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500 Best-Loved Song Lyrics
List Price: $10.95 Our Price: $8.76
October, 1998
Dover Publications
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Author: Ronald Herder
Number of Media: 1
ISBN: 048629725X
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| Paperback Description "What are the words to that song?" is a common question, and trying hopelessly to remember a nagging, half-finished phrase can sometimes be enough to drive a person over the edge. It's a situation that 500 Best-Loved Song Lyrics, collected and edited by Ronald Herder, attempts to rectify. From "The Aba Daba Honeymoon" (by Arthur Fields and Walter Donovan, 1914) to "Zum Gali Gali" (Israeli work song), it covers scads of folk songs, hymns, and old-time show tunes. In the case of songs with multiple versions, Herder has chosen, as he puts it in his introduction, "the text that is most memorable, that captures the spirit of the original song the way we remembered it, that is truly 'best-loved.'" However, if the lyrics you're trying to remember are from a tune along the lines of "Proud Mary" or the theme song from the Brady Bunch, you're out of luck: in keeping with Dover Publications' standard practice, all of the included words are out of copyright, and that means they must be over 50 years old. But for Christmas carols, patriotic songs (you'll find all four verses of "The Star-Spangled Banner"), folk music, and the kind of old-time popular songs that accompany vintage cartoons from Disney and Warner Bros., this is a very useful little collection. The index is in the front, and all the songs are arranged alphabetically. One caveat: although several songs in foreign languages are provided, translations are not. (So what does "Zum Gali Gali" mean, anyway? You'll have to seek the answer elsewhere.) --Sarah Bryan Miller |
| Customer Reviews
Wow, I never realize how many songs I knew! 500 Songs sounds like a lot. It is fun to go through the book and see how many songs you know. I don't know who decided these were the top 500, but they did a good job. It is a book of lyrics only. I wish it had included the sheet music, musical notation. Overall I feel I got my monies worth,. I drag it out every now and then and just sing out load, even if it bothers the cat.
Lyrical Treasures It is rare to be able to find the lyrics to songs of the past; particularly if you are looking for songs by Berlin, Gershwin, Von Tilzer, Cohan, and so many of the song-writing giants of a bygone era. Most of the songs in this collection are pop standards, spirituals, folk songs, ragtime, and what-you-will. They are here with both their verses and chorus's. What a joy! What a blast from the past! And the price is miniscule compared to the value. I would've paid the price of the book for the lyric to just one or two of the songs in this book. In most cases each song has its publishing date with the author(s) name alongside the title. I was surprised that so many of the songs I've loved were first published so long ago. Treat yourself to a volume you will treasure. Sit down at the old keyboard and sing out!
Just what I was looking for Do you ever find yourself singing an old familiar song and replacing most of the words with la-la-la? Do you just get started belting out an old favorite and you come to the end of the first verse too soon? Do you want to know the words to a song, but don't care about the music? This book is the answer. I can't say that it contains every song you will look for, but I can tell you that when I looked through it, it was like opening a long lost treasure. Many of the songs I had completely forgotten were there with all the verses. What a joy! I will sing all night! |
Related Areas: Composers & Musicians - Country & Folk, Instruction & Study - Composition, Music, Songbooks - Popular, Songs, Texts, Music / General
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