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| Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 07:36 am EDT 07/02/20 | |
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| I was watching Gigi this morning on TCM. Toward the film's end, I heard in the underscore an instrumental variation of the song "I Remember It Well". As I listened to it, I began humming it until I realized it was segueing into another song, namely "The Language of Love" from Irma La Douce. Am I imagining things or are there similarities in these 2 songs by different composers? Anyone else ever notice this? | |
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| Check out the GIGI DVD at 1 hour, 25 minutes | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 06:57 am EDT 07/03/20 | |
| In reply to: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? - BroadwayTonyJ 07:36 am EDT 07/02/20 | |
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| I watched the film again yesterday evening. Right after the scene between Alicia in her bathtub and Mamita, Gigi is at home alone awaiting Gaston's arrival. Previn's instrumental arrangement of "I Remember It Well" begins to evoke (for me anyway) "Our Language of Love". Check it out and you'll see what I mean. | |
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| Previn did both | |
| Posted by: stevemr 01:17 pm EDT 07/03/20 | |
| In reply to: Check out the GIGI DVD at 1 hour, 25 minutes - BroadwayTonyJ 06:57 am EDT 07/03/20 | |
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| Previn also did the score for the non-musical movie of Irma La Douce (which incorporated many of Monnot's melodies) five years AFTER Gigi. | |
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| re: Check out the GIGI DVD at 1 hour, 25 minutes | |
| Posted by: Delvino 10:08 am EDT 07/03/20 | |
| In reply to: Check out the GIGI DVD at 1 hour, 25 minutes - BroadwayTonyJ 06:57 am EDT 07/03/20 | |
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| And a big piece of Sweeney's "Kiss Me" is eerily the same note run as the Dynasty Theme. I've never stopped hearing it. And "Candyman" is also "No One Is Alone" (remember that discussion?) And a piece of "But Alive" in Applause is also the (now excised) "Telephone Song" in Cabaret. On it goes. | |
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| re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? | |
| Posted by: Billhaven 01:10 pm EDT 07/02/20 | |
| In reply to: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? - BroadwayTonyJ 07:36 am EDT 07/02/20 | |
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| I just listened to the OBC of Irma La Douce and can honestly hear no similarly between the 2 songs. | |
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| re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 04:51 pm EDT 07/02/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? - Billhaven 01:10 pm EDT 07/02/20 | |
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| The similarity I noticed was between Previn's instrumental variation underscore based on "I Remember It Well" (which occurs shortly after Gaston sings the title song) and the song "Our Language of Love". | |
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| re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? | |
| Posted by: larry13 01:40 pm EDT 07/02/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? - Billhaven 01:10 pm EDT 07/02/20 | |
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| And I just listened and DID hear the similarity. To me, and I wish I could express it better in musical terms, it sounded as if the much younger Parisian couple in IRMA, in a very similar back and forth exchange of sentiments, was allowing a more luxurious melody to emerge than Loewe chose to employ. | |
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| "Our Language of Love" -- Here's a video of Elizabeth Seal and Keith Michell from "Irma La Douce" | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 02:24 pm EDT 07/02/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? - larry13 01:40 pm EDT 07/02/20 | |
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| Unlike the give and take of the fairly short phrases in "I Remember It Well" in "Gigi', "Our Language Of Love" is actually sung more legato, and with longer phrases by each character, with some back and forth. In the 2nd part of the song, they actually repeat the words the other sings first, rather than the rejoinders and different words sung in "I Remember It Well" pretty much throughout. Here's are the original stars of "Irma La Douce", Elizabeth Seal and Keith Michell, both wonderful in a pretty rare video of "Our Language Of Love". | |
| Link | "Our Language of Love" |
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| re: "Our Language of Love" -- Here's a video of Elizabeth Seal and Keith Michell from "Irma La Douce" | |
| Posted by: larry13 02:37 pm EDT 07/02/20 | |
| In reply to: "Our Language of Love" -- Here's a video of Elizabeth Seal and Keith Michell from "Irma La Douce" - PlayWiz 02:24 pm EDT 07/02/20 | |
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| Yes, I agree with what you expressed so well. And this video is very very beautiful. AND I definitely still find the melodies similar and even the overall moods reminiscent, despite the clear differences you cite. | |
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| re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? | |
| Posted by: AnObserver 08:13 am EDT 07/02/20 | |
| In reply to: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? - BroadwayTonyJ 07:36 am EDT 07/02/20 | |
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| One is in 3/4, the other in 4/4. They each have a figure of three eighth notes followed by a quarter or half note. One is French. The other is faux French. | |
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| re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 04:29 pm EDT 07/02/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? - AnObserver 08:13 am EDT 07/02/20 | |
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| "One is in 3/4, the other in 4/4. They each have a figure of three eighth notes followed by a quarter or half note." Yes, and to me, the notes of the musical phrase to which you're referring sound the same in both songs: "We met at nine, we met at eight," "No need to speak, no need to sing." But the rest of the songs sound quite dissimilar, I would say. |
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| re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? | |
| Posted by: AnObserver 08:36 am EDT 07/03/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? - Michael_Portantiere 04:29 pm EDT 07/02/20 | |
