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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZGERSHWIN, Ira(b Israel Gershvin, 6 Dec. 1896, NYC; d 17 Aug. '85) Lyricist who became famous working with his brother George (see above). Called Izzy when he was a child, for many years he thought his real name was Isadore. Until he proved himself he used the name Arthur Francis; then he began working with George and had a unique talent of his own, again and again marrying unforgettable words to his brother's music. For example, in 'They All Laughed' '37 (for film Shall We Dance?) George had written a phrase of ten notes followed by seven, then begins to repeat, but the second phrase of ten notes is followed by only one: Ira's lyric goes: 'They all laughed at Christopher Columbus/When he said the world was round/They all laughed when Edison recorded/Sound.' A perfect partner for George, with Lorenz Hart and Cole Porter Ira was a master of witty polysyllabic rhyming, sometimes asymmetric or even apocopated: when Ira read about a rhyme in which the end of one rhyming word is cut off, he realized that he'd already done it in 'Looking For A Boy' '25 (in show 'Tip-Toes) when he rhymed 'way' with 'saying'. Lyrics are not poetry; it is the combination of words and music that makes them work, a sort of magic that could perhaps be practised only by a generation that grew up talking, shouting and singing in the street, before radio jingles and TV adverts, inspired by W. S. Gilbert (see Gilbert and Sullivan) and ultimately by the poet Byron, whose verse often ignored word-breaks and punctuation. Ira was broken-hearted by his brother's early death, but carried on as one of the great lyricists; he collaborated with Jerome Kern ('Long Ago And Far Away'), Harold Arlen ('The Man That Got Away'), Vernon Duke ('I Can't Get Started'), etc and spent his later years looking after George's estate. |