The Great Song Thesaurus

792 Pages·1989·34.756 MB·English

by  Roger Lax, Frederick Smith

This unique reference covers every aspect
of the literature of popular somjs from the
16th century to 1987. Compiling 11,000
songs from the English-speaking world,
The Great Song Thesaurus, Second
Edition, Updated & Expanded provides
pertinent information about each entry—
including year of popularity, composer,
lyricist, record sales, Hit Parade and air
ranking, and the names of artists who
recorded the ‘‘Top Hit” songs since 1940—
and indexes these song titles by subject,
key word, key lyric line and category.
Completely cross-referenced throughout,
information associated with each song is
easily accessible in any of the book’s ten
parts.
Listing virtually every song written in
the last 400 years, the Thesaurus includes
the most popular and distinguished songs
listed by year of popularity (up through
1987); songs from theatre scores and
musical and non-musical films, televi­
sion, and radio; British and American
award-winning songs; entertainers’ and
performers’ theme, trademark, and signa­
ture songs; advertising jingles; song
plagiarisms, adaptations, and revivals;
college and university songs; political
campaign songs; church chimes and
carillons; and American bugle calls.
The Great Song Thesaurus,
Second Edition,
Updated & Expanded
• Chronicles the popular song from 1558
to the present
• Furnishes 100 to 150 new song listings
for each year from 1980 to 1987.
• Allows recall, through a new key lyric
line index, of 3,025 song titles
• Compiles vast popular song informa­
tion for those in radio, television, and
advertising
• Covers a vast range of songs: from
liturgical hymns to disco, folk songs,
and lieder; from sea chanteys to commer­
cial jingles, theme songs, and award
winners
The Great Song Thesaurus
The G reat Song
Thesaurus
ROGER LAX
FREDERICK SMITH
Second Edition
Updated and Expanded
New York
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
1989
Oxford University Press
Oxford New York Toronto
Delhi Bombay Calcutta Madras Karachi
Petaling Jaya Singapore Hong Kong Tokyo
Nairobi Dar es Salaam Cape Town
Melbourne Auckland
and associated companies in
Berlin Ibadan
Copyright © 1984, 1989 by Roger Lax
and The Estate of Frederick Smith
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.
200 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without prior permission of Oxford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lax, Roger.
The great song thesaurus / Roger Lax, Frederick Smith.—2nd ed.,
updated and expanded,
p. cm. Includes index.
ISBN 0-19-505408-3
1. Popular music—Indexes. I. Smith, Frederick. II. Title.
ML128.S3L4 1989
784.5'0016—del9 88-31267 CIP MN
246 8 97 5 3 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
For my mother
and in memory of my father
R.L.

Acknowledgments
For her unswerving tenacity during the plague of crises surrounding the com­
pletion of this book, I thank my literary agent Maria Carvainis, who for five
years served equally well in the capacity of dear friend.
At the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, Michael
Kerker offered continued assistance in locating oftentimes unpublished and al­
most unobtainable information through ASCAP’s excellent indexing staff. I
wish also to extend my appreciation to Sheldon Meyer, Leona Capeless, and
Joellyn Ausanka for their suggestions and assistance during the preparation of
the manuscript.
For the tolerance of those who during my last year of assembling research
and preparing the manuscript patiently cooked my meals, withstood my endless
complaints, and saved both sanity and spirit, my deepest appreciation to Toni
Goldin, Ian Ross Jenkins, Christian Ghigliotti, and Edward Howard.
The preparation of this Revised Edition proved very much a different task,
for which I would like to thank additionally David Ascher for his generosity
and expertise in helping me prepare the final manuscript.
And for their limitless support and generosity, my parents, Harrison and
Arline, and grandmother Rose displayed those family qualities reserved for
only a lucky few. To them I will be forever grateful.
ROGER LAX

Contents
Authors’ Notes, xi
List of Abbreviations, xv
I The Greatest Songs, 3
II The Award Winners, 143
III Themes, Trademarks, and Signatures, 165
IV Elegant Plagiarisms, 173
V Song Titles, 179
VI British Song Titles, 437
VII Lyricists and Composers, 463
Vili American and British Theatre, Film, Radio, and Television, 577
IX Thesaurus of Song Titles by Subject, Key Word, and Category, 621
X Lyric Key Lines, 721