Lyrics on Several Occasions

Back in print at last, this 1959 book gives the lesser-known Gershwin brother (the one who wrote "the words") a chance not only to see his lyrics for such songs as "Embraceable You," "Someone to Watch over Me," and 102 others stand on their own, but also to tell the classic showbiz stories behind each one. Sometimes these take the form of name-dropping personal anecdotes, and sometimes they're accounts of peculiar lyric challenges and how he solved them. Gershwin reveals that the original "dummy" lyric for the tricky "I Got Rhythm" was "Roly-Poly/ Eating solely/ Ravioli/ Better watch your diet or bust." Either as showbiz memoir or pure poetry, Gershwin's book is a delight.