Origin:

Introduced in the 1944 Paramount film And The Angels Sing.

Style:

Introduced as a ballad, the song has come to be commonly approached at medium-up tempos.

Form:

A-B1-A-B2 (32 Bars) [8-8-8-8]

Key:

Most commonly performed in Eb Major.

Harmony/Overview:

The harmony of this composition is functional and very much in line with other leading standards of its day. The A sections begin with a very common progression of passing diminished chords: I - bIIdim7 - IImi7 -  bIIIdim7. These diminished chords are interchangeable with either a V or II-V of each following chord. For instance, in the key of Eb the harmony could very well be approached instead as Ebmaj7 – C7 – Fmi7, or  alternatively Ebmaj7 – Gmi7b5 C7 – Fmi7. B1 and B2 are also highly conventional and along with the melody remain almost entirely diatonic.

Recordings:

This  song has been recorded over 390 times to date. The first recording comes form Jo Stafford with Paul Weston and his Orchestra in 1943. Miles Davis was not the first jazz musician to record this piece, although  his 1956 recording from Relaxin' was highly influential in the way generations of musicians have approached this tune since. It remains a popular standard amongst instrumentalists and vocalists alike and continues to be performed frequently to this day.

JGC Top Picks:

Miles Davis, Relaxin’ With The Miles Davis Quintet, 1956

Keith Jarrett, It Could Happen To You, 1998

Chick Corea, Trilogy, 2014