SONG OF THE DAY
“Is That All There Is?” by Peggy Lee (1969). Written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.
INTERESTING FACTS (a la wikipedia)
– “Is That All There Is?” is a song written by American songwriting team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller during the 1960s.
– The song was originally recorded by Dan Daniels in March 1968, then by Leslie Uggams in August 1968, Guy Lombardo in 1969, and Tony Bennett on 22 December 1969.
– Peggy Lee’s version reached #11 on the U.S. pop singles chart – becoming her first Top 40 pop hit since “Fever,” 11 years earlier – and doing even better on the adult contemporary scene, topping that Billboard chart.
– It won Lee the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and then later was named to the Grammy Hall of Fame.
– The orchestral arrangement on the song was composed by Randy Newman, who also conducted the orchestra.
– The lyrics of this existentialist song are written from the point of view of a person who is disillusioned with events in life that are supposedly unique experiences. She even explains that she’ll never kill herself because she knows that death will be a disappointment as well.
– The song was inspired by the 1896 story Disillusionment (Enttäuschung) by Thomas Mann. A dramatic adaptation of Mann’s story was recorded by Erik Bauserfeld and Bernard Mayes; it was broadcast on San Francisco radio station KPFA in 1964.
– In fact, most of the words used in the song’s chorus are taken verbatim from the narrator’s words in Mann’s story.
– This song has been covered by Chaka Khan, P.J. Harvey, Alan Price, and Bette Midler.
– This song was performed by Nathan Lane and Dianne Reeves in episode 74, season 5 (2002) of the American television series Sex and the City.