Today’s song is “Too Marvelous for Words” by Ella Fitzgerald. From the trumpets to the piano to the vocals, this jazzy bop has all the good stuff!

Fun Facts

Often hailed as the “The First Lady of Song,” Ella Fitzgerald was born in Newport News, Virginia in 1917.
She sang as a child and her big break came at the age of 17 when she won an amateur night at the Apollo Theater.
By the early 1940s, Fitzgerald had recorded several hit songs, including “Love and Kisses” and “A-Tisket, A-Tasket.” It was also at this time that she signed with Decca Records.
“Too Marvelous for Words” was written in 1937 by Johnny Mercer and Richard Whiting.
The song was recorded by Bing Crosby in 1937 and was an instant chart-topper. Other notable artists who covered the song include Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Billie Holiday.
“Too Marvelous for Words” was featured as the love theme for the film Dark Passage, starring Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart. It was also used in the 1937 Warner Brothers film Ready, Willing and Able.
Ella Fitzgerald was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Ronald Reagan in 1987.
She gave her final performance at Carnegie Hall in 1991, which marked her 26th performance at the venue.

Lyrics:

You’re just too marvelous

Too marvelous for words

Like glorious, glamorous

And that old standby amorous

It’s all too wonderful

I’ll never find the words

That says enough, tell enough

I mean they just aren’t swell enough

You’re much, too much, and just too very very

To ever be in Webster’s dictionary

And so I’m borrowing a love song from the birds

To tell you that you’re marvelous

Too marvelous for words

You’re much, you’re too much

And just too very very

To ever be, to ever be in Webster’s dictionary

And so I’m borrowing a love song from the birds

To tell you that you’re marvelous

Too marvelous for words