The song of the day for Saturday, May 25, 2013 is “House of Flowers.”

About This Song

From the musical of the same name, “House of Flowers” was written by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Truman Capote. House of Flowers opened on Broadway in 1954. Itl was based on the short story by Truman Capote, who also wrote the book and lyrics.

House of Flowers is set in Haiti in a brothel. A wealthy man has taken a fancy to one of young women who works there. She, however, loves a young man from her village. The song “House of Flowers” is sung by the young man to ask her to come and live with him, even though he is poor.

About This Version

Today’s song comes from Tony Bennett’s composer songbook album: Tony Bennett Sings a String of Harold Arlen, released in 1960. The album was orchestrated by Glenn Osser and featured a lush string orchestra. Bennett notes in The Good Life that the orchestra consisted of mainly classical musicians and that they enjoyed the recording session for this album. He said “That’s the only album I ever made where the musicians actually applauded after each take.”

http://open.spotify.com/track/3gWTyg0n84yQRWrECxqJBG
“House of Flowers,” as well as the remastered Tony Bennett Sings a String of Harold Arlen, is available from iTunes.