The chorus is one of the rare themes starting in the relative major of the ending key which is in minor (the opposite is very common). Verse and chorus use only two keys: G minor (the main key) and B-flat major. The piece is built on exemplary harmonic progressions and is often analyzed and played in jazz schools. This pattern is then repeated three times, forming a The chorus melody spans a minor tenth and starts (A and A' sections) with a four-note ascending motif - three steps and a fourth (G A B♭ E♭). The following analysis adopts the usual G minor key. The tune is usually played in 4/4 at a medium tempo in the key of G minor, although the original edition is in A minor. The AA'BC form chorus was originally written in sixteen bars, but is now commonly seen as a 32-bar structure. The verse is a 24-bar AA'B form, though originally it was written in twelve bars. Over the years since its first publication, the composition has undergone several adjustments. in 1950) and record sales kept “Autumn Leaves” in the first place slot of the television show Your Hit Parade for sixteen weeks in 1955. Music (published by Ardmore Music, New York, N.Y. Told Michael Goldsen that he made more money from “Autumn Leaves” than from any

Tear came to my eyes.Įverybody I played that song for flipped out. Lyrics.’ We got into the car and he read me the lyric. Said, ‘Hey, John, I’m sorry I’m late, but we’ve got plenty of time.’ He said, I saw Johnny on the porch, and he’s nailing something to the door. Pick me up and take me to the train station.’ I’ll write it on the train and send it to you from New York. Only got three weeks to go and I lose the song.’ He said, ‘I’m going to New Goldsen recalls: I waited a couple of months.įinally it had, like, three weeks to go, and no lyric. Mercer agreed - and soon forgot about it. Michael Goldsen, who was in charge of Capitol’s music publishing department, fell in love with this song and, in 1950, asked the great Johnny Mercer to write the English lyric (“The falling leaves drift by the window.”). It took some time, however, for it to become a hit in America. The song has been adapted into countless languages and sung by a wide variety of artists, ranging from pop and rock singers to jazz musicians, while not being overlooked by classical performers such as Placido Domingo and trumpet virtuoso Maurice André. It with no success whatsoever only in 1953 did he make it popular.

Singer Cora Vaucaire was the first to sing it in public.įor four years, Yves Montand, whose name is invariably linked to the song, sang Irène Joachim (dubbed for actress Nathalie Nattier), and finishes as a waltzĬhanson qui nous ressemble.”), written by Jacques Prévert, are In the movie, it is played by the whole orchestra, thenīy a harmonica, then hummed and sung briefly by Yves Montand, then sung by His film Les portes de la nuit and wanted it sung by Marleneĭietrich - who declined.

Autumn leaves johnny mercer