Almost Like Being In Love

Album: Portrait of Sinatra: Columbia Classics (1947)
Charted: 20
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "Almost Like Being In Love" is arguably the outstanding song from the 1947 Alan Jay Lerner/Frederick Loewe musical Brigadoon, and is certainly the most widely recorded.

    In the 1954 film version it is performed by Gene Kelly in the presence of his fellow game hunter, who looks almost as perplexed as the highland cattle and the pig to whom the song is also addressed. Unsurprisingly, Kelly also dances, and this particular routine is far from dissimilar from the one he performed two years earlier in Singin' In The Rain, albeit without the umbrella.

    "Almost Like Being In Love" has also been recorded by Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and Cliff Richard, among others. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alexander Baron - London, England
  • Frank Sinatra was one of the first artists to record this in 1947 and also had the highest chart position at #20.
  • Before hitting the Broadway stage, Lerner and Loewe's musical premiered in New Haven, Connecticut, on Groundhog Day in 1947. Coincidentally, Nat King Cole's version of the song closes the 1993 movie Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell. After enduring the same day over and over again, Murray's character finally wakes up to a new day. He kisses MacDowell as Cole beings crooning, "What a day this has been..." His version was also used in the 1995 comedy Grumpier Old Men, starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau.
  • According to Mark Steyn's A Song for the Season, Brigadoon's choreographer, Agnes de Mille, told Lerner and Loewe to cut the song from the show. de Mille's name was backed by a lot of star power beyond her own illustrious career as a dancer and choreographer. She came from a prominent showbiz family that included hotshot Hollywood directors - her dad, William C. de Mille, and her uncle, Cecil B. DeMille (who would direct the classic Sunset Boulevard a few years later). Lerner and Loewe were unfazed and, thankfully, kept it in.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Oliver Leiber

Oliver LeiberSongwriter Interviews

Oliver Leiber talks about writing and producing hits for Paula Abdul, and explains his complicated relationship with his father, the songwriter Jerry Leiber.

Tom Johnston from The Doobie Brothers

Tom Johnston from The Doobie BrothersSongwriter Interviews

The Doobies guitarist and lead singer, Tom wrote the classics "Listen To The Music," "Long Train Runnin'" and "China Grove."

Stephen Christian of Anberlin

Stephen Christian of AnberlinSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer/lyricist for Anberlin breaks down "Impossible" and covers some tracks from their 2012 album Vital.

Sarah Brightman

Sarah BrightmanSongwriter Interviews

One of the most popular classical vocalists in the land is lining up a trip to space, which is the inspiration for many of her songs.

Robert DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots

Robert DeLeo of Stone Temple PilotsSongwriter Interviews

Stone Temple Pilots bass player Robert DeLeo names the songs that have most connected with fans and tells the stories behind tracks from their Tiny Music album.

Benny Mardones

Benny MardonesSongwriter Interviews

His song "Into The Night" is one of the most-played of all time. For Benny, it took him to hell and back.