Welcome to the American Songbook
- Suzanne Roche
- Nov 5
- 4 min read
At Songbook Ink, we’re completely obsessed with the Great American Songbook. You know, those songs where composers managed to rhyme “Niagara” with “aggravate” and used words like "gossamer" and "swell."
There’s something magical about lyrics that sum up love affairs with perfect imagery: happy ones like flying to the moon to play among the stars, and failed ones like the end of a Chekhov story.
Since founding Songbook Ink nine months ago, we’ve noticed blank stares in public and puzzling comments on social media when quoting our favorite lines. Maybe it’s because these songs predate smartphones, or maybe it’s because "You're the top, you're the Colosseum" isn’t exactly on the tip of everyone’s tongue anymore. Either way, it didn’t bode well.
Our translation challenge
We started with some of our favorites that are part of our collections this year. And to show these lyrics still shine, with ideas and sentiment that still ring true, we imagined sharing them to someone with zero knowledge of the Songbook. How would we explain them to someone living in their own little world, thinking and talking in their own unique language?
Specifically: how would we explain the lyrics to an alien who just landed on earth? Even trickier, how would we interpret them to a Ton (someone in a real-world Bridgerton)? And the most challenging of all: what if we tried to translate them into current-day concepts à la Taylor Swift?
So here goes:
From I Get a Kick Out of You – “I get no kick from champagne”
● To an Alien: Champagne is nice, but love is fizzier
● And a Ton: Dearest readers, it appears our heroine finds little excitement in bubbly. Will trouble now ensue?
● Then a Swifty: Bubbly drinks don’t make my heart race. Only heartbreak late at night in a car with me staring out the window and my (soon-to-be ex) boyfriend driving too fast does
From Let’s Do It – “Birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it”
● Alien: Even creatures with tiny brains manage to figure it out problems of the heart. For some reason, it’s humans that have the hardest time
● Ton: Even the birds outside your window are pairing off. And you are still single and without love at the advanced age of 22. There must be something wrong with you.
● Swifty: Literally everybody’s falling in love but me. All I do is write sad songs about it
From Just One of Those Things – “It was just one of those nights, just one of those fabulous flights”
● Alien: The night spiraled out of control, and I made questionable decisions, but I don’t regret a minute of it
● Ton: I was taking a moment for myself, having left the dance for a short stroll through the dark garden that was hidden from view and had just the smallest, flattering glow of moonlight. When who should appear but the hottest man from the dance! In moments like that, anything can happen (*blush*).
● Swifty: One of those totally normal nights where I make bad decisions
From Too Marvelous for Words – “You're much, too much and just too very, very, to ever be in Webster's Dictionary”
● Alien: There’s not enough data in the dictionary for you
● Ton: She is simply too exquisite for words, though heaven knows plenty are spoken about her
● Swifty: You’re so amazing, I’m going to write an entire album about you
From Ain’t We Got Fun – “There's nothing surer, the rich get rich and the poor get children”
● Alien: Yeah, capitalism has a weird sense of humor
● Ton: It is a truth universally whispered that the rich multiply their estates, while the rest multiply their offspring
● Swifty: The 1% gets sparkling parties, and the rest of us get heartbreak, laundry piling up, and little kids with runny noses
From But Not For Me – “With love to lead the way, I’ve found more clouds of gray, than any Russian play could guarantee”
● Alien: Humans are emotional and really screw things up when it comes to love
● Ton: Cupid steers, yet I stumble through gloom that even the bleakest tragedy would envy
● Swifty: Guess commitment's harder than you thought it would be, but then you’ve got the emotional range of a flea
From A Fine Romance – “A fine romance, with no quarrels, with no insults, and all the morals”
● Alien: Two humans like each other but never re-hash old arguments or resort to name calling. They follow all the therapist’s rules. It’s super boring.
● Ton: A most delightful liaison! It’s free of scandal and reproach, conducted with impeccable propriety, and endless accounts of a suitor complimenting our heroine’s needlework. Alas, our heroine suspects it could not last (nor would she want it to)
Swifty: Wait, you can date someone without drama? Why did I only hear about this now?
From What Is There to Say? – “What is there to say? And what is there to do? My heart's in a deadlock. I'd even face wedlock with you”
● Alien: I’ve said everything I can think of saying. I guess we should get married so I can stop talking to you.
● Ton: Alas, what more can be said? Our hero’s heart is trapped, as he has succumbed to her charm. And that, dear readers, is the end of this delightful, and utterly irresistible story
● Swifty: I’m not sure things are going to work out. But let’s get married! How could that possibly go wrong?
While we can’t be sure about extraterrestrials, here on earth it seems like life and love don’t seem to change that much. The problems are the same, the heartbreaks sting us and joys restore us, and the American Songbook still hits all the right notes (pun intended just a little bit). Proof that clever lyrics and timeless feelings hit, whether you’re from another era (or maybe even another planet).
Learn more about how we pay tribute to the Great American Songbook on everything we make at www.songbook-ink.com
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