The Granddaddy of Them All

Back in the early 1980s, a television special counted down the most popular songs of the Twentieth Century. STARDUST, by Hoagy Carmichael and Mitchell Parish, was voted number one and, at that time, had been recorded by more artists than any other song. There is a legend that Parish wrote the lyrics on the cover of a matchbook, but I just don't see how that could have been possible. Below are several versions for you to enjoy.

The Original: Hoagy Carmichael and his Pals - 1927

Isham Jones - 1930. 

Bing Crosby - 1931

Glenn Miller and his Orchestra - 1940

Artie Shaw and His Orchestra - 1940

Tommy Dorsey and his  Orchestra featuring Frank Sinatra and the Pied  Pipers - 1940

Doris Day - 1952

Michael Buble - 2009

 

Let's take the lyric out of its traditional verse structure and write it as prose:
     "And now the purple dusk of twilight time steals across the meadows of my heart. High up in the sky the little stars climb, always reminding me that we're apart. You wander down the lane and far away, leaving me a song that will not die. Love is now the stardust of yesterday, the music of the years gone by.
     "Some times I wonder why I spend the lonely night dreaming of a song. The melody haunts my reverie and I am once again with you, when our love was true and each kiss an inspiration. But that was long ago, and now my consolation is in the stardust of a song."

Frank Sinatra, the best lyric interpreter ever, was in such awe of it that he recorded a 1961 arrangement that featured only the verse and omitted the chorus. ("What's a verse? What's the chorus?" We'll answer those questions later, but you'll hear Stardust's verse below.)

Frank Sinatra - 1961

Without a doubt, the most well known and perhaps best loved version of the song is the one recorded by Nat "King" Cole in 1956. 

Nat "King" Cole - 1956