Night & Day – Everything but the girl
I was brought up in a Richard Burton reading ‘Under Milk Wood’, a Bizet’s ‘Au fond du temple saint’ and most importantly a Frank Sinatra singing anything household. The Chairman of the Board was never too far away from Mum’s turntable. And even though she was convinced he was vocally at his peak in his Columbia years, his phrasing was deemed unsurpassable throughout his whole career. However, I was never quite sure how he fitted into my expanding musical world. I mean ok The Pistols covered ‘My Way’ but that was shit. Joe Strummer never referenced him, nor did Weller or Pete Shelley. True Ian Curtis was urged to listen to him by Tony Wilson but overall Ol’ Blue Eyes was nowhere near the centre of the radar…
… Punk begat New Wave, New Wave split into Post-Punk, Mod, 2-tone/Ska, the hits and genre splits kept coming. All the while, staunch indie label Cherry Red had picked up two interesting solo artists, one male and one female, both of whom happen to be going to study at Hull University. The label hit on the idea of getting them to record a couple of tracks together as a way of cross promoting each other. So, Ben Watt & Tracey proceeded to record ‘Feeling Dizzy’ b/w ‘On my mind’. Their mix of folky pop with subtle jazz guitar was a good blend. Legend has it that they had a spare 15 minutes at the recording session, so they conjured up a minimalist version of the Cole Porter classic that Frank Sinatra had made his own ‘Night & Day’. The two originals were now a double B-side and a new A-side was ready to storm the charts.
Everything but the girl’s version took the sound of Sinatra from big band to bedsit and it worked a treat. The moment I heard it I was hooked, their almost forlorn rendition brought my musical worlds together (not for the first or last time) and ever since, I’ve held this version close to my heart. The fact that I even ended up buying a 1962 Gretsch Clipper (like Ben’s), in an effort to get that student digs jazz guitar sound is testimony a) to the songs enduring influence on me and b) to my misplaced sense of my own ability.
It's influence also shines through in my 2019 musical project The Butterfly House – ‘From the Wish Tower…’ to such an extent that I managed to shoehorn the part line “…traffic’s boom” into the very heavily EBTG influenced ‘Jazz Song’. (Still available here and via I-tunes, Spotify etc).
Night and day you are the one
Only you beneath the moon and under the sun
Whether near to me or far
No matter, darling, where you are
I think of you night and day
Day and night
Why is it so
That this longing for you follows wherever I go
In the roaring traffic's boom
In the silence of my lonely room
I think of you night and day
Night and day, deep in the heart of me
There's an oh such a hungry yearning burning inside of me
And this torment won't be through
'Til you let me spend my life making love to you
Day and night, night and day
Night and day, deep in the heart of me
There's an oh such a hungry yearning burning inside of me
And this torment won't be through
'Til you let me spend my life making love to you
Day and night (night and day)
This torment won't be through (night and day)
Until I spend my life with you (night and day)
Day and night (night and day)
Day and night (night and day)
Day and night (night and day)
Day and night
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: חוטר מיכל / Porter,cole
Night and Day lyrics © Wb Music Corp., Touch Music
