名人轶事12 Cole Porter Pt.2

Rochelle Gollust

Broadcast: August 22, 2004

((THEME))

VOICE ONE:

This is Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember with People in America in VOA Special English. Today

we bring you the second part of our program about American songwriter Cole

Porter. Porter wrote his songs from the nineteen-twenties to the nineteen-

fifties. They continue to be popular today.

((MUSIC))

VOICE ONE:

That was a recording of "Anything Goes", one of Cole Porter's most famous

songs. Caroline O'Connor sings it in the movie about Cole Porter called "De-

Lovely." Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd star in this movie about Porter's life,

released in two-thousand-four. The title of the movie is from one of Porter's

popular songs, "It's De-Lovely." In the song, Porter plays with words that

start with the letter "d." Robbie Williams sings the song.

((MUSIC))

VOICE TWO:

As we said in our program last week, Cole Porter went to live in France in

nineteen-sixteen before he became famous. He was a wealthy young man who was

smart and funny and knew how to enjoy life. He and his wife, Linda, became

well known for their costly and exciting parties.

Yet Cole Porter never let other pleasures interfere with what he loved most

– writing songs. He worked hard on his songs. Both the words and music had

to be perfect.

VOICE ONE:

Porter gained fame as a musical theater writer by the early nineteen-

thirties. His musical plays were produced in Broadway theaters in New York

City. He had a new musical every year or so during the years of America's

great economic depression. His words and music gave people a few hours of

pleasurable escape during difficult times.

Some critics still consider one of Porter's early musical plays, "Anything

Goes," to be his best. "Anything Goes" opened on Broadway in nineteen-thirty

-four. It starred one of Porter's favorite singers, Ethel Merman. She sang a

song that became famous immediately. It is called "I Get a Kick Out of You."

That expression means I enjoy being with you.

((MUSIC))

VOICE TWO:

For years, Porter was Broadway's "King Cole." His musical plays were very

successful. Later, he went to Los Angeles, California and wrote music for

Hollywood movies. They were very popular, too.

Cole and Linda Porter traveled all over the world. They were happily married

most of the time. But Cole Porter was homosexual. He had sex with men.

Homosexuality was both accepted and forbidden in high society at that time.

Love affairs between men were not exactly secret. Yet they could never be

admitted publicly.

VOICE ONE:

All his life, Cole Porter wrote songs about love, desire and passion. He

included the names of foreign countries, famous people and comments on

current events. And he filled his songs with little jokes and hidden

meanings.

Porter's words stretched the limits of what was socially acceptable. They

spoke directly and indirectly about sex. They admitted that love is not

always pure. It is often selfish. And it rarely lasts forever. Porter was not

even sure what love really is. He wonders about it in this song, "What is

This Thing Called Love?" It is sung by Lemar.