"Let's Face the Music and Dance" is a song written in 1936 by Irving Berlin for the film Follow the Fleet, where it was introduced by Fred Astaire and featured in a celebrated dance duet with Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The jazz song has also been covered by various artists years following its release, including Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme, Todd Gordon and others.
Background
The song was composed and written by Irving Berlin. Berlin's repertoire of Hollywood compositions was growing at the time, as he ‘adapted’ to the trends and ideas in vogue in Hollywood. “Let’s Face the Music and Dance’s” debut as an original song for the Hollywood film, Follow the Fleet, signified the popularisation of jazz, demonstrating a notable example of jazz on the silver screen.
This jazz composition adheres to the typical conventions within the genre of jazz in the 1930s paradigm, classed as part of the ‘classical age.' “Let’s Face the Music and Dance,” having been composed in 1936, follows the syncopation and rhythmic nuance of the swing period which was dominant at the time. Berlin's conflation of swing and classical jazz cultivates an original sound which “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” presents. The influence of 1930s jazz on the song is evident in its ‘idiomatic features’ which includes the simultaneous presence of specific melodic hooks and syncopated rhythms. Such a genre allowed for flexibility in creative expression, markedly for Berlin's composition "Let’s Face the Music and Dance" in the 1936.
Inspiration and writing
Having written songs which resonated with audiences of his time, Berlin displayed a ‘chameleon-like ability’ to craft lyrics inspired by Hollywood's most prevalent and wanted ideas and values – with "Let’s Face the Music and Dance" exploring the trending feel-good, romance topic.
Berlin's lyrical acquisition is classed by critics as an art form – disparate from the poetry of ‘speculating philosophically,’ and rather broadly, exploring the conflict between poetry and lyrics.
Musical composition
"Let’s Face the Music and Dance," follows the tonal balances as most of Berlin's compositions displayed in the 1920s and 1930s. The song contains ‘a deft alternation between C minor and C major,' originally published in an Eb major key.
Such an aspect in Berlin’s composition, amongst his other work from the 1920s and 30s was classed as particularly “Jewish” by critics, particularly in Manhattan, although music critics in retrospect have shown such elements were typical for Eurocentric musical compositions for decades preceding Berlin's compositions. However, critics like Lehman saw such compositions of music by Berlin to be an ode to America and an adoption of the American cultural values, shifting away from Berlin's Jewish origins and roots.
Production
"Let’s Face the Music and Dance," debuting as part of Follow the Fleet, was a film produced by Pandro Berman and RKO Pictures; Berlin scored himself a deal with RKO Radio Picture productions that enabled him to take the reins for artistic and creative control – allowing him to produce originals such as "Let’s Face the Music and Dance."
Uses in popular culture
As music in films
In Follow the Fleet, the song served a performative function and displayed the ‘affective power of music’ as a learning curve during the filmic processes of shooting the dance to the song. The choreographer, Hermes Pan, later said of Astaire and Rogers:
The song is also used in Pennies from Heaven, where Astaire's voice is lip-synched by Steve Martin. Director Herbert Ross spoke of his decision in featuring “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” for Pennies from Heaven, saying, “It [Berlin's composition] suited the scene perfectly. I was anxious to use as lip-synch a soundtrack, instead of just recorded material. I felt that the number was the perfect dramatic choice."
The song was also used in a celebrated Morecambe and Wise sketch involving newsreader Angela Rippon.
Thomas Newman composed an inspired rendition of Berlin's original “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” for the final party scene in the 1998 film, Meet Joe Black, with the arrangement being the 15th track on the film's soundtrack.
In 2000, Kenneth Branagh used the song in his adaptation of Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost, which added other contemporary songs to the play, as a love letter to classic film musicals.
In 2016's animated film, Sing, Seth MacFarlane’s rendition of Berlin’s composition features as a performance by his animated character, Mike.