Cool (West Side Story song)

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Cool (West Side Story song) - Wikipedia

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"Cool" is a song from the 1957 musical West Side Story. Leonard Bernstein composed the music and Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics. This was the first song they wrote together, and Sondheim later recollects that Bernstein must have written the opening line ("Boy, boy, crazy boy") since he himself was not prone to writing melismatically.^[1] This song is known for its fugal treatment of a jazz figure, described by one writer as "possibly the most complex instrumental music heard on Broadway to date".^[2] In the 1957 musical, the song is performed by Riff as he advises the Jets to stay cool before entering the Rumble. This is however changed in the 1961 and 2021 film adaptations.

Summary in the 1961 film

Since the death of Riff (Russ Tamblyn), Ice (Tucker Smith) takes over as the leader of the Jets and he reasons with his team to play it cool.

Summary in the 2021 film

Hours before the rumble, Tony (Ansel Elgort) sings it to Riff (Mike Faist) to get the Jets to call off the fight while playing Keep Away with the gun bought by Riff.^[3]

In popular culture

In 2011, actor Harry Shum Jr. performed the song as his character Mike Chang from the TV series Glee, in the third episode of season 3, "Asian F" (aired on October 4).^[4]

An episode of Animaniacs features a parody version as "Coo Bird" sung by Bobby of The Goodfeathers. The song is also parodied in the Flight of the Conchords episode "The Tough Brets" with the song "Stay Cool, Bret".

The Castle episode "Cool Boys" has Richard Castle and Detective Slaughter sing it to distract some criminals holding them at gunpoint.

British sketch show Horrible Histories parodied this song as a song about the English Civil War.

References

^ West Side Story (1961 film) (Commentary Track). Stephen Sondheim. MGM Home Video. 2012. MGM Home Video.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^ Nigel Simeone, Leonard Bernstein, West Side story (Ashgate Publishing, 2009), ISBN 978-0754664840, pp. 84, 102. Excerpts available at Google Books.
^ Bouzereau, Laurent (2021). West Side Story the Making of the Steven Spielberg Film. ISBN 9781419750632.
^ Stephens, Samantha (October 4, 2011). "'Glee': Mike Chang's 'Asian F' earns an A+". The Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts). Retrieved 23 February 2017.

Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim's West Side Story (1957)

Inspiration

William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Adaptations

Symphonic Dances from West Side Story (1961)
West Side Story (1961 film)
West Side Story Suite (1995 ballet)
West Side Story (2021 film)
- accolades

Variations

Swango (2002 musical)
West Bank Story (2005 parody film)

Songs

Act 1	"Something's Coming" "Maria" "Tonight" "America" "Cool" "One Hand, One Heart" "Tonight (Quintet & Chorus)"
Act 2	"I Feel Pretty" "Somewhere" "Gee, Officer Krupke" "A Boy like That"

Albums

West Side Story (1957 original cast)
West Side Story (1959 Previn)
West Side Story (1961 soundtrack)
West Side Story (1961 Tjader)
Bernstein Plays Brubeck Plays Bernstein (1961 Brubeck Quartet)
West Side Story (1962 Peterson Trio)
Kenton's West Side Story (1962 Kenton)
Toshiko–Mariano Quartet (in West Side) (1963 Akiyoshi)
West Side Story (1974 Earl Hines)
West Side Story (2021 soundtrack)

v t e Leonard Bernstein
List of compositions Awards
Opera and operetta	Trouble in Tahiti (1951) Candide (1956) A Quiet Place (1983)
Musicals	On the Town (1944) "New York, New York" "Lonely Town" Peter Pan (1950) Wonderful Town (1953) "Ohio" West Side Story (1957) "A Boy Like That" "America" "Cool" "Gee, Officer Krupke" "I Feel Pretty" "Maria" "One Hand, One Heart" "Something's Coming" "Somewhere" Tonight" "Tonight Quintet" A Party with Betty Comden and Adolph Green (1958, collaboration) The Race to Urga (1968) 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (1976) The Madwoman of Central Park West (1979, contribution)
Ballet	Fancy Free (1944) Dybbuk (1974)
Orchestral music	Symphony No. 1 (Jeremiah) (1942) Symphony No. 2 (The Age of Anxiety) (1948–49, revised 1965) Symphony No. 3 (Kaddish) (1963) Fanfare for the Inauguration of John F. Kennedy (1961) CBS Music (1976) Slava! A Political Overture (1977) Divertimento (1980) Concerto for Orchestra (1986, 1988, 1989, originally Jubilee Games)
Concertante	Prelude, Fugue and Riffs (1948) Serenade after Plato's "Symposium" (1954) Ḥalil (1981)
Chamber music	Piano Trio (1937) Clarinet Sonata (1942) Dance Suite (1989)
Choral	Hashkiveinu (1945) Chichester Psalms (1965) "Olympic Hymn" (1981) Missa Brevis (1988)
Vocal	Psalm 148 (art song, 1935) I Hate Music (song cycle, 1943) La Bonne Cuisine (song cycle, 1947) "So Pretty" (1968) Songfest: A Cycle of American Poems for Six Singers and Orchestra (1977) "My Twelve Tone Melody" (1988)
Piano music	Non troppo presto (Music for the Dance No. 1) (1937) Music for the Dance No. 2 (1938) Sonata for the Piano (1938) Anniversaries (1942—1988) Seven Ann. (1942–43) Four Ann. (1948) Five Ann. (1949–51) Thirteen Ann. (1988) Four Sabras (ca. 1950) Bridal Suite (1960) Touches (1980)
Other compositions	The Lark (incidental music) (1955) Mass (1971) Opening Prayer (1986)
Film adaptations	On the Town (1949 film) West Side Story (1961 film) West Side Story (2021 film)
Books	The Joy of Music
Related articles	Academy for the Love of Learning Artful Learning Bernstein–Mahler cycle Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts New York Philharmonic concert of April 6, 1962 Pacific Music Festival These Radical Chic Evenings (1970 essay) The Unanswered Question (lecture series) Young People's Concerts Maestro (2023 film) soundtrack
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