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| In "The Language of Love" the first interval in the eighth note figure is a whole step. In the other song it's a 5th interval. | |
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| re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 09:01 am EDT 07/02/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? - AnObserver 08:13 am EDT 07/02/20 | |
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| I've seen the film easily dozens of time, including (as a child) in '58. I never noticed the song "I Remember It Well" being similar to any other song. I'm not sure which composer, I assume either Andre Previn or Loewe himself, did the variation of this music for the underscore. This morning was the very first time that this instrumental version (which was much slower than the song itself) began reminding me of Monnot's composition. | |
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| re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? | |
| Posted by: NewtonUK 09:00 am EDT 07/02/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? - AnObserver 08:13 am EDT 07/02/20 | |
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| The lyric of I REMEMBER IT WELL was first used in LOVE LIFE, to music by Kurt Weill. | |
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| re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? | |
| Posted by: Erik_Haagensen 11:38 am EDT 07/02/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? - NewtonUK 09:00 am EDT 07/02/20 | |
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| The lyric was not first used in LOVE LIFE. The title and the conceit were. The two lyrics share that and a similar structure, but the words are otherwise different, as befits two very different situations and sets of characters. | |
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| re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 09:04 am EDT 07/02/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? - NewtonUK 09:00 am EDT 07/02/20 | |
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| I am familiar with the Lerner-Weill song in Love Life, but its melody is much different than that of the Lerner-Loewe song. | |
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| re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? Coincidental in any event | |
| Posted by: NewtonUK 09:21 am EDT 07/02/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? - BroadwayTonyJ 09:04 am EDT 07/02/20 | |
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| The original French version of IRMA LA DOUCE opened in 1956. As far as I can tell, Language of Love was not in that version - though it may have been part of a totally different song. The English language rewrite open in London in July 1958. GIGI was released in May 1958. |
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| re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? Coincidental in any event | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 12:49 pm EDT 07/02/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? Coincidental in any event - NewtonUK 09:21 am EDT 07/02/20 | |
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| I'm not positive, but I think the linked recording of "Avec les Anges," which became, admittedly with the melody altered a bit, "Our Language of Love" is from the 45 EP Colette Renard, the original Paris Irma, recorded in 1956 or possibly early 1957. | |
| Link | Avec les Anges |
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| re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? Coincidental in any event | |
| Posted by: NewtonUK 03:06 pm EDT 07/02/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? Coincidental in any event - AlanScott 12:49 pm EDT 07/02/20 | |
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| You are correct - amazing how little of the music from the French original made it, unscathed to the London production. And at least 4 cut songs. But it sounds so much better in French. Just discovered the Opera-Comique revival recording. | |
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| re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? Coincidental in any event | |
| Posted by: NewtonUK 02:45 pm EDT 07/02/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? Coincidental in any event - AlanScott 12:49 pm EDT 07/02/20 | |
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| I've got that recording - I have to unpack a CD player so I can check it out! | |
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| re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? Coincidental in any event | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 11:22 am EDT 07/02/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? Coincidental in any event - NewtonUK 09:21 am EDT 07/02/20 | |
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| I was not suggesting that either Loewe or Monnot or even Previn was influenced by the other's song. If there is a similarity, I'm sure it was just happenstance. I'm just wondering if I'm imagining a similarity or do others discern what I'm getting at? | |
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| re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? Coincidental in any event | |
| Posted by: keikekaze 04:39 pm EDT 07/02/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Lerner & Loewe's "I Remember It Well" and Marguerite Monnot's "Our Language of Love" -- Similarities? Coincidental in any event - BroadwayTonyJ 11:22 am EDT 07/02/20 | |
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| Yes, I think I hear what you're getting at. The "A" sections of both songs begin with four sets of four-note phrases, occupying about four measures total in each case, and then four measures of something slightly different (with slightly more notes to the variation in "Our Language of Love" ["not a word need be spoken, in our language of love"] than in "I Remember It Well" ["ah, yes, I remember it well"]). Both then open out into releases that are more lyrical (less conversational) than the "A" sections before returning to restatements of the original phrases. I think it's those four sets of four-note phrases at the beginning of each "A" that account for the likeness between the two songs, as the melodies are not really that much alike. Of course, with thousands of composers composing thousands of popular songs and theater and movie songs in 32-bar formats over the years, there are a lot of songs that are similar to one another in structure! | |
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