Song of the Day: The Rules of the Road

The song of the day for Wednesday, August 31, 2016 is “The Rules of the Road.”

About This Song

“The Rules of the Road” was written in 1960 by Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh. Andy Propst, in his recent biography of Coleman, You Fascinate Me So, writes that Coleman was suffering from writer’s block during that period, when Carolyn Leigh was wanting to work on “The Rules of the Road.” When he did find his away around that block, the result was “The Rules of the Road.”

About This Version

When I lead off this month with our tribute to Cy Coleman featuring “The Rules of the Road,” I told you that it was a real favorite of mine. So much so, in fact, I’m closing out the month with the same song — different recording, though.

Today I’m featuring Bennett’s original recording from 1961 for Grammy-winning album I Left My Heart in San Francisco. Yes, there are some pretty great songs on that album! The very fine arrangement is by Ralph Burns. The first couple of measures in this recording knock my socks off.

“The Rules of the Road,” as well as I Left My Heart in San Francisco, is available from iTunes.