#82: Bing Crosby’s “Around the World”

26 October 1957

#1 for 5 weeks

written by Harold Adamson and Victor Young

From the refreshingly mellifluous flutes at the beginning to the cadences at the end, this slow waltz is a timeless, romantic classic that is well-sung by Bing Crosby. It’s not a complex, polyphonous song, but its magic lies in its simple yet profound message that speaks volumes about what it’s like to be a (hopeless) romantic.

We’re given a hopeful but not unrealistic view of love. From the title of both the track and the 1956 film Around the World in 80 Days that it was featured in, it’s obvious that travelling is in the package. In the movie, the protagonist, Phileas Fogg, finds his soulmate, the beautiful young widow Aouda, by accident rather than by intention. By contrast, the lyrics convey both the sense that the singer has roamed about the earth in search of a soulmate and that when they’ve found the one, they’ll see the beloved as their whole world. Other songs express similar sentiments, such as “Cindy, Oh Cindy” and “Beyond the Sea”. But whereas those two examples croon about existing lovers, the singer here is still looking for the one and open to various possibilities, which makes the song dreamier.

While the cynic may see such an ‘endpoint’ as the precursor to an unhealthy, obsessive (and even monomaniac) relationship, the goal is nonetheless a worthy one. From both fictional worlds and personal experience, even the most free-spirited lone wolves may reach the stage when they’d want to or start considering the idea of settling down with someone somewhere. Yet the paradox is that by that time we’re more worldly, we’d become older as well, and so it’ll be harder to find someone of a similar age who’s still available and shares the same goals. And with this in mind, the message of song becomes at once more real and relatable yet less attainable. The charm of the track, though, lies in the fact that the singer seems aware of this fact but still chooses to remain optimistic. Crosby’s voice is one of experience yet intentional innocence to shield both himself and his audience from disillusionment. This seems to suggest that, despite everything, there’s still hope and value in dreaming.

Another aspect of the song that inspires the imagination is its naming of various places. The film involves more countries/ cities, including Spain, India, Hong Kong (hey!), San Francisco, and the Wild West. Here, the array is smaller, but to those in the Southern Hemisphere, they are far enough to evoke romantic visions of distance. The lyrics mention country Down of Northern Ireland, the Big Apple, and London Town, and these places probably had at least two possible effects on Australians: they either remind immigrants from those countries of home, or give a faraway feeling, a refreshing mental holiday. Perhaps this was one of the reasons for its top position Down Under.

It’s a pity that one of the songwriters, Victor Young, passed away just weeks before the film was released; his masterpiece went on to win him the Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture posthumously. Young would also have been delighted to learn of his song’s popularity, not only on the charts, but also from the multitude of covers by a range of artists (including Nat King Cole, Mantovani and his magical orchestra, Frank Sinatra, The Chordettes, and Eddie Fisher *wink wink*), as seen from this list. Sometimes, we do need rose-tinted glasses to make life more beautiful and bearable, and this is one of the songs that give them, elegantly, eloquently. It was an instant classic, and so it should remain.

Liz

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Ratings:

Liz

8

Chamois

4

AVERAGE (ROUNDED DOWN)

6