"Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)"

"Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)"
Name	Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)
Artist	Cole Porter
Written	1928
Published	1928
Genre	Popular song, Show tune, Jazz standard
Writer	Cole Porter

"Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)" is a popular song written by Cole Porter for the 1928 musical Paris. It became one of Porter's signature works and a widely recorded jazz standard, embraced by artists across Tin Pan Alley, Broadway, and Hollywood circles. The song's urbane lyricism and memorable melody contributed to Porter's reputation alongside contemporaries in the American popular songbook.

Background and Composition

Porter wrote the song while working in the milieu of Tin Pan Alley and Broadway musical theatre, contemporaneous with composers such as George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, and Lorenz Hart. The tune emerged during collaborations with producers at Florenz Ziegfeld-era companies and theatrical venues like the Shubert Organization. Porter’s text shows the satirical and worldly sensibility that links him to figures such as Noël Coward, Oscar Hammerstein II, Vernon Duke, and Jerome Kern; it reflects influences from nightclub performers including Ethel Merman, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Marian Anderson, and Josephine Baker. The song’s witty internal rhymes and cosmopolitan name-dropping align with the urbane lyrics of Irving Berlin and the harmonic sophistication of George Gershwin.

Original 1928 Recording and Release

The song premiered in the Broadway production Paris and was popularized through early recordings by artists affiliated with record labels such as Victor Talking Machine Company, Brunswick Records, and Columbia Records. Performers connected to the original era include Irving Aaronson, Bing Crosby, Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, and singer-actors from Ziegfeld Follies casts. The sheet music was circulated by publishers in Tin Pan Alley and promoted in venues like the Carnegie Hall circuit and Radio Corporation of America broadcasts. Early bandleaders such as Paul Whiteman, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, and Fletcher Henderson helped disseminate the tune in the swing and jazz repertory.

Notable Cover Versions and Recordings

The song entered the repertoires of many notable musicians and vocalists: Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday, Peggy Lee, Peggy Lee, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan, Chet Baker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Charlie Parker recorded distinctive versions. Instrumental adaptations were made by Oscar Peterson, Thelonious Monk, Art Tatum, Stan Getz, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans, and Chick Corea. Pop and crossover artists including Madonna, Bette Midler, Cher, Barbra Streisand, Eartha Kitt, Julie London, Connie Francis, Jo Stafford, Peggy Lee, and Rosemary Clooney also interpreted the number. International performers such as Yma Sumac, Burl Ives, Nina Simone, Clifford Brown, Django Reinhardt, Yves Montand, Edith Piaf, and Helmut Zacharias contributed translations, instrumental arrangements, and localized recordings.

Chart Performance and Reception

Recordings of the song made chart impressions across decades via labels like Decca Records, Capitol Records, Columbia Records, RCA Victor, and Verve Records. Singles and album appearances charted on listings such as the Billboard Hot 100, Billboard Adult Contemporary, and earlier Billboard popular song surveys, with interpretations by artists like Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, and Louis Armstrong receiving critical acclaim. Critics from publications aligned with institutions like The New York Times, The Guardian, Variety, Time, and Rolling Stone have assessed the song's lyric wit and melodic durability, often comparing Porter’s craft to that of George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, and Noël Coward.

Film, Television, and Stage Usage

The tune has been featured in motion pictures from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Warner Bros., and Paramount Pictures, performed by screen talents including Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, and Danny Kaye. Television variety programs on networks such as NBC, CBS, and ABC showcased versions by stars like Dean Martin, Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, and Ed Sullivan. Stage revivals of Porter's work in venues affiliated with Lincoln Center, Royal National Theatre, The Old Vic, and touring companies have kept the song in repertory, often alongside productions featuring performers linked to the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall.

Musical Structure and Lyrics

Harmonically the song reflects the Tin Pan Alley and early jazz idioms utilized by contemporaries like George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, and Richard Rodgers, including chromatic passing tones and II–V progressions favored by Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Thelonious Monk. The lyric’s parade of proper names and playful couplets recalls the style of Noël Coward, Irving Berlin, and Lorenz Hart, while melodic contours invite improvisation by artists in the manner of Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday. Arrangers influenced by Gordon Jenkins, Nelson Riddle, Billy May, Quincy Jones, and Giorgio Moroder have reimagined orchestration across big band, bebop, cool jazz, and pop contexts.

Legacy and Influence

The song’s enduring presence links it to the American Songbook alongside works by George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, and Lorenz Hart. It has influenced standards lists curated by institutions such as the Library of Congress, Smithsonian Institution, and Museum of Modern Art music programs, and continues to be performed by conservatory faculty and students at Juilliard School, Berklee College of Music, Royal Academy of Music, and Curtis Institute of Music. Its adaptability has informed arrangements in genres from swing and bebop to pop and film scoring, echoing the careers of artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, and Duke Ellington. Cole Porter’s composition remains a model of 20th-century songwriting craft and cultural circulation across Broadway, Hollywood, and international popular music circuits.

Category:Songs by Cole Porter