["My Funny Valentine" by Rodgers and Hart]
- Marcya Daneille: I selected "My Funny Valentine,"
which is one of the most famous, I think,
and easily recognized jazz standards.
It is from a show.
It's from a show, I believe, that mounted maybe in late '20s,
early '30s calledBabes in Arms.
In this performance of "My Funny Valentine,"
we have just me and a piano.
What I like about working in that format
is also kind of one of the things
that scares me a bit as a performer,
which is that it's bare bones.
That's the beauty and the fear of performing a jazz ballad
like "My Funny Valentine."
It really gives the pianist an opportunity
to stretch and create.
I never know from one performance to the next
what my introduction is going to be.
If you listen to the lyrics of the song,
it sounds like, initially like, a lover is being thwarted
or, you know, criticized for their appearance.
But it's a little deeper than that.
It's really this character saying, "In spite of the fact
"that you may not be the most attractive person,
you know, I have this undying love for you."
It doesn't matter what you look like.
You can still...
Everyone is still worthy of love.
You know, what's a better message than that?
[gentle piano notes]
♪ My funny valentine ♪
♪ Sweet, comic valentine ♪
♪ You make me smile in my heart ♪
♪ Your looks are laughable ♪
♪ Unphotographable ♪
♪ Yet you're my favorite work of art ♪
♪ Is your figure less than Greek ♪
♪ Is your mouth a little bit weak ♪
♪ When you open it to speak ♪
♪ Are you smart ♪
♪ But don't change a hair for me ♪
♪ Not if you care for me ♪
♪ Stay, little valentine, stay ♪
♪ Each day is Valentine's Day ♪
[gentle piano music]
♪ Is your figure less than Greek ♪
♪ Is your mouth a little bit weak ♪
♪ When you open it to speak ♪
♪ Are you smart ♪
♪ But don't, don't change a hair for me ♪
♪ Not, not if you care for me ♪
♪ Stay, little valentine, stay ♪
♪ Each day is Valentine's ♪
♪ Each day is Valentine's Day ♪
[gentle piano music] [ending note]