Tra-la-la
"Tra-la-la" is a song composed by George and Ira Gershwin for the 1922 Broadway show For Goodness Sake, produced by frequent Gershwin collaborator Alex A. Aarons. It was published by T. B. Harms & [Francis, Day & Hunter, Inc.|Harms, Inc.], with lyrics credited to "Arthur Francis," the pseudonym that Ira Gershwin used through 1923.
The song was one of four Gershwin contributions in For Goodness Sake, which is the first show to feature the Gershwins' work along with Fred and Adele Astaire. Edward Jablonski considered "Tra-la-la" to be "the show's best Gershwin song," which was sung not by the Astaires, "not yet full-fledged stars," but rather the leads, Marjorie Gateson and John E. Hazzard. Howard Pollack reports that the character of Count Spinagio also sang in the number; the Broadway Database">Broadway theatre">Broadway Database says it was sung by all three characters and the ensemble. Pollack wrote that the song was cut before the Broadway opening, which occurred on 20 February 1922, but the other secondary literature does not indicate the song was dropped. It was possibly cut during the Broadway run.
Richard Crawford wrote of the song: "Few, if any, Gershwin songs are as square-cut as this one. At the same time, his usual attention to harmony and voice-leading is revealed—in the verse's descending chromatic line of whole notes in the accompaniment's middle voice, in the refrain bass line's firm melodic shape, and in the clarity of the overall harmonic plan."
Ira Gershwin revised the lyric for the 1951 Academy Award-winning film An [American in Paris (film)|An American in Paris], in which it was listed as "Tra-la-la ." Ira was pleased with the film and, leading up to its premiere, wrote: "Some of the songs like 'By Strauss,' 'Love Is Here to Stay,' 'Tra-La-La' and a couple of others aren't well known but will be easy to take." Jablonski and Lawrence D. Stewart wrote that the "spirited song" was "rewritten to good advantage." Howard Pollack noted that Ira "took advantage" of the song's previous "obscurity by reviving it as a duet for the love-smitten Jerry Mulligan and his cynical friend Adam Cook Although Kelly performed the number—sounding impressively fresh for 1951—with his inimitable bonhomie, one missed the fine integration of the earlier lyric—which concerned singing away one's troubles, not falling in love—with Gershwin's gaily folkish music." Nathan Platte called "Tra-la-la" a "less familiar song rendered utterly charming through its performance by Adam and Jerry."