This Time the Dream's on Me

Written: 1941

Music by: Harold Arlen

Words by: Johnny Mercer

Written for: Blues in the Night
(movie)

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"This Time the Dream's on Me"

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The song "This Time the Dream's on Me" was written in 1941, for the movie Blues in the Night, released by Warner Brothers, Nov. 15, 1941, directed by Anatole Litvak, and written by Edwin Gilbert and Robert Rossen. Most musicals whether on stage or film include, by tradition, at least one ballad. Even though Blues in the Night is more of a dramatic film with songs rather than a musical per se, it follows this tradition. "This Time the Dream's on Me" is integratedinto the plot, a story about a small time jazz band on the road, by being a "romantic, lightly swinging ballad written for the band and vocalist" to perform during their gigs.

The screenwriters construct their plot around two elements: 1) the theme of jazz musicians being devoted to real jazz "instead of the commercial stuff purveyed by musicians devoted to money," and 2) the romantic interweavings among members of the jazz band and their hangers-on.

The Majority of songs included in the score were written by Arlen and Mercer and included 1) "Blues in the Night" used repeatedly through the film: played during the opening credits, sung by William Gillespie in the jail scene, played and sung by blacks in a documentary style montage of African American life of the time, reprised often on the piano by Jigger (Richard Whorf with piano dubbed by Stan Wrightman); used often as background music played by the Jimmie Lunceford Band; 2) "This Time the Dream's on Me" played by the band and sung by Priscilla Lane, reprised by Betty Field (dubbed by Trudy Erwin); 3) "Hang on to Your Lids, Kids," a rhythm tune, played by the band and sung by Priscilla Lane; 4) "Wait Till it Happens to You" played on piano by Wallace Ford and sung by Betty Field. 5) "Says Who? Says You, Says I" played by the Will Osborn band with Richard Whorf at the piano, sung by Mabel Todd and an unidentified quartet.

Priscilla Lane, one of the three Lane Sisters who had sung with the Fred Waring band, introduces "This Time the Dream's on Me" in the movie Blues in the Night.

The actress at the opening of the scene (shown in the video below) is Betty Field, who plays a woman in love with the piano player, Jigger (Richard Whorf), who in turn is in love with the 'girl' singer in his band. The girl singer, whose name is "Character" (Priscilla Lane), returns Jigger's affections but their romance is blocked by her unhappy marriage. Character introduces "This Time the Dreams on Me," singing it as part of the band's repertoire, but the clear implication of the lyric is that she's addressing Jigger:

Somewhere, someday
We'll be close together,
wait and see.
Oh, by the way,

This Time the Dream's on Me.

Priscilla Lane introduces "This Time the Dreams on Me"
in the movie Blues in the Night. (Betty Field reprises
the song later in the movie.)

The Complete Lyrics of Johnny Mercer, Robert Kimball, Barry Day, Miles Kreuger, and Eric Davis (Eds.),
New York: Alfred A. Knoph, 2009.

Mercer was very fond of Arlen's melody but was unsatisfied with his own work on the song. He said his title was "too flip" (being a riff on the expression "the drink's on me") for the tune and that he had rushed the whole thing because they had so many songs to get ready for the movie with another film already on the schedule: "I was in a hurry . . . . I could have improved it, I really could. I wish I had" (from Robert Kimball, Barry Day, Miles Kreuger, and Eric Davis, The Complete Lyrics of Johnny Mercer, New York: Alfred A. Knoph, 2009. p. 118).

Editor's note: As the film's setting for the song was a bar and the band members were themselves often "flip," Mercer's rhetorical device is appropriate enough. Furthermore, the tension in the song derives from the contrast between fun and pain: "It would be fun / To be certain that I'm the one, / To know that I at least supply / The shoulder you cry upon,". Furthermore, the lyric is perfectly integrated into the plot of the movie, addressing both the romantic frustrations of the main characters as well as the protagonist's deep-seated desire to be a true jazz musician. The singer who loves him says, "I'll see you through/ Till you're everything you want to be." Not bad for a rush job.

In his biography of Mercer, Philip Furia sees the lyric of "This Time the Dream's on Me" as a comment on Mercer's life at the time he wrote it, specifically the end of his affair with Judy Garland. The lyric, for Furia, shows Mercer's "stoical" acceptance of the affair's conclusion but allows the songwriter "solace in the admittedly imaginary prospect of a future reunion:

Somewhere, some day, we'll be close together,
Wait and See,
Oh, by the way, this time the dream's on me."

