oh, yo' daddy's rich, and yo' ma' is good-lookin', So hush, little baby, don' yo' cry. — Ira Gershwin

Musically Bob [Dylan] is a primitive. He's not a Gershwin, or somebody that uses eloquent music terms. — Al Kooper

If I'm a guy who doesn't seem so merry, It's just because I'm so misunderstood. When I was young I ate a dictionary, And that did not do me a bit of good. For I've absorbed so many words and phrases - They drive me dizzy when I want to speak. I start explaining but each person gazes As if I spoke in Latin or in Greek. — Ira Gershwin

I got rhythm, I got music, I got my man- Who could ask for anything more? — Ira Gershwin

Summertime
And the livin' is easy,
Fish are jumpin', and the cotton is high. — Ira Gershwin

Remember: if you see something, say nothing, and drink to forget. — Cecil Baldwin

I didn't even start playing the piano until I was about 13 or 14. I guess I must have had a little talent or whatever-you-call-it, but I practised regularly, and that's what counts. — George Gershwin

Deep, unspeakable suffering may well be called a baptism, a regeneration, the initiation into a new state. — Ira Gershwin

My people are Americans. My time is today. — George Gershwin

Old age adds to the respect due to virtue, but it takes nothing from the contempt inspired by vice; it whitens only the hair. — Ira Gershwin

It sounds simple, of course, but personally I can think of no more mentally arduous task than making music. — George Gershwin

They all laughed at Christopher Columbus
When he said the world was round. — Ira Gershwin

S wonderful! 'S marvelous!
That you should care for me! — Ira Gershwin

When jazz is played in another nation, it is called American. When it is played in another country, it sounds false. Jazz is the result of the energy stored up in America. — George Gershwin

Porgy is ... an interesting example of what can be done by talent in spite of a bad setup. With a libretto that should never have been accepted on a subject that should never have been chosen, a man who should never have attempted it has written a work that has a considerable power. — George Gershwin

For me, Woody Allen's 'Manhattan' defines New York. Both New York and Manhattan Island should be in black in white! I always hear the soundtrack of Gershwin in my head every time I go over the Queensboro Bridge, or come in from JFK because of it! — Brian Cox

All these tales of people sitting down and composing symphonies just as though they were writing a letter are very much exaggerated; at least, it isn't that way in my work. — George Gershwin

To George Gershwin, on refusinghim as a pupil: You would only lose the spontaneous quality of your melody, and end by writing bad Ravel. — Maurice Ravel

A song without music is a lot like H2 without the O. — Ira Gershwin

Ira [Gershwin] was the shyest, most diffident boy we had ever known. In a class of Lower East Side rapscallions, his soft-spoken gentleness and low-keyed personality made him a lovable incongruity. He spoke in murmurs, hiding behind a pair of steel-rimmed spectacles. Ira had a kid brother who wore stiff high collars, shirts with cuffs and went out with girls. — Yip Harburg

Modern European composers ... have very largely received their stimulus, their rhythms and impulses from Machine Age America. They have a much older tradition of musical technique which has helped them put into musical terms a little more clearly the thoughts that originated here. They can express themselves more glibly. — George Gershwin

Fame in this country is a religion that demands human sacrifice, a religion to which I do not wish to belong. You start to take yourself so seriously - I saw it happening to me, after I had written my first book at the age of 23. I'd give lectures or seminars, people would tell me how amazingly great I was, and sooner or later, you believe them. You end up exactly with what Oscar Levant said to George Gershwin: "Tell me, George, if you had it to do all over again, would you still fall in love with yourself?" After — Ken Wilber

We have nothing to speak about. There never was. Words are an unnecessary trouble. Expression is time wasting away. Any communication is just a yelp in the darkness. I am speaking now but I am saying nothing. I am just making noises, and, as it happens, they are organized in words and you should not draw meaning from this. — Cecil Baldwin

As a composer, Dylan now fits comfortably alongside George Gershwin or Irving Berlin, though he grumpily refuses to wear any man's collar. — Douglas Brinkley

Love is sweeping the country. — Ira Gershwin

Not to dismiss Gershwin, but Gershwin is the chip; Ellington was the block. — Joni Mitchell

I'd like to add her initial to my monogram... — Ira Gershwin

For suddenly, I saw you there And through foggy London town The sun was shining everywhere ... — George Gershwin

It took me three weeks to write the 'Rhapsody in Blue.' I had always wanted to write something blue and Paul Whiteman inspired. — George Gershwin

In Jazz, like in America, the group works together toward a common cause with lots of room left for each individual to shine. — Richie Gerber

It is always possible to create something original. — George Gershwin

Homo industrialis. We are so industrial (but not so wise) that we are creating a world more like the late Precambrian than the late 1800s - a world where jellyfish ruled the seas and organisms with shells didn't exist. We are creating a world where we humans may soon be unable to survive, or want to. — Lisa-Ann Gershwin

And now a brief public service announcement. Alligators: can they kill your children? Yes. — Cecil Baldwin

I was proud to work with the great Gershwin, and I would have done it for nothing, which I did. — Howard Dietz

I was lucky enough to have the songs in my first show written by George and Ira Gershwin. Then Cole Porter wrote five shows for me. — Ethel Merman

