Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most

"Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most" (1955) is a popular song with lyrics by Fran Landesman, "the poet laureate of lovers and losers," set to music by Tommy Wolf. The title is a jazz rendition of the opening line of T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land, "April is the cruellest month".[1] The song describes how somebody feels sad and depressed despite all the good things associated with spring.[2]

The song was featured in the 1959 Broadway musical The Nervous Set, but was written in 1955 before this musical and was incorporated into it.

Collaboration

Tommy Wolf was a pianist, composer, arranger, and musical director who met Fran Landesman while she was sitting in the bar of the Crystal Palace, a night club in St. Louis. Wolf was on the bandstand playing. This experience inspired her to begin writing song lyrics and in 1952 Wolf began setting her lyrics to music. More Landesman–Wolf collaborations followed, including the melodies for the songs for the Broadway musical The Nervous Set.

Notable recordings

Jackie Cain and Roy Kral – Storyville Presents Jackie & Roy (1955)[3]
Ella Fitzgerald – Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie! (1961)[3]
Stan Getz – Reflections (1963)[3]
Hampton Hawes and Martial Solal – Key for Two (1968)[3]
Carmen McRae – Bittersweet (1964)[3]
Mark Murphy – Rah! (1961)[3]
Betty Carter – The Audience with Betty Carter (1979)[3]

References

Martin, Douglas. "Fran Landesman, Lyricist With a Bittersweet Edge, Dies at 83". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/923844/Ella+Fitzgerald/Spring+Can+Really+Hang+You+up+the+Most
Gioia, Ted (2012). The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire. New York City: Oxford University Press. p. 394. ISBN 978-0-19-993739-4.

External links

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[1] Martin, Douglas. "Fran Landesman, Lyricist With a Bittersweet Edge, Dies at 83". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 23 June 2018.

[2] ttps://www.lyrics.com/lyric/923844/Ella+Fitzgerald/Spring+Can+Really+Hang+You+up+the+Most

[standards-3] Gioia, Ted (2012). The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire. New York City: Oxford University Press. p. 394. ISBN 978-0-19-993739-4.