Cover for Critierion release of Charade
Main Riff: E|---------------| B|---------------| G|---------------| D|--------9-7----| A|--7-8-7-----7--| E|---------------|
[See the full tablature to riffs of instrumental version]
[See the full chords for vocal version]
This week, the theme song to the greatest Hitchcock movie there never was: Charade.
Today is a two-fer, with both the backed-by-awesome-layered-percussion instrumental version and the mournful version with lyrics by Johnny Mercer that was nominated for an Academy Award in 1963. You are, however on your own in figuring out that hopping bassline.
In his biography of Mercer, Skylark: The Life and Times of Johnny Mercer, Phillip Furia quotes Mercer as saying that, “‘Charade’ is one of the finest melodies ever written.” Mercer’s lyrics are introspective and sad, describing a failed relationship via the metaphor of the theater, a motif that appears through the film, in the Punch n’ Judy scene, and in the climactic chase. Reportedly, the relationship between the famous lyricist Mercer and the then-fledgling composer Mancini was strained: Furia cites Mancini as saying years later and off-the-record that working with Mercer gave him an ulcer.
For your listening pleasure, I present both versions below. Feel free to play along!
