Song Lyric Sunday: “Something Cool”

I’m going to take this week’s prompt, Cool/Groovy/Hip/Nifty/Radical/Swell, in a completely different direction than just about everyone else. At least, I hope so.

June Christy is a favorite singer of mine. She got her start singing with the Stan Kenton Orchestra, one of the big names in West Coast or “cool” jazz. She met husband Pete Rugolo when he was with the band, and when June decided to go solo he helped her record her first album, 1952’s Something Cool. In 1953, the album was expanded to 12 songs from 7, and in 1954 she recorded the album in stereo; this is the version that caught on and brought her to prominence. The title track was written by Billy Barnes. From a 1959 appearance on Playboy After Dark, Miss June Christy, “Something Cool.”

The lyrics, from Genius:

Something cool
Something cool
Something cool
I’d like to order something cool!

Something cool, (something cool)
I’d like to order something cool, (something cool)
It’s so warm here in town
And the heat gets me down
Yes, I’d like something cool! (something cool)

My! It’s nice to simply sit and rest awhile
Now I know it’s a shame
I can’t think of your name
I remember your smile!

I don’t ordinarily drink with strangers
I most usually drink alone
You were so awfully nice to me
And I’m so terribly far from home

Like my dress? I must confess it’s terribly old
But it’s simple and neat
It’s just right for the heat
Save my furs for the cold!

A cigarette? Well I don’t smoke them as a rule
But I’ll have one
It might be fun
With something cool!

I’ll bet you couldn’t imagine
That I one time had a house
With so many rooms I couldn’t count them all!
I’ll bet you couldn’t imagine
I had fifteen different beaus
Who would beg and beg to take me to a ball

I’ll bet you couldn’t picture me
The time I went to Paris in the Fall
And who would think the man I loved was quite so handsome
Quite so tall?

Well it’s true, (something cool)
It’s just a memory I have, (something cool)
One I almost forgot
‘Cause the weather’s so hot!
And I’m feeling so bad (something cool)
About a date
Oh wait!
I’m such a fool!
He’s just a guy
Who’s stopped to buy
Me something cool!

That’s Song Lyric Sunday for May 26, 2019.