Furia goes on to see Mercer's words as a reflection of his good nature even in the face of the pain of the break-up as he offers Garland support with regard to the frustrations she was facing in her career struggles: "To see you through / Till You're everything you want to be— . . . ."
(from Philip Furia, Skylark The Life and Times of Johnny Mercer, New York: St. Martins Press, 2003, p. 127-28, hard cover edition).

Another Mercer biographer, Gene Lees, quotes Johnny from a BBC interview on his writing of the lyric for "This Time the Dream's on Me:

It's one of Harold's nicest tunes. It's kind of a poor lyric, I think. Built on the thing about "the drink's on me." I think it's too flip for that melody. I think it should be nicer. I was in a hurry I remember the director didn't like it. I could have improved it, too. I really wish I had. But, you know, we had a lot of songs to get out in a short amount of time, and we had another picture to do. (Portrait of Johnny, p. 142).

Mercer himself later acknowledges that he underestimated the song by admitting it is one of his and Harold's lesser known works, but one that has turned out to be a lot of peoples' favorite (Portrait of Johnny, p. 248-49).

Another point in the lyric's favor comes in Priscilla Lane's interpretation of the title line, which she makes sound like a deeply felt ironic lament, perhaps evoking another expression Mercer did not claim as inspiration: "This time the joke's on me." Perhaps the songwriter was thinking of both, one consciously, the other subconsciously, because the latter not only offers a layered meaning but nicely fits the plot as well.

William Zinsser is impressed by how well Arlen and Mercer worked together, citing "This Time the Dream's on Me" as one of many examples:

Harold Arlen was the composer with whom Mercer consistently did his best writing, just as it was with Mercer that Arlen did his best composing. They were from opposite ends of the cultural landscape—one Northeastern Jewish, the other Southern Episcopalian—but the sound they created together was distinctly American. In Johnny Mercer, Arlen got a lyricist whose colloquial ear and swinging rhythm were tied to who he was. During their Hollywood collaboration in the early 1940s, Mercer found the perfect solution for whatever Arlen threw at him: the poignant "This Time the Dream's on Me," the stately "My Shining Hour," the meandering "That Old Black Magic," the easygoing "Let's Take the Long Way Home," the bluesy "One for my Baby," the spiritual-like "Accentuate the Positive," the hip "Hit the Road to Dreamland." (William Zinsser. Easy to Remember The Great American Songwriters and Their Songs. Jaffrey, New Hampshire: David R. Godine, 2001, p. 159).

Editor's note: This book is highly recommended as a terrific introduction to The Great American Songbook..

Wilfred Sheed adds a coda to Zinsser's remarks about the team of Arlen and Mercer:

In the five years of 1941 to 1946, between, let's say, "This Time the Dream's on Me" (which I can't even mention without humming the whole thing through) and, let's say, "Out of This World," the names Arlen and Mercer seemed fixed in the stars like Roosevelt the president and Joe Louis the champ. But then the whistle blew, after which it proved to be just another wartime marriage, intense, doomed, and slightly puzzling" (Wilfred Sheed, The House That George Built: with a Little Help from Irving, Cole and a Crew of about Fifty," New York: Random House, 2007 p. 88).

David Jenness and Don Velsey comment on how "This Time the Dream's on Me" is different from Arlen's typical song type:

Arlen's best-known melodic style involves unusual intervals, minor tonalities, and "bluesy" touches, but there are also songs of major-key , mysteriously simple poise, like "This Time the Dream's on Me" . . . .

David Jenness and Don Velsey, Classic American Popular Song: The Second Half-Century, 1950-2000, New York: Routledge, 2006, p. 67.

Alan Forte, in his book cited below more or less takes up where Jenness and Velsey leave off by presenting a thorough musical analysis of "This Time the Dream's on Me." He begins, however, in lay terms, by noting that this work stands in contrast to its pessimistic companion piece from the same movie, "Blues in the Night." Whereas the more well known song "makes a general statement about the faithlessness of the male species," this song has its speaker not casting aspersions on anyone but rather pining "with hints of optimism given in the very opening lyric":

Somewhere, someday
We'll be close together,
Wait and see.

After this, Forte proceeds into the technical arena. Anyone seeking sophisticated musical analysis of this song as well as many others from The Songbook will find what they are looking for here. (Allen Forte, The American Popular Ballad of the Golden Era, 1924-1950, Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1995, pp. 218-222.)

Click here to read a version of the lyrics for "This Time the Dream's on Me," as sung by Ella Fitzgerald.

The complete, authoritative lyrics for "Song title" can be found in:

The Complete Lyrics of Johnny Mercer, Robert Kimball, Barry Day, Miles Kreuger, and Eric Davis (Eds.), New York: Alfred A. Knoph, 2009.

