My Favorite Things (song)

"My Favorite Things"
Song
Published	1959
Composer	Richard Rodgers
Lyricist	Oscar Hammerstein II
Language	English
Recorded by	Mary Martin & Patricia Neway (1959), John Coltrane (1961–67), Julie Andrews (1965), Diana Ross and The Supremes (1965) and various others

"My Favorite Things" is a popular show tune, originally from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music.

The song was first sung as a duet between Maria (played by Mary Martin) and Mother Abbess (Patricia Neway) in the original 1959 Broadway production and by Julie Andrews in The Garry Moore Show's 1961 Christmas special and the 1965 film.

Background

In the musical, the lyrics to the song are a reference to things Maria loves, such as "Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens". These are the things she selects to fill her mind with when times are bad.

The original Broadway musical places this song in the Mother Abbess's office, just before she sends Maria to serve Captain von Trapp's family as governess to his seven children. However, Ernest Lehman, the screenwriter for the film adaptation, repositioned this song so that Maria would sing it with the children during the thunderstorm scene in her bedroom, replacing "The Lonely Goatherd", which had originally been sung at this point. Many stage productions also make this change, shifting "The Lonely Goatherd" to another scene.

The first section of the melody has the distinctive property of using only the notes 1, 2, and 5 (Do, Re, and So) of the scale. Rodgers then harmonized this same section of the melody differently in different stanzas, using a series of minor triads one time and major triads the next.

The happy, optimistic lyrics – "Cream-colored ponies and crisp apple strudel" – are just a counterpoint and cover up an undercurrent of fear. As noted above, the song was written to be sung by a young woman scared of facing new responsibilities outside the convent. In the film script the song is repositioned, with Maria singing it to the von Trapp children during the thunderstorm; but the terror contained in the melody is still the dominant emotion.

The song ends with a borrowed line of lyric and notes from Rodgers' earlier composition with Lorenz Hart, "Glad to Be Unhappy", a standard about finding peace in the midst of unrequited love. Using the same two notes for the phrasing of "so sad" in the original song, Rodgers brings the gloom of my "Favorite Things" to a similar upbeat ending – "and then I don't feel so bad."

In 2004 the movie version of "My Favorite Things" finished at No. 64 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.

In popular culture

John Coltrane

Jazz artist John Coltrane did an extended, close to fourteen-minute version in E minor on his 1961 album taken from the title of the song. It became a jazz classic and a signature for Coltrane in concert, also appearing on Newport '63 in 1963, Live at the Half Note: One Down, One Up and New Thing at Newport in 1965, Live at the Village Vanguard Again! and Offering: Live at Temple University in 1966, and The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording in 1967.

Other notable versions

The lyrics in 'My Favorite Things' compose mostly of Winter-time & Holiday Seasonal imagery (e.g. Snowflakes, Sleigh bells, Packages tied up with strings, Silver white winters, Geese flying at night, Warm woolen Mittens, crisp apple strudels, Bright copper kettle) which has made 'My Favorite Things' a popular selection during the Christmas & Holiday season. The song has appeared on numerous Christmas albums, including:

