Uploaded May 2018 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Your correspondent is repeatedly asked whence his interest in silk dressing gowns. From London, of course, but Noel Coward originally. That literary and musical polymath, whose prodigious output extended to acting, warbling, and the writing plays, skits, novels, diaries and letters, remains peerless almost a full century after his heyday.
The "Lyrics of..." could just as easily have been "Diaries of...", "Letters of..." or "Autobiography of..." for the purpose of this review, with the manifold delights they contain. Each of these books is eminently dabbleable; but it's his lyrics that positively sing (as it were). Indeed, merely to select one for this vignette was a feat of musical engineering. How on earth to choose between "Don't Put Your Daughter on the Stage, Mrs. Worthington", "Mad Dogs and Englishmen", "A Room with a View" or "Matelot"?
Coward is as Coward was: funny, timeless and indelibly entertaining. And for those of a contemporary bent, don't miss the 21st Century interpretation of some of his classics. Published in London in 2008, that memorable - and eminently collectible - CD, entitled "Twentieth Century Blues", features the likes of Marianne Faithfull, Bryan Ferry, Sting, Robbie Williams (ex- "Take That"), and even, improbably, The Pet Shop Boys, all of whom render homage to this remarkable man in the best pop possible. (Just try "I've Been to a Marvellous Party".)
The lyrics of Noel Coward speak for themselves, but books both by and about him are endlessly fascinating, too. May his legacy long continue.
More music book reviews at:
bookreviewsandvideos.com/category/music
Your correspondent is repeatedly asked whence his interest in silk dressing gowns. From London, of course, but Noel Coward originally. That literary and musical polymath, whose prodigious output extended to acting, warbling, and the writing plays, skits, novels, diaries and letters, remains peerless almost a full century after his heyday.
The "Lyrics of..." could just as easily have been "Diaries of...", "Letters of..." or "Autobiography of..." for the purpose of this review, with the manifold delights they contain. Each of these books is eminently dabbleable; but it's his lyrics that positively sing (as it were). Indeed, merely to select one for this vignette was a feat of musical engineering. How on earth to choose between "Don't Put Your Daughter on the Stage, Mrs. Worthington", "Mad Dogs and Englishmen", "A Room with a View" or "Matelot"?
Coward is as Coward was: funny, timeless and indelibly entertaining. And for those of a contemporary bent, don't miss the 21st Century interpretation of some of his classics. Published in London in 2008, that memorable - and eminently collectible - CD, entitled "Twentieth Century Blues", features the likes of Marianne Faithfull, Bryan Ferry, Sting, Robbie Williams (ex- "Take That"), and even, improbably, The Pet Shop Boys, all of whom render homage to this remarkable man in the best pop possible. (Just try "I've Been to a Marvellous Party".)
The lyrics of Noel Coward speak for themselves, but books both by and about him are endlessly fascinating, too. May his legacy long continue.
More music book reviews at:
bookreviewsandvideos.com/category/music