Click here to read Cafe Songbook lyrics policy.

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Credits

The Cafe Songbook
Record/Video Cabinet:
Selected Recordings of

"This Time
the Dream's on Me"

1941
Glenn Miller Orchestra,
vocal by Ray Eberle (1941)
album: Falling in Love
with Glenn Miller

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video before starting another.)

1953
Paul Bley with Charlie Mingus and Art Blakey
album: Introducing Paul Bley

Notes: "Paul Bley was 21 years old when he recorded his first album in 1953. With Art Blakey on drums and Charles Mingus on bass (it was originally released on his Debut Records label), this finds Bley still working within the framework of bebop. This CD reissue adds four extra tracks and the alternate take it includes of Bley's own "Opus 1" is fascinating for what it reveals. In his soloing--different on each of the two takes--he can be heard using forceful but brief melodic fragments with little harmonic embellishment. He's continued to explore those possibilities on through the decades. However, it is remarkable to notice here, at the beginning of the young pianist's career, to hear Bley stepping out of the confines of the genre and to witness the development of his distinctive individual voice." --from CDUniverse.com.
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1953-54
Chet Baker Quartet
album: This Time the Dream's on Me: Chet Baker Quartet Live,
Vol. 1

Notes: Chet Baker, trumpet; Russ Freeman, piano; Carson Smith, bass; Larry Bunker or Bob Neel, drums -- "In this record, first 5 tracks [which include "This Time the Dream's on Me"] are recorded live at Carlton Theatre in L.A. in 1953 and the other tracks are also recorded live at Masonic Temple, Ann Arbor in 1954. The audiences are very enthusiastic, which makes you feel as if you are in the concert. Especially, the introduction part where Chet Baker and his quartet are introduced and the conversation between Chet Baker and audience [is] very interesting" (from Amazon customer reviewer, TTPTT).

Capitol Records released three volumes of "Quartet Live" each with a different title: "This Time The Dream's On Me," "Out Of Nowhere," and "My Old Flame." I want to make a special note that these recordings are pretty old 1953-54, but these releases are a good chance for you to hear a young Baker scorch through some standards" (from Amazon customer reviewer J. Rich).
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1954
June Christy
album: Something Cool

Notes: In 1960, June Christy and arranger/conductor Pete Rugulo re-recorded the original mono album Something Cool, c. 1954, arrangements in stereo. This CD contains both versions. Read customer album reviews at Amazon.
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video before starting another.)

1956
Ella Fitzgerald
Album: Ella Fitzgerald
Sings the Harold Arlen Songbook, Vol. 1

Notes: Accompanied by the Billy May Orchestra with arrangements by Billy May. Read Amazon customer album reviews.

1956
Kenny Burrell
Album: Introducing Kenny Burrell

Notes: with Tommy Flanagan, piano; Paul Chambers, bass; Kenny Clarke, drums; and Candy Candido, conga drum."This 2-CD set collects 3 early Kenny Burrell LPs, one of which was only issued in Japan" (from Amazon). Read Complete Amazon customer reviews.
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1957
Dick Haymes
album: Look at Me Now!

Notes: Haymes accompniment'is by Cy Coleman on piano. Coleman provides a perfect jazz inflection, not at all distracting from Hayme's vocal. The album is a gem.
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video before starting another.)

1957-58
Annie Ross, Gerry Mulligan, et. al.
album: title

Notes: "Considering Annie Ross's justified reputation as one of the great jazz vocalists, it is disheartening to discover how few solo albums she actually released in her long career. Happily, her collaboration with fellow cool jazzmen, saxophonist Gerry Mulligan and trumpeters Chet Baker and Art Farmer alternately, is a superior session on its merits alone. As per usual with Mulligan, the accompaniment is piano-less, but Ross--who knew how to sound like a horn from her Lambert, Hendricks & Ross experience--is on firm ground here. This is not a scatting, vocalese date however. Annie sings it straight. . . ." from CDUniverse.com
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video before starting another.)

1958
Jeri Southern
Album: The Dream's on Jeri

Notes: Jeri Southern on vocal and Piano --
For more about Jeri Southern, Listen to a program devoted to her from WFIU Public Radio. This track also on the album Coffee, Cigarettes and Memories on a twofer CD at Amazon.

1985
Mel Tormé, vocals, and
George Shearing, piano
Album: An Elegant Evening

Notes: "This collaboration by pianist George Shearing and vocalist Mel Tormé differs from most of their others in that the performances are duets (rather than with bass and occasional drums) and the repertoire sticks exclusively to ballads. With the exception of the closing "You're Driving Me Crazy" (which is taken at a medium bounce), all of the tunes are performed at slow tempos" (from iTunes review).

