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Night and Day · Timeless Songs with Eileen Ponich

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Some songs describe love.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Others capture what happens when someone gets into your heart and simply won't leave.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Cole Porter's Night and Day is one of those songs.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: On the surface,
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: it's elegant and sophisticated,
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: but underneath,
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: there's something much more intense, a longing that never quite goes away.
• 0:28
  [music]
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Timeless Songs, where great songs live on.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Eileen Ponich.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Today, we're revisiting one of Cole Porter's most beloved songs, Night and Day.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: If you'd like to read more,
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: I wrote about it on the Timeless Songs blog,
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: and I'll put the link in the show notes.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Porter wrote Night and Day in 1932 for the Broadway musical Gay Divorce,
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: where it was introduced by none other than Fred Astaire.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Two years later, Astaire performed it with Ginger Rogers in the film version.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: The film had a slightly different title, The Gay Divorcee.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Somehow the censors decided that That a divorce couldn't be gay,
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: but apparently a divorcee could.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: There's something especially interesting about this song that many listeners may not realize.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like so many songs from the Great American Songbook, Night and Day has an introductory verse.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: Today, it's often skipped.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: And it's a shame, because the verse sets up the entire song beautifully.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: Porter begins with sounds that seem to echo everywhere.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: The beat of a drum, the ticking of a clock, the sound of falling rain.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: And all of them lead back to that same thought.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: The one person the singer can't stop thinking about.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: And listen to what Porter does with the music.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: He uses that insistent, repeated note to create almost the feeling of a heartbeat.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Can you hear it?
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Can you hear the obsession before the singer even tells us about it?
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: That obsessive feeling comes right into the familiar refrain.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's almost hypnotic.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: The music and lyrics work together to create the feeling of someone who can think
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: of nothing else.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's Cole Porter at his best.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Night and day has been part of my musical life for so long
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: that I can't even remember when I first heard it.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: I may have discovered it when I returned to piano lessons as an adult.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: I remember being drawn to that steady, pulsing rhythm.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: Years later, when I performed the song, I began thinking more about the emotion behind it.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: As a singer, you have to ask yourself what the person in the song is really feeling.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: And with night and day,
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: I hear someone holding it together on the surface while quietly,
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Coming apart underneath.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the most powerful way to express that emotion is with restraint.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: You know, certain people never completely leave our hearts.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: Years pass,
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: life changes,
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: and then a familiar song or an old photograph brings a memory rushing back.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's exactly what Porter's verse describes.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Everything around you becomes a reminder.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's part of what makes night and day so enduring.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: Nearly a century later, we still recognize those feelings.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'd especially recommend three interpretations of night and day.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Fred Astaire...
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: With his wonderful elegance and understated delivery.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: Frank Sinatra, whose younger voice had such a dreamy quality.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: And Ella Fitzgerald, with her beautiful phrasing and effortless swing.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: Both these dear and Fitzgerald recordings I've recommended include
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: the introductory verse, so be sure to listen for it.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: Then compare all these interpretations and see which one speaks to you.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: You'll find links to the recordings in my original night and day article on
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: the Timeless Songs blog.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: I've included that link in the show notes.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: Next week, we'll spend a little more time with Fred Astaire.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: We remember him as the legendary dancer,
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: But he was also a remarkable singer who introduced some
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: of America's most beloved songs.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: If you're enjoying Timeless Songs,
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you'll follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or subscribe
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: on Substack.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time,
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: wishing you music that stays with you Long after the last note fades,
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Eileen Ponich with a song in my heart.
• 6:26
  [music]