I Get Along Without You Very Well by Daniel Michael (P.52.S)

Week #16: "I Get Along Without You Very Well (Except Sometimes)" was written by Hoagy Carmichael in 1938. The lyrics were based on a poem by Jane Brown Thompson entitled "Except Sometimes". The poem was published in 1924 in Life magazine. A friend of Carmichael's saw the poem and gave it to Carmichael, who apparently put it in a drawer and forgot about it for a decade before re-discovering it and falling in love with its sentiment. Carmichael then painstakingly rewrote and added to the poem and crafted it into this song. The publishing of this song is actually a very interesting story in itself, which you can read here. Personally, I think these are some of the best crafted lyrics among the standards.

The first recording of this song that I recall hearing is Chet Baker's, whose voice seems designed for songs like this. Then, of course, there is Billie Holiday's version, recorded in 1958, a year prior to her death. Holiday's voice deteriorated in many ways in her later years, yet her ability to sing and interpret remained incredibly powerful, and I think that her later life recordings constitute some of her greatest work. Along all recordings of this song after 1940 treat it as a ballad, due to the ironic longing of the lyrics. However, when I listened to the earliest recordings of the song, it was more of a dance tune. I certainly wouldn't say the song works better this way, but I decided to try something a little more upbeat in my recording as well. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for listening!