1964: Jack Jones on his album The Jack Jones Christmas Album^[1]
1965: Eddie Fisher on his album Mary Christmas^[2]
1965: Diana Ross and The Supremes on their album Merry Christmas
1965: Andy Williams on his album Merry Christmas (He also sang it as a duet with his wife, Claudine Longet on The Andy Williams Show)
1966: Kenny Burrell on his album Have Yourself a Soulful Little Christmas
1967: Barbra Streisand on her album A Christmas Album
1968: Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass on their album Christmas Album (reached #45 on the Billboard 100 the following year)
1968: Tony Bennett on his album Snowfall: The Tony Bennett Christmas Album
1969: Johnny Mathis on his album Give Me Your Love for Christmas
1970: Rick Wilkins and the Mutual Understanding on their album Christmas with Rick Wilkins and the Mutual Understanding^[3]
1981: Kenny Rogers on his album Christmas
1984: The Carpenters on their album An Old-Fashioned Christmas
1984: Dorothy Ashby on her album Django/Misty
1993: Lorrie Morgan on her album Merry Christmas from London (Christmas airplay in 1994 and again in 1999, bringing it to #64 and #69, respectively, on the Hot Country Songs chart)^[4]
1994: The Whispers on their album Christmas Moments Sampler^[5]
1995: Luther Vandross on his album This Is Christmas
1995: Russ Freeman on his album Holiday
1997: SWV on their album A Special Christmas
2000: Vanessa Williams, Plácido Domingo, and Tony Bennett on their Live concert Christmas special, Our Favorite Things: Christmas in Vienna^[6]
2000: Björk, Sountrack of the motion picture "dancer in the dark"
2002: Barry Manilow on his album A Christmas Gift of Love
2002: Anita Baker on her album Christmas Fantasy
2003: OutKast on their album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
2004: Dionne Warwick on her album My Favorite Time of Year^[7]
2005: The Brian Setzer Orchestra on their album Dig That Crazy Christmas
2005: Kenny G on his album The Greatest Holiday Classics
2005: Rod Stewart on the album Sounds of the Season: The NBC Holiday Collection^[8]
2007: Yolanda Adams on her album What a Wonderful Time
2007: Connie Talbot on her album Over the Rainbow
2008: Tony Bennett on his album A Swingin' Christmas (Featuring The Count Basie Big Band)
2009: Family Force 5 on their album Family Force 5 Christmas Pageant
2011: Deana Martin on her album White Christmas^[9]
2011: Carole King on her album A Holiday Carole
2011: Chicago on their album Chicago XXXIII: O Christmas Three
2011: The cast of Glee on Extraordinary Merry Christmas
2012: Avila on their single "Curtains", used on Victoria's Secret Holiday Campaign
2013: Kelly Clarkson on her album Wrapped in Red
2013: Jim Brickman on his album The Magic of Christmas^[10]
2013: Mary J. Blige on her album A Mary Christmas
2015: Joey Alexander on his album My Favorite Things
2016: Panggayana on their cover song My Favorite Things

References

External links

Notes, lyrics, mp3s, different versions compared
"My Favorite Things at 50," public radio documentary on the 50th anniversary of John Coltrane's rendition of "My Favorite Things."

Rodgers and Hammerstein

Stage musicals	Oklahoma! Carousel Allegro South Pacific The King and I Me and Juliet Pipe Dream Flower Drum Song The Sound of Music A Grand Night for Singing State Fair Cinderella

Productions	I Remember Mama Annie Get Your Gun Happy Birthday John Loves Mary Show Boat The Happy Time Burning Bright

Films	State Fair Oklahoma! Carousel The King and I South Pacific Flower Drum Song State Fair The Sound of Music Cinderella

Television	Cinderella The Sound of Music Live!

Songs	"Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top" "Kansas City" "I Cain't Say No" "Many a New Day" "It's a Scandal! It's a Outrage!" "People Will Say We're in Love" "Lonely Room" "The Farmer and the Cowman" "All Er Nuthin'" "Oklahoma" "If I Loved You" "Soliloquy" "You'll Never Walk Alone" "It Might as Well Be Spring" "That's for Me" "A Fellow Needs a Girl" "So Far" "Some Enchanted Evening" "There Is Nothing Like a Dame" "Bali Ha'i" "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair" "I'm in Love with a Wonderful Guy" "Younger Than Springtime" "Happy Talk" "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught" "I Whistle a Happy Tune" "Hello, Young Lovers" "Getting to Know You" "We Kiss in a Shadow" "Something Wonderful" "I Have Dreamed" "Shall We Dance?" "No Other Love" "I Enjoy Being a Girl" "The Sound of Music" "Maria" "My Favorite Things" "Do-Re-Mi" "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" "The Lonely Goatherd" "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" "No Way to Stop It" "Edelweiss"

Related articles	"Something Good" The Sound of Music The Sound of Music: Music from the NBC Television Event

Maria von Trapp's The Story of the Trapp Family Singers

Films	The Trapp Family (1956) The Trapp Family in America (1958) The Sound of Music (1965)

Other adaptations	The Sound of Music (1959 musical) Trapp Family Story (1991 anime) The Sound of Music Live! (2013) The Sound of Music Live (2015)

Songs	"The Sound of Music" "Maria" "My Favorite Things" "Do-Re-Mi" "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" "The Lonely Goatherd" "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" "No Way to Stop It" "Edelweiss" "Something Good"

Albums	The Groovy Sound of Music (1964) The Sound of Music (1965 soundtrack) The Sound of Music: Music from the NBC Television Event (2013)

Legacy	The von Trapps

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