ISN'T IT A PITY?
From the Broadway Musical "Pardon My English" (1933)
(Music: George Gershwin / Lyrics: Ira Gershwin)

George Givot & Josephine Huston (Broadway Production) - 1933
Sarah Vaughan - 1957
Mitzi Gaynor - 1959
Ella Fitzgerald (with Nelson Riddle & His Orch) - 1959
Mel Tormé - 1965
Matt Monro - 1971
Cleo Laine - 1979
Barbra Streisand - 1999
Stacey Kent - 2000




As rec by STACEY KENT with David Newton (piano)
and Simon Thorpe (bass), June 2000, England:


Why did I wander, here and there and yonder,
Wasting precious time for no reason or rhyme?
Isn't it a pity! Isn't it a crime!
My journey is ended, everything is splendid;
Meeting you today has given me a wonderful idea -
Here I stay!

It's a funny thing;
I look at you, I get a thrill I never knew,
Isn't it a pity we never met before!

Here we are at last,
It's like a dream, the two of us, a perfect team,
Isn't it a pity we never met before!

Imagine all the lonely years we've wasted,
You with the neighbours, I at silly labours!
What joys untasted,
You readin Heine, me somewhere in China!

Let's forget the past, let's both agree
That I'm for you and you're for me,
And it's such a pity we never, never met before!

Imagine all the lonely years we've wasted,
Fishing for salmon, losing at backgammon!
What joys untasted,
My nights were sour, spent with Schopenhauer!

Let's forget the past, let's both agree
That I'm for you and you're for me,
And it's such a pity we never, never met before!


(Contributed by Peter Akers - November 2009)