Swing on a Star

Swing on a Star. The vocalists singing with Crosby were the Williams Brothers, including Andy Williams. Andy also dubbed singing for Lauren Bacall in at least one film. Andy was very young, and between his high register and Bacall’s throaty quality, it worked. This was composed by Jimmy Van Heusen, with lyrics by Johnny Burke, for Bing Crosby to perform in the 1944 film Going My Way. Van Heusen and Crosby were discussing the film during dinner at Crosby’s home, when the crooner quipped to one of his children, “If you don’t go to school, you might grow up to be a mule. Do you wanna do that?” Van Heusen thought it would make a great lyric and brought it to Burke, who wrote the song around it. This beat out ten other songs that were in the running for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, including “The Trolley Song,” a famous number performed by Judy Garland in Meet Me in St. Louis. Van Heusen and Burke wrote several other songs together, including standards like “Imagination,” “It Could Happen To You” and “Polka Dots and Moonbeams,” among many others. Partnered with lyricist Sammy Cahn, Van Heusen was a frequent composer for Frank Sinatra, penning hits like “All The Way,” “My Kind of Town,” “High Hopes,” “Call Me Irresponsible,” and “(Love Is) a Tender Trap.” Sinatra would also cover “Swinging on a Star” for his 1964 album Sinatra Sings Days of Wine and Roses, Moon River, and Other Academy Award Winners, in an arrangement by Nelson Riddle. Burke worked as a lyricist for Paramount Pictures and contributed to 25 of Bing Crosby’s films, spawning many hits, including the title song from the 1936 musical Pennies From Heaven. The title was borrowed for a 1995 musical revue about the life of Johnny Burke. Rosemary Clooney covered this on her 1978 tribute to Bing Crosby, Rosie Sings Bing. Tony Bennett also included the track on his 1998 album, The Playground. This was parodied in one of Gary Larson’s Far Side comic strips, when a man unfortunately answers an affirmative to Crosby’s question “Or would you rather be a pig?” Big Dee Irwin and Little Eva hit #38 on the pop chart with their cover in 1963. This was featured in the Little Lulu cartoon “A Bout with a Trout,” in 1947, when Lulu decides to skip school to go fishing. Bing Crosby’s face appears inside of a star during the scene, along with Bob Hope and comedian/composer Jerry Colonna each appearing in their own star.