Ella Fitzgerald – Blue Skies Lyrics

While Irving Berlin is credited with the creation of “Blue Skies” in 1926, it is a multitude of covers sung by various (and varying) artists that have become responsible for the Betsy composition’s popularity outside of the world of musicals. These performers range from Maxine Sullivan to Thelonius Monk, and from The Les Paul Trio to Star Trek’s Commander Data:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MuRHFDsxvA

Each of these covers usually deviate from the original in some respects. There are multiple versions of lyrics to the song, instrumental allocation and improvisation can widely shift, and sometimes prolonged scats are added. The latter is what draws most attention to Ella Fitzgerald’s rendition, helping hear earn a Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance, Female in 1958.

Sources used in annotations:

Deleuze, Gilles and Félix Guattari. Capitalism and Schizophrenia, vol. II: A Thousand Plateaus. Trans. Brian Massurni. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1987. Print.

Young, Kevin. The Grey Album: On the Blackness of Blackness. Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2012. Print.