The song of the day for Tuesday, April 25, 2020, is “Lucky To Be Me.”

About Today

Today marks the anniversary of the birth of composer Leonard Bernstein, who wrote today’s song. I grew up watching The Young People’s Concerts on television. As a teenager, I saw a community theatre production of Wonderful Town and fell in love with his musicals. As an adult, I collected albums that he had composed and conducted and listen to them regularly. I think one of greatest musical evenings in my life was attending this concert in 1980 for the 80th birthday of Aaron Copland, much of which was conducted by Leonard Bernstein.

About This Song

“Lucky To Be Me” was written by Leonard Bernstein, Adolph Green, and Betty Comden 1944 musical On The Town, where it was introduced by John Battles. The song (as were most of the songs from the score) was cut from the 1949 film. My question: why bother to film a Leonard Bernstein musical when you cut the best songs, including “Some Other Time?”

About This Version

Tony Bennett and Bill Evans recorded “Lucky To Be Me” for their second album, Together Again, released in 1977.

“Lucky To Be Me,” as well as Together Again, is available from Apple Music.