"Cool" is a song from the 1957

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid-1 ...

''.

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

composed the music and

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March 22, 1930November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in twentieth-century musical theater, Sondheim is credited for having "reinvented the American musical" with sho ...

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. This song is known for its

fugal In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...

treatment of a jazz figure, described by one writer as "possibly the most complex instrumental music heard on Broadway to date". In the 1957 musical, the song is performed by Riff, the leader of the Jet Gang to calm their nerves before the rumble. This is likely to show he holds the gang together despite his flaws. This is however changed in the

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

and

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

film adaptations.

Summary in the 1961 film

Since the death of Riff ( Russ Tamblyn), Ice (

Tucker Smith Tucker Smith (born Thomas William Smith, April 24, 1936 – December 22, 1988) was an American actor, dancer, and singer who performed the role of Ice in the movie musical ''West Side Story''. Life and career Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ...

) 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 Ansel Elgort (born March 14, 1994) is an American actor and singer. He began his acting career with a supporting role in the horror film ''Carrie'' (2013) and gained wider recognition for starring as a teenage cancer patient in the romantic dr ...

) 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.

In popular culture

In 2011, actor

Harry Shum Jr. Harry Shum Jr. (born April 28, 1982) is an American actor, dancer, choreographer, and singer. He is best known for his roles as Mike Chang on the Fox television series ''Glee'' (2009–15), Benson Kwan on the ABC television series ''Grey's Anato ...

performed the song, as his character Mike Chang from TV series ''

Glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...

'', in the third episode of season 3, "

Asian F "Asian F" is the third episode of the third season of the American musical television series ''Glee'', and the forty-seventh overall. Written by series co-creator Ian Brennan and directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, it first aired on Fox in the Uni ...

" (aired on October 4). An episode of '' Animaniacs'' features a parody version as "Coo Bird" sung by Bobby of

The Goodfeathers This is a list of characters in the 1993 animated series, ''Animaniacs'', and its Animaniacs (2020 TV series), 2020 revival. The Warner Siblings (Animaniacs) The Warner Siblings (also known as "the Animaniacs" by fans and the media) are small, ...

. The song is also parodied in the

Flight of the Conchords Flight of the Conchords is a New Zealand musical comedy duo formed in Wellington in 1998. The band consists of multi-instrumentalists Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. Beginning as a popular live comedy act in the early 2000s, the duo's comed ...

episode "

The Tough Brets "The Tough Brets" is the third episode of the second season of the HBO comedy series ''Flight of the Conchords'', first broadcast in the United States on February 1, 2009. Plot The Conchords are playing a gig at a local public library. During th ...

" with the song "Stay Cool, Bret". The ''

Castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

'' episode "Cool Boys" has

Richard Castle Richard Edgar "Rick" Castle (born Richard Alexander Rodgers) is a fictional character on the ABC crime series '' Castle''. He is portrayed by Nathan Fillion. The name Richard Castle is also used as a pseudonym under which a set of real books a ...

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

{{authority control Songs with music by Leonard Bernstein Songs from West Side Story 1957 songs Songs written by Stephen Sondheim