Call Me Irresponsible

Origin and use of songs

The songwriting duo Van Heusen / Cahn wrote Call Me Irresponsible, for the film Papa's Delicate Condition (1963, directed by George Marshall), in which it is presented by lead actor Jackie Gleason. Call Me Irresponsible Award for Best Song in 1964 with an Oscar.

Cahn recalled: With the emergence of the song lyricist Cahn asked his partner Jimmy Van Heusen, " What do you think the title 'Call Me Irresponsible '? Van Heusen as always said: What do you mean by ' the title '? I said, Call me irresponsible, call me undependable, toss in unreliable, too.. . . Van Heusen Create five minutes at the ceiling, before creating the melody with one finger. The title irresponsible came directly from the film script; the expression formed the cadence of the lyrics, which at the same time formed the structure of the song ":

"Because the cadence of these three lines was a little stiff because of the use of fünfsilbigen words, we went from then on to a broader lyrics and melodic line about":

Call me irresponsible,

Cahn turned to Van Heusen and suggested to replace undependable and unreliable at the beginning, as undependable then no longer vorkäme; " So we had unreliable that beats undeniably, and gave a graceful sound. He understood, and the song was finished. "

First recordings and cover versions

Jackie Gleason recorded the song on his Capitol album Movie Themes for Lovers Only, in which he was accompanied by a string orchestra and jazz musicians such as Pee Wee Erwin and Charlie Ventura. Call Me Irresponsible was taken in the 1960s by numerous musicians, including tex Beneke, Julie London, Sarah Vaughan, Jack Jones, Frank Sinatra, Andy Williams, Dinah Washington, Joe Mooney, The Four Freshmen, Steve Allen, Nancy Wilson, Joe Pass, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Sweets Edison, George Shearing, Ahmad Jamal, Henry Mancini and later successfully by Michael Bublé. Tom Lord lists 64 cover versions of the title