The fourty-fifth song: They Can't Take That Away From Me - Fred Astaire
Moving further into movie songs, our initial worry was that we picked up the instrumental version - it certainly gives the movie time to set up the song itself. The song feels less swingy than later covers, but the sentiment is still there - the book calls it callback to a more romantic era, and it feels that way. It's sweet without being over the top, which is certainly what suits the mood.
The fourty-sixth song: Dust My Broom - Elmore James
Back to blues, this is agood song in the genre. It sounds good, seems to have decent lyrics going, and certainly feels like the innovation happening at the time... it's also not a song that I can say more notable things about, other than that this might have had our first electric guitar.
The fourty-seventh song: Foi Deus - Amalia Rodrigues
Something quite different, moving to a more operatic style in this Portugese fado (folk-like) song. It's not as melancholic as you'd expect, some happiness - or at least optimism - showing through in the music.
The fourty-eighth song: Le Gorille - Georges Brassens
I realise I'm missing out on the meaning of the song as my French is too rusty to keep up, but the mocking tone of the song (originally aimed at World War II war camp guards, but now at authority figures in general) shines through. It's with a wink, anarchic, and even the single guitar with voice, not quite level or trained, adds to the effect, sounding like everything is sung off the cuff.
The fourty-ninth song: Singin' in the Rain - Gene Kelly
Probably one of the most famous songs we'll be covering so far, the song is probably better than the movie the recording comes from (it had featured elsewhere before). There's joy in it, fun and entertainment, and some of the sections are pretty well known by now. Some of the bridges - clearly intended for dance sequences we can't see - feel a bit unnecessary to be included here, but that's more a consequence of this being from a movie's soundtrack.
The fiftieth song: Just Walkin' in the Rain - The Prisonaires
Not sure whether these two songs were placed together in the list on purpose. They certainly sound different, this being a slow ballad (sung by a group of Tennessee prisoners, hence the name). It's quiet and slow, but sounds very good together.
The fifty-first song: Please Love Me - B. B. King
Another electric guitar comes in on this R&B song, the oddness here being that the music is approaching rock music sounds, while the vocals stick with something closer to a blues style. It looks good, but sounds odd to my modern ears.
The fifty-second song: Crying in the Chapel - The Orioles
This gospel song feels like it draws out the tears early on. It pulls on the lyrics, coming out slowly with acoustic support from the other singers. Bells and bass come in later, but the real strength comes from these singers, creating a melodic sound that doesn't really get you down, but tug at a certain string while still keeping something good in there.