1992
Harry Connick, Jr.
album: 25

Notes: Connick made 25 when he was 25 in 1992. Amazon customer reviewer, Rebecca*rhapsodyinblue* quotes him as saying, "This is what I sound like when I'm alone, away from the lights and the crowds. This is what I sound like when I play whatever comes to mind. This is what I sound like at 25" ( Harry Connick, Jr.).

"This 1992 CD is a throwback to Harry Connick's earlier sets for it mostly features the pianist-vocalist on a solo set of standards. Ellis Marsalis drops by to back Connick's vocal on "Stardust," Connick accompanies Johnny Adams' singing on "Lazybones," and "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe" is a trio outing with tenor saxophonist Ned Goold and bassist Ray Brown. Otherwise it is all Connick and he sounds in good form on such tunes as "Music, Maestro, Please," "On the Street Where You Live," "After You've Gone" and "Muskrat Ramble." It is a pity that Connick has not continued in this direction" (iTunes review).

1996
Sylvia McNair and Andre Previn
album: Come Rain or Come Shine
The Harold Arlen Songbook

Notes: Sylvia McNair (vocals), Andre Previn (piano), David Finck (bass). Read customer reviews at Amazon.

1997
Alison Krauss (1997)
album: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

same track as on album referenced above

Notes: All of the songs in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, a Clint Eastwood directed movie, for which this CD is the soundtrack, have lyrics by Johnny Mercer, a native of Savannah, GA, the film's setting. "With the exception of Tony Bennett's "I Wanna Be Around" and Sinatra's classic "Summer Wind," [the songs] were rendered by an all-star team of jazz players (Charlie Haden, Michael Brecker, Joshua Redman, Kevin Eubanks, Christian McBride among them) and an impressive line-up of vocalists including k.d. lang, Paula Cole, Joe Williams, Rosemary Clooney, Cassandra Wilson, Alison Krauss, Diana Krall, and Kevin Mahogany" (Jerry McCulley, Amazon reviewer).
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2008
Boz Scaggs
album: Speak Low

Notes: with Gil Goldstein, piano. Speak Low Boz Scaggs' 17th studio album is a follow-up to his 2003 standards collection, But Beautiful - "a sort of progressive, experimental effort ... along the lines of some of the ideas that Gil Evans explored" says Boz. Songs on the album include Chet Baker's "She Was Too Good To Be True," Johnny Mercer's "This Time the Dream's on Me," the often recorded "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and the Kurt Weill/Ogden Nash title track. "I'm a vocalist," Scaggs says. "I come more out of a blues/rhythm & blues background, but this is a different way of using my voice, and much more musically challenging and adventurous for me." (from Amazon's album description).

Michael Feinstein (2010)
album: Fly Me to the Moon

Notes: This album was released in conjunction with the three part PBS series Michael Feinstein's American Songbook.

"Michael Feinstein says that he first noticed Joe Negri's guitar style while working with the Pittsburgh Symphony, leading to an invitation to accompany the singer on this album. Usually, Feinstein plays piano on his discs, but this recording finds him using only Negri and a rhythm section of Jay Leonhart (bass) and Joe Cocuzzo, who drop out on several tracks, leaving just the singer and guitarist. The songs have been chosen with the instrumentation in mind, such that they are all romantic ballads, some well known and others more obscure, but all from the Great American Songbook and featuring such writers as Harold Arlen, Leonard Bernstein, Sammy Cahn, Johnny Mercer, Cole Porter, and Jule Styne" (from iTunes album review).

2013
Christine Ebersole
album: Strings Attached

Notes: "Two-time Tony Award-winning actress Christine Ebersole teams with
virtuoso violinist/arranger Aaron Weinstein for a program of classic songs imbued with originality, musicality, and swing. Known for her brilliance as an actress and cabaret artist, Ebersole proves that shes equally talented in the jazz arena on a selection of beautifully
arranged versions of gems from the Great American Songbook.
Tony Award winner for her roles in 42nd Street and Grey Gardens, Ebersole is currently starring in the hit TBS sitcom Sullivan & Son, is featured in the 2013 blockbuster The Big Wedding (which ends with a song she wrote and performs), and appears in the Fall 2013 Scorsese drama The Wolf of Wall Street.
Named a Rising Star Violinist by DownBeat, Aaron Weinstein is quickly earning a reputation as one of the finest jazz violinists of his generation. As a featured soloist he has performed at Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln
Center, Wolftrap Center, Birdland, Blue Note, Iridium, and more." (from CDUniverse.com.)
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