WHERE'S THE MATE FOR ME?
(Jerome Kern (m) / Oscar Hammerstein II (l) )

As sung by Howard Keel 1951 < Showboat > 
(from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Also sung by:
Allan Jones
Jason Howard
John Raitt
Barbra Cook
Robert Merrill
John McGlinn



Who cares if my boat goes upstream
Or if the gale bids me go with the river's flow.

I drift along with my fancy
Sometimes I thank my lucky stars my heart is free.
And other times I wonder,
Where's the mate for me.

(bridge)

The driftwood floating over the sea
Someday finds a sheltering lea.
So, somewhere there surely must be
A harbour meant for me.

I drift along with my fancy
Sometimes I thank my lucky stars my heart is free.
And other times I wonder,
Where's the mate for me.

NOTES:

Several adaptations of Edna Ferber's 1926 novel 
have been made, most notably Showboat 1927, 1936, 
1951, and several stage productions, one for TV in 
1989. In fact a number of her works were also 
adapted for screen, Cimarron 1931 and Giant 1956. 
One of her novels won a Pulitzer Prize (So Big 1929) 
and an Academy Award Best Picture (Cimarron 1931).

In the 1951 musical, the husband/wife sing and 
dance team of Marge and Gower Champion were 
seen by MGM as a more present-day answer to 
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

Showboat (1951)
Director: George Cukor
Leads: Kathryn Grayson / Howard Keel / 
Ava Garner / Marge & Gower Champion

Showboat (1936)
Director: James Whale
Leads: Irene Dunne / Allan Jones / 
Helen Morgan / Sammie White & Queenie Smith

One point of interest is that while the story 
is set in the 1880s, the paddlewheel which 
was expressly built for the 1951 film, did
 not resemble the ships of the day. It had 
 smokestacks and was powered whereas the ships 
 of the 1880s had no power and were pushed 
 along by small boats.



(Transcribed by David Story - February 2014)