I have a great recording of Ella Fitzgerald singing Cole Porter’s I Get a Kick Out of You. In one stanza, she sings:
Some, they may go for cocaine
I’m sure that if, I took even one sniff
It would bore me terrifically too
But I get a kick out of you
I also have two recordings of Sinatra singing the same song and in one version the lyric was sanitized to:
Some like the perfume from Spain
I’m sure that if I took even one sniff
It would bore me terrifically too
But I get a kick out of you
In the second recording, it was changed to:
Some like the bop-type refrain
I’m sure that if, I heard even one riff
It would bore me terrifically too
But I get a kick out of you
The perfume from Spain?! Give me a break! That doesn’t even make any sense. Since when is Spain known for its perfume? Unemployment, maybe. But not perfume. Porter would NEVER have written such a pedestrian line. It takes all the punch and dark glamor out of the song. I almost wish I hadn’t noticed.
This morning’s ear worm while brushing my teeth at 5:25 a.m.: The theme from The Wild Wild West. My God. What is WRONG with me?
Exile on Pain Street 
thanks. i’ll some ‘splainin’ to do in my meeting as i’m humming this bad boy all day…tv shows don’t do their own themesongs these days. maybe that’s why they fail so soon? not memorable. saw this and it made me smile…http://survivingtheworld.net/Lesson423.html
“bob-type refrain”? I’m not even sure what that means.
Daisy: I was secretly hoping to inflict that on someone else. Share the misery has been my credo for a long time.Sid: Be-bop is a type of jazz that was popular in the 50s when Sinatra recorded this. Hence, a “bop-type refrain” would be the refrain section of a be-bop song. At least, that’s my interpretation.
sanitized sinatra lyrics? damn, sugar, i wish i hadn’t read this! *sigh* but then again, there’s nothing new about censorship. re the wild, wild west theme – i thought y’all were talking about will smith’s theme for the movie! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME??? ;~D (and yes, i am old enough to remember the original tv show…*yet another deep sigh*) xoxox
Never even knew about the cocaine line. You really CAN learn something new everyday.
Every heard Dolly Parton sing it? She leaves in the cocaine lyric. Also, I used to want to marry Jim AND Artemis. I never could decide which one I liked best.
I’ve never really thought about it, but you’re right. I guess even the blue-eyed rascal had to tone things down for radio play. Crazy! The Ella version is the best anyway.