When I'm in my normal mood, music drips from my fingers. — George Gershwin

Summertime And the living is easy Fish are jumpin' And the cotton is high Oh, your daddy's rich And your mama's good lookin' So hush little baby now don't you cry One of these mornin's You're gonna rise up singin' Then you'll spread your wings And take to the sky But til that mornin' Ain't nothin' can harm you With your daddy And your mammy standin' by. — George Gershwin

He adored New York City. He idolized it all out of proportion ... no, make that: he - he romanticized it all out of proportion. Yes. To him, no matter what the season was, this was still a town that existed in black and white and pulsated to the great tunes of George Gershwin. — Woody Allen

Damn it all! What rhymes with rhythm? — Ira Gershwin

One can be very happy without demanding that others agree with them. — Ira Gershwin

He's a world-famous name to people who care about his music, but there are many people who have never heard of George Gershwin and those numbers increase. — Michael Feinstein

The way you wear your hat,
The way you sip your tea,
The mem'ry of all that
No, no! They can't take that away from me! — Ira Gershwin

Sometimes you go through things that seem huge at the time, like a mysterious glowing cloud devouring your entire community. While they're happening, they feel like the only thing that matters and you can hardly imagine that there's a world out there that might have anything else going on. And then the glow cloud moves on. And you move on. And the event is behind you. And you may find, as time passes, that you remember it less and less. Or absolutely not at all, in my case. — Cecil Baldwin

All great composers of the past spent most of their time studying. Feeling alone won't do the job. A man also needs technique. — George Gershwin

If you'll promise not to cry, Baby,
I will kiss you by-and-by - Maybe!
Though you're six feet three,
You will always be
Nothing but a Baby, dear, to me. — Ira Gershwin

A skyscraper is at the same time a triumph of the machine and a tremendous emotional experience, almost breath-taking. Not merely its height but its mass and proportions are the result of an emotion, as well as of calculation. — George Gershwin

What the hell do you want to work for somebody else for? Work for yourself! — George Gershwin

What usually comes first is the contract. — Ira Gershwin

George Gershwin died on July 11, 1937, but I don't have to believe it if I don't want to. — John O'Hara

Life is a lot like jazz - it's best when you improvise. — George Gershwin

America, the Idea of: We yearned for its beer and jazz, its smoke-filled nightclubs, its Edward Hopper bars, the melancholy of rainy Manhattan Gershwin nights ... the America we yearned for has gone. Did it ever exist? — Michael Bywater

Gershwin's tragedy was not that he failed to cross the tracks, but rather that he did, and once there in his new habitat, was deprived of the chance to plunge his roots firmly into the new soil. — George Gershwin

I was always drawn to Broadway musicals, and obviously composers like Gershwin, Rodgers, Berlin and Porter were writing music that I found wildly impressive. — Marvin Hamlisch

The extraordinary thing about my mother, she's so modest about me. — George Gershwin

Out of my entire annual output of songs, perhaps two, or at the most three, came as a result of inspiration. We can never rely on inspiration. When we most want it, it does not come. — George Gershwin

From folk to tribal to Cab Calloway, Cole Porter, Gershwin to the Rolling Stones, whose first record was all covers, to country-western, bebop, blues, and even the referencing in classic hip hop to cliched love ballads of the '80s or whatever - that is kinda gone, and that's just terrifying to me. — Cat Power

True music must repeat the thought and inspirations of the people and the time. — George Gershwin

You might lose your spontaneity and, instead of composing first-rate Gershwin, end up with second rate Ravel. — Maurice Ravel

Life is one long jubilee. — Ira Gershwin

I did my New York debut at 21. It was 'On the Town' at the George Gershwin Theatre. New York is my artistic home. — Jesse Tyler Ferguson

An entire composition written in jazz could not live. — George Gershwin

It's nice to have a station pet. Wish it wasn't trapped in a hovering prison in the men's bathroom, but listen: no pet is perfect. It becomes perfect when you learn to accept it for what it is. — Cecil Baldwin

I don't care if it's a Cole Porter song, or George Gershwin, or Lennon/McCartney, or Elton John, or you know, whoever, Bob Dylan. Great songs are great songs, and they stand the test of time, and they can be interpreted and recorded with many points of view, but yet still retain the essence of what makes them good songs. — John Oates

For me, when you are talking about perfect songs, you're talking about Gershwin, 'Someone To Watch Over Me.' Or Larry Hart and Richard Rodgers. Or some of the great Cole Porter songs, whether it's 'Night and Day' or some of the comedy songs. Or Irving Berlin, of course. — Maury Yeston

I frequently hear music in the heart of noise. — George Gershwin

Like the pugilist," Gershwin said, "the songwriter must always keep in training. — Mason Currey

I like to think of music as an emotional science. — George Gershwin

Ira Gershwin, shame on him. I mean, some of the writing. — Joni Mitchell

I frequently hear music in the very heart of noise. — George Gershwin

I totally related to Cole Porter's magnetic pull to any piano that was in the room, which he was famous for doing, as was Gershwin. You couldn't drag them away from a piano. — Kevin Kline

Holding hands at midnight 'Neath a starry sky ... Nice work if you can get it And you can get it
if you try. — Ira Gershwin

The Gershwin legacy is extraordinary because George Gershwin died in 1937, but his music is as fresh and vital today as when he originally created it. — Michael Feinstein