title: Your tooth it ain't so purty but it's gen-u-ine: Cole Porter's comic song "Snagtooth Gertie".
abstract: Cole Porter (1891-1964), an American musical icon, has been internationally acknowledged as one of the most cosmopolitan, sophisticated, elegant and influential composer-lyricists of the 20th century. Born in Indiana and raised in wealth and privilege, he attended both Yale and Harvard universities where he honed his song-writing skills. In his 800 tunes, many of which became smash hits, he blended fresh, witty, urbane and colloquial lyrics with catchy, singable melodies. He composed musical scores for both Broadway stage and Hollywood movies, but focused on the former. While Porter enjoyed penning comic songs, he rarely had them published. In 1946, Cole wrote the music and lyrics for a Broadway show entitled Around the World in Eighty Days. Deemed a failure, it closed after only 75 performances. One light-hearted ditty, "Snagtooth Gertie", which he composed for the show, was never used. The lyrics are presented for the first time in this paper.
authors.affiliation: Indiana University School of Dentistry, USA. achriste@iupui.edu
authors.forename: Arden G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Christen
authors.forename: Joan A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Christen
mesh_terms: D005197:Famous Persons; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D009146:Music / Q000266:history*; D014070:Tooth; D014481:United States