Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:24, 7 October 2006

Revision as of 19:24, 7 October 2006

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[[Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man]], a song with music by [[Jerome Kern]] and lyrics by [[Oscar Hammerstein II]], is one of the most famous songs from their classic [[1927]] [[musical play]] ''[[Show Boat]]'', adapted from [[Edna Ferber]]'s novel.

The song, written in a [[blues]] tempo, is sung in the show by several characters, but is most closely associated with the character Julie, the [[mulatto]] leading lady of the show boat "Cotton Blossom". It is Julie who is first heard singing the song - to Magnolia, the daughter of Cap'n Andy, owner of the show boat. In the musical's plot, the number is supposed to be a song familiar to African-Americans for years, and this provides one of the most dramatic moments in the show. When Queenie, the black cook, comments that it is strange that Julie knows the song because only black people sing it, Julie becomes visibly uncomfortable. Later, we learn that this is because Julie is "passing" aas white because she and her white husband are guilty of [[miscegenation]] under the state's law.

After Julie sings the song through once, Queenie chimes in with her own lyrics to it, and she is joined by her husband Joe, the black [[stevedore]] who sings ''[[Ol' Man River]]'' in the show. This is followed by Julie, Queenie, Magnolia, Joe, and the black chorus all performing a song-and-dance to the number.