2 Jenny songs

TWO JENNY SONGS
THE SAGA OF JENNY

"The Saga of Jenny" is one of the songs from the 1941 Broadway musical, Lady in the Dark, the first musical to use psychoanalysis (Freudian analysis) as a subject. Jenny is confused and decides to be "analyzed" to get to the bottom of her conflicts. The music was by Kurt Weil, a great German composer who came to America and quickly adapted to the American idiom, changing his musical style from the angular tunes with German co-writer Bertolt Brecht to the more rounded melodies suitable to the American public. Probably his two most famous songs are "Mack the Knife," written for the German "opera" (more like a musical), The Three Penny Opera, and "September Song," written in America in an entirely different musical idiom. "Mack the Knife" became enormously popular in the US in recordings by numerous singers such as Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and Louis Armstrong--all legendary artists. But it was Bobby Darin's recording that sold the most copies in a memorable vocal and arrangement. Ira Gershwin was lyric partner of brother George Gershwin's music. George Gershwin has often been acclaimed as America's greatest concert composer (An American in Paris, Rhatpsoy in Blue, Concerto in F, Porgy and Bess) but he also dominated both the Broadway stage and the silver screen with music for numerous scores co-written with brother, Ira. When George died at the young age of 39 from a brain tumor, Ira, after a period of mourning, continued his career with other composers, including Harold Arlen and, in this case, Kurt Weil.

Jenny made her mind up when she was three
She herself was going to trim the Christmas tree
Christmas Eve she lit the candles, tossed the tapers away
Little Jenny was an orphan on Christmas day

Poor Jenny, bright as a penny
Her equal would be hard to find
She lost one dad and mother, a sister and a brother,
But she would make up her mind

Jenny made her mind up when she was twelve
That into foreign languages she would delve
But at seventeen to Vassar, it was quite a blow
That in twenty-seven languages she couldn't say no
Poor Jenny, bright as a penny
Her equal would be hard to find
To Jenny I'm beholden, her heart was big and golden
But she would make up her mind

Jenny made her mind up at twenty-two
To get herself a husband was the thing to do
She got herself all dolled up in her satins and furs
And she got herself a husband--but he wasn't hers

Poor Jenny, bright as a penny
Her equal would be hard to find
Deserved a bed of roses, but history discloses
That she would make up her mind

Jenny made her mind up at fifty-one
She would write her memoirs before she was done
The very day her book was published, history relates,
There were wives who shot their husbands in some thirty-three states

Jenny made her mind up at seventy-five
She would live to be the oldest woman alive
But gin and rum and destiny play funny tricks,
And poor Jenny kicked the bucket at seventy-six
Jenny points a moral with which you cannot quarrel,
Makes a lot of common sense--
Jenny and her saga prove that you're gaga
If you don't keep sitting on the fence

Jenny and her story point the way to glory
To all man and womankind
Anyone with vision comes to this decision--
Don't make up your mind

JENNIFER ECLES

This was a 1968 hit by the British Rock band, The Hollies. It reached #20 in the US Billboard charts.

White chalk, written on red brick.
Our love, told in a heart.
It's there, drawn in the playground.
Love, kiss, hate or adore.

I love Jennifer Eccles.
I know that she loves me.
I love Jennifer Eccles.
I know that she loves me.

La la la la la la la
la la la la la la.
La la la la la la la
la la la la la la.

I used to carry her satchels.
She used to walk by my side.
But when we got to her doorstep,
her dad wouldn't let me inside.

One Monday morning, found out I'd made the grade.
Started me thinking, had she done the same?

verse 2

verse 4

I hope Jennifer Eccles
is going to follow me there.
Our love is bound to continue.
Love, kiss, hate or adore. Singing,

chorus x2

verse 2

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