There are tons of songs about spring, but the one that stands out in my mind — mostly because of the wonderful lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein — is, "It Might As Well Be Spring." It contains some of the best lyrics ever written about a very special time of the year.
The music comes from State Fair, which is one of Rodgers and Hammerstein's few flops, but the music made a lot of money. It wasn't received badly, necessarily, but many of the critical reviews were along the lines of, "Oh well, that's nice."
State Fair owes it existence to 20th Century Fox mogul, Darryl F. Zanuck, who couldn't wait for Oklahoma to close on Broadway so he could make a movie out of it. Instead, he decided on a very similar story: set it out in the countryside (at a state fair), add a love interest, and get Rodgers and Hammerstein to do it.
On this week's Flicks in Five, we'll hear some of those fabulous Hammerstein lyrics, and music by Richard Rodgers, in State Fair's, "It Might As Well Be Spring," sung here by Bryn Terfel.
State Fair — original trailer
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