The Songs o' Valentines Day

Since it's Valentine's Day, I thought it would be appropriate (and hardly unexpected) to post a bunch of love songs day.  These are all really wonderful, but unlike most other places, I suspect that most people will never have heard these, or many of them.

But I'm going to start with the oddest of the much, hardly as soaringly tender as the others, but deserving of it's #1 status since it's sung by, of all people, Sid Caesar who passed away on Tuesday.

This comes from the musical, Little Me, written by Cy Coleman and the wonderful Carolyn Leigh.  (The adaptation is by Neil Simon.)  In the story, Virginia Martin plays Belle Poitrine (which, in all its subtlety, means in French "beautiful breasts") and follows her life as a girl from the poor side of the tracks through a range of men in her life -- all played by Sid Caesar.  A performance for which he got a Tony nomination as Best Actor in a Musical.

This song, I believe, is her first life, the wealthy son, Noble, of the town's wealthiest man.  It's titled, "I Love You."  A swell way to start Valentine's Day.

Oh, okay, let's throw in a Valentine's Day bonus.  This is also from Little Me and again sung by Sid Caesar.  Here, he plays a shy, naive World War I dough boy.  And I've always loved this song for its sweetness and simplicity.  In every sense of the cliche, it's short and sweet.  Just one minute long.  But it shows what you can do in a short time if you know what you're doing.  And get it right.

(In fairness, it's followed by the chorus singing a longer, 3-1/2 minute reprise.  But this is original version.  And best.)