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Someone to Watch Over Me
Words & Music by Ira Gershwin & George Gershwin, 1929Recorded by Ella Fitzgerald, 1950
Featured in the movie "John Loves Mary," 1949
Intro Verse:
Am7 Cdim G6 C Cdim G6
There's a saying old, says that love is blind
C C/B Am7 Em B7 E7
Still we're often told, "seek and ye shall find"
C C/B Am7 Am7/G D9 Am7 Cdim G Em7 Am7 Cdim
So I'm going to seek a certain lad I've had in mind
Am7 Cdim G6 C Cdim G6
Looking everywhere, haven't found him yet
C C/B Am7 Em B7 E7
He's the big affair I cannot forget
C C/B Am7 Am7/G Cdim D7 G Am7 G F#7
Only guy I ever think of with re - gret
Bm F#7 Bm Gdim Bm
I'd like to add his initial to my monogram
D Am7 C C/B Am7 Cdim D9 Am7 D7
Tell me, where is the shepherd for this lost lamb?
Refrain:
G Bm7-5 Am7 Cdim
There's a somebody I'm longing to see...
G Edim D7 E7-9
I hope that he turns out to be
C C/B Am7 Cdim | G - G/F# - Em7 | C - Cdim |
Some - one to watch o - ver me.
G Bm7-5 Am7 Cdim
I'm a little lamb who's lost in the wood;
G Edim D7 E7-9
I know I could always be good
C C/B Am7 Cdim G - E7 | Am7 - G |
To one who'll watch over me.
Bridge:
G G7 C C/B Am7 Cdim
Although he may not be a man some
G9 G G/F# Emsus4 Em
Girls think of as handsome,
C C/B E7 Edim |B7 - E7 | A7 - Cdim|
To my heart he'll carry the key.
G Bm7-5 Am7 Cdim
Won't you tell him, please, to put on some speed,
G Edim D7 E7-9
Follow my lead, oh, how I need
C C/B Am7 Cdim |B7| E7 |
Some - one to watch over me,
C C/B Am7 Cdim D7 | G - E7| Am7 - Cdim | G6 |
Some - one to watch o - ver me.
For several years, this song has been on this site crediting the Frank Sinatra version; but having finally found a version which includes the intro verse, I've changed the credit line to reflect Ella's version.
The intro verse itself, written by Ira Gershwin, seems to me to be an odd blend of magnificent craftsmanship forcefully mashed together with a stiff dose of "what the heck was he thinking?!?!" The elegance of the internal rhyme scheme hooked me as soon as I heard it, and hooked me further when I spent time actually studying it. With all that effort expended to keep delicious internal rhymes and a tight, consistant meter pattern, I've never quite understood how he could have so totally lost focus on tenses. How can one not forget a relationship one has not had? Or, for that matter, think of with regret when the acquaintence has not even occurred? With the beauty of the writing, by itself, one can understand cutting the man some slack. But if that degree of care is invested, how can logic of thought be so completely overlooked?