Like Irving Berlin, Cole Porter is an American icon. With a long and prolific career, his witty and sophisticated lyrics perfectly fit his lovely and well-constructed melodies. Introduced in his first Broadway success, “Fifty Million Frenchmen”, “You Do Something to Me” contains the classic lyric— “Do do that voo doo that you do so well”. They don't write them like that anymore.
LYRICS
You do something to me,
something that simply mystifies me.
Tell me, why should it be,
you have the power to hypnotize me?
Let me live 'neath your spell,
do do that voodoo that you do so well
For you do something to me
that nobody else could do.
Although a huge hit during the World War II years, “I'll Get By” actually dates back to 1928. Like so many great songs of the Twenties, it enjoyed a comeback in succeeding decades as each new generation discovered it. It was written by composer Fred E. Ahlert, who, along with lyricist Roy Turk, wrote a number of beloved hits in the Twenties and Thirties, including “I Don't Know Why”, “Mean to Me”, “Walkin’ My Baby Back Home”, and “I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter.”
LYRICS
I'll get by as long as I have you.
Though there be rain and darkness too,
I'll not complain, I'll see it through.
Though I may be far away, it's true,
say what care I, dear,
I'll get by as long as I have you.
“I’ll Get By”
(Roy Turk/Fred E. Ahlert)
1928
“You Do Something To Me”
(Cole Porter)
1929