That Mysterious Rag
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"That Mysterious Rag" is a song by Irving Berlin and Ted Snyder written in 1911.[1] It was one of the earliest Berlin songs to become a commercial success[2] with recordings by Arthur Collins & Albert Campbell and by the American Quartet being very popular in 1912.[3]
Composition
According to Howard Pollack in a biography of George Gershwin, "That Mysterious Rag" was one of a trio of songs written by Berlin in 1911 that revolutionized American popular music, the others being "Alexander's Ragtime Band" and "Everybody's Doin' It".[4] Until the publication of this song ragtime had been so distinctively an African-American musical genre that the occasional rag whose lyrics and cover art indicated some other ethnicity would focus instead on some other marginalized group (usually Jewish or Italian) and apply the dichotomy toward comic effect.[5] With "That Mysterious Rag", notes Irving Berlin biographer Charles Hamm, ragtime music first sees cover art of a fashionably dressed white couple and lyrics that lack distinctive ethnic markers in dialect or syntax.[5]
- Did you hear it? Were you near it?
- If you weren't then you've yet to fear it;
- Once you've met it you'll regret it,
- Just because you never will forget it.[6]
The American Quartet recorded the piece in a generic accent.[5] The musical structure also avoids characteristic ethnic overtones. As Hamm explains:
There is no trace of syncopation beyond a single 3+3+2 pattern in the chorus, no minor tonality, no reference to one ethnic group or another. The most arresting moment, the cross-relation at the beginning of the verse, has no specific ethnic (or any other) connotation.[5]
"That Mysterious Rag" is the first instance of a change that Berlin employs consistently from 1912 onward: a generic style lacking in specific ethnic connotations whose audience is no longer solely the working class, but whose reach includes patrons of the legitimate theater.[5] Berlin continued to use rag and ragtime in song titles during the period when the terms were nearly synonymous with popular music.[5] Although Berlin's compositions differed significantly from classic piano rags by Scott Joplin and other African-American composers, Hamm contends that Berlin's work targeted a different audience and the commercial success of Berlin songs such as "That Mysterious Rag" neither helped nor hindered the sales of piano rags.[5] Or as Richard Crawford explains, "That Mysterious Rag" recognizes the style's haunting, distracting traits and removes it from a racial setting.[7] Crawford finds other faults with the lyrical structure: It would be hard to find another Berlin song with one-syllable words so awkwardly stretched or natural declamation so bent out of shape.[7]
Performance and reception
Berlin performed the piece during September 1911 wearing a coat and tails, receiving star billing at the Hammerstein Victoria Theatre owned by Willie Hammerstein at Times Square.[8] Berlin refused calls for encores and received a favorable review from Variety.[8] Erik Satie used "That Mysterious Rag" in 1917 for his ballet Parade.[4] The song remained popular for more than a decade.
References
- ^ "That Mysterious Rag (bibliographic notes)". Duke University. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
- ^ David Ward (1973). T. S. Eliot Between Two Worlds: A Reading of T. S. Eliot's Poetry and Plays. Routledge. pp. 99. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
That Mysterious Rag TS Eliot.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 591. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
- ^ a b Howard Pollack (2006). George Gershwin: His Life and Work. University of California Press. pp. 47–48. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
That Mysterious Rag.
- ^ a b c d e f g S. Charles Hamm (1997). Irving Berlin. Oxford University Press US. pp. 86–92. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
I Want to go back to Michigan Irving Berlin.
- ^ ""That Mysterious Rag" (sheet music)". Ted Snyder Co., Music Publishers. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- ^ a b Richard Crawford (2001). America's Musical Life: A History. W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 550–551. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
That Mysterious Rag.
- ^ a b Laurence Bergreen (1996). As Thousands Cheer: The Life of Irving Berlin. Da Capo Press. pp. 74–75. ISBN 9780786752522. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
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Theatre |
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Film |
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- "Alexander's Ragtime Band"
- "All Alone"
- "All by Myself"
- "All of My Life"
- "Always"
- "Any Bonds Today?"
- "Anything You Can Do"
- "At the Devil's Ball"
- "The Best Thing for You (Would Be Me)"
- "Blue Skies"
- "Change Partners"
- "Cheek to Cheek"
- "Count Your Blessings"
- "A Couple of Swells"
- "Daddy, Come Home"
- "Doin' What Comes Natur'lly"
- "Easter Parade"
- "Follow the Crowd"
- "For Your Country and My Country"
- "Get Thee Behind Me Satan"
- "The Girl That I Marry"
- "God Bless America"
- "Goodbye, France"
- "Happy Holiday"
- "Heat Wave"
- "Heaven Watch the Philippines"
- "How About Me?"
- "How Deep Is the Ocean?"
- "How's Chances?"
- "I Got Lost in His Arms"
- "I Got the Sun in the Mornin' (and the Moon at Night)"
- "I Love a Piano"
- "I Never Had a Chance"
- "I Used to Be Color Blind"
- "I Want To Go Back To Michigan"
- "I'm an Indian Too"
- "I'm Gonna Pin My Medal on the Girl I Left Behind"
- "I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket"
- "I've Got My Captain Working for Me Now"
- "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm"
- "Isn't This a Lovely Day?"
- "It's a Lovely Day Today"
- "It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow"
- "Lazy"
- "Let Yourself Go"
- "Let's All Be Americans Now
- "Let's Face the Music and Dance"
- "Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee"
- "Let's Take an Old-Fashioned Walk"
- "Mandy"
- "Moonshine Lullaby"
- "My Defenses Are Down"
- "The Near Future"
- "No Strings (I'm Fancy Free)"
- "Now It Can Be Told"
- "Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning"
- "Play a Simple Melody"
- "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody"
- "Puttin' On the Ritz"
- "Reaching for the Moon"
- "Remember"
- "San Francisco Bound"
- "Say It Isn't So"
- "Say It with Music"
- "Someone Else May Be There While I'm Gone"
- "Sisters"
- "Slumming on Park Avenue"
- "The Song Is Ended (but the Melody Lingers On)"
- "Stay Down Here Where You Belong"
- "Steppin' Out with My Baby"
- "Supper Time"
- "That International Rag"
- "That Mysterious Rag"
- "There's No Business Like Show Business"
- "They Say It's Wonderful"
- "They Were All Out of Step But Jim"
- "This Year's Kisses"
- "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails"
- "What'll I Do"
- "When I Lost You"
- "White Christmas"
- "Who Do You Love, I Hope?"
- "With You"
- "You Can Have Him"
- "You Can't Get a Man with a Gun"
- "You Keep Coming Back Like a Song"
- "You'd Be Surprised"
- "You're Just in Love"
- "You're Laughing at Me"
- Ellin Berlin (wife)
- Mary Ellin Barrett (daughter)