A classic of the Great American Songbook, written by Bernie Wayne and Lee Morris in 1950, a hit for Tony Bennett the following year. Covered by many – here by Bobby Vinton:
So I bet you can sing it off the top of your head, right?
Wrong, probably. I certainly couldn’t get far. It’s a snaky old thing that uses an A A B A structure, common then but rarer now, and a proper prod in the ribs for all of us who think too lazily in verse-and-chorus terms.
It begins:
She wore Blue Velvet
Bluer than velvet was the night
Softer than satin was the light
from the stars
Slow, sensual, evocative. But also simple and literate, rhyme and rhythm tight. Then Verse 2; the first line’s the nearest thing there is in the song to a refrain:
She wore Blue Velvet
Bluer than velvet were her eyes
Warmer than May her tender sighs
Love was ours
We’ve come in closer, from night & light to eyes & sighs. Subtle, and all the steamier for being understated. There’s a story being told here, in snapshots; the listener conjures up the pictures and works out what’s going on.
The last line of V2 signals a key change into the Bridge:
Ours a love I held tightly
Feeling the rapture grow
Like a flame burning brightly
But when she left gone was the glow . . .
Not much doubt about what’s going on, what with all that rapture and holding tightly and candles getting snuffed. Then V3:
. . . of Blue Velvet
But in my heart there’ll aways be
Precious and warm a memory
though the years
We know it’s about about an unforgettable romance, but not how it all turned out. The tune suggests a return to the bridge, but actually leads to a final line that completes the story and, musically, brings the piece to a resolution:
And I still can see Blue Velvet through my tears.
She left, he’s devastated. Finally, an instrumental break (first two lines of the verse), before a rounding-off vocal repeat. Spare. Sexy. Bittersweet. Beautifully paced. Deservedly a classic.
