THE SONG
Someone to Watch Over Me composed by The Gershwins in 1926 from the musical Oh Kay
This is an absolute classic of a song. In fact it’s one of the greatest songs I’ve ever heard. There are many version of it recorded and it’s hard to know which is best; this is a tribute to an amazing song that has a simplicity and beauty that makes it a classic almost a hundred years after it was written.
Ella Fitzgerald
Frank Sinatra
The movie intro
There's a saying old
Says that love is blind -
Still we're often told,
"Seek and ye shalI find."
So I'm going to seek
A certain lad I've had in mind.
Looking everywhere,
Haven't found him yet;
He's the big affair
I cannot forget.
Only man I ever
Think of with regret.
I'd like to add his initials to my monogram.
Tell me, where is the shepherd for this lost
lamb.
There's a somebody I'm longing to see
I hope that he
Turns out to be
Someone who'll watch over me.
I'm a little lamb who's lost in the wood.
I know I could
Always be good
To one who'll watch over me.
Although he may not be the man some
Girls think of as handsome
To my heart he carries the key.
Won't you telI him please to put on some
speed -
Follow my lead -
Oh! How I need
Someone to watch over me.
Someone to watch over me–G.Gershwin & I Gershwin
Says that love is blind -
Still we're often told,
"Seek and ye shalI find."
So I'm going to seek
A certain lad I've had in mind.
Looking everywhere,
Haven't found him yet;
He's the big affair
I cannot forget.
Only man I ever
Think of with regret.
I'd like to add his initials to my monogram.
Tell me, where is the shepherd for this lost
lamb.
There's a somebody I'm longing to see
I hope that he
Turns out to be
Someone who'll watch over me.
I'm a little lamb who's lost in the wood.
I know I could
Always be good
To one who'll watch over me.
Although he may not be the man some
Girls think of as handsome
To my heart he carries the key.
Won't you telI him please to put on some
speed -
Follow my lead -
Oh! How I need
Someone to watch over me.
Someone to watch over me–G.Gershwin & I Gershwin
THE MOVIE
Someone to watch over me is possibly Ridley Scott's most neglected movie. It's a bridge between his Sci -Fi masterpieces, Period drama and fantasy outings and Black Rain and Thelma & Louise, in the sense that it's his first film set in the modern day 'real world'. Tom Berenger, who was hot from Platoon and Mimi Rodgers (a fine actress) play out what is essentially a love story wrapped up in a thriller. It also features Lorraine Bracco and Jerry Orbach who are also excellent actors. It's a relatively conventional movie in terms of plot but gives an insight into Scott's attempts at more humanistic smaller scale movies. It is a highly stylised movie, as you would expect from Scott, but is efficient in its story telling. Unfortunately it did not do well at the box office and was not a springboard for Berenger to achieve major stardom.
It remains an interesting episode in the career of one of modern cinema's most gifted directors and is well worth re-viewing.
It features the title song twice; performed by Sting at the start and a lovely rendition from Roberta Flack at the end.
FRASIER
Someone to watch over me is also the title of one of my favourite episodes of one of my favourite shows; Frasier. In this great episode the ever vain Frasier believes that he has a stalker and therefore hires a bodyguard. It’s a classic episode of farce, misunderstanding and jumping to conclusions and features all of the cast members on top form. From Roz’s vanity, Bulldogs machismo to Martin’s sarcasm and Niles’ pomposity it’s comedy gold
Frasier
