"Cabaret" is the title song of the 1966 musical of the same name, sung by the character Sally Bowles. It was composed by John Kander, with lyrics by

Fred Ebb Fred Ebb (April 8, 1928 – September 11, 2004) was an American musical theatre lyricist who had many successful collaborations with composer John Kander. The Kander and Ebb team frequently wrote for such performers as Liza Minnelli and Chita Riv ...

Background

In the musical, the song is performed by the character Sally Bowles in a night club setting in Weimar Germany in 1931. Her lover has told her that he is taking her back to America so that they can raise their baby together in safety. Sally protests as she thinks their life in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

is wonderful and she states politics have nothing to do with them or their affairs. After a heated row, Sally goes on stage singing “Cabaret” (“life is a cabaret, old chum”), thus confirming her decision to live in carefree ignorance of the impending problems in Germany. The version of the song used in the musical includes a verse beginning:
"I used to have a girlfriend known as Elsie
With whom I shared
Four sordid rooms in Chelsea..." The verse goes on to describe her friend's prostitution, alcoholism and early death. This section is often omitted in commercial recordings of the song by other artists, for example in the recording by

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and Singing, vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and se ...

Synopsis

A review by Robert Feldberg on NorthJersey.com explains Michelle Williams' interpretation of the song in the 2014 Broadway revival in relation to the musical's plot:

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

wrote that the 1972 film "contains some definitive izaMinnelli performances, particularly her rendition of the title song". Reviews of the 2014 Broadway revival included: ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' described the song as "the hardest scene in the show, so shopworn as to have long ago collapsed into kitsch". ''Broadway World'' wrote Michelle Williams' "version of the title song has a wrenching, dead-eyed quality that hauntingly undercuts its light lyrics." It has been described as "stirring", "devastating", and "jaunty".

Notable recordings

(1966) - Armstrong's version was released together with "

What a Wonderful World "What a Wonderful World" is a song written by Bob Thiele (as "George Douglas") and George David Weiss. It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong and released in 1967 as a single. It topped the pop chart in the United Kingdom, but performed poor ...

" in the UK, which reached No. 1 on the chart. "Cabaret" is listed together with "What a Wonderful World" in the chart. *

Frankie Vaughan Frankie Vaughan (born Frank Fruim Abelson; 3 February 1928 – 17 September 1999) was an English singer and actor who recorded more than 80 easy listening and traditional pop singles in his lifetime. He was known as "Mr. Moonlight" after his ...

- (1966) *

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and Eydie Gormé - for their 1967 album ''Steve & Eydie – Together On Broadway'' *

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(1967) *

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- for the album ''For the First Time'' (1968) *

Max Bygraves Walter William Bygraves (16 October 1922 – 31 August 2012), best known by the stage name Max Bygraves (adopted in honour of Max Miller), was an English comedian, singer, actor and variety performer. He appeared on his own television shows, s ...

(1968) *

Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...

(includes the 'Elsie' verse) - for the London cast recording (1968). *

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

- included in the 'live' album '' Ella in Budapest'' (1970) *

Liza Minnelli Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and choreographer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli is among a rare group of performers awarded an Emmy, Grammy ...

(includes the 'Elsie' verse) - for the film

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrac ...

(1972), and for numerous other recordings, including "Liza With a Z" (1972), "Liza Minnelli Live at the Winter Garden" (1974), and "Liza Minnelli at Carnegie Hall" (1987). On the latter recording, she changed one word of the "Elsie" verse to emphasize her (Liza's) commitment to a drug- and alcohol-free lifestyle. *

Vikki Carr Florencia Vicenta de Casillas-Martínez Cardona (born July 19, 1940), known by her stage name Vikki Carr, is an American vocalist. She has a singing career that spans more than four decades. Born in El Paso, Texas, to Mexican parents, she has p ...

(1972) *

Mantovani Annunzio Paolo Mantovani (; 15 November 1905 – 29 March 1980) was an Anglo-Italian conductor, composer and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature. The book ''British Hit Singles & Albums'' sta ...

- included in the album ''An Evening with Mantovani'' (1973) *

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

- included in his album ''

At My Time of Life At My Time of Life is a 1976 vinyl album recorded by Bing Crosby for United Artists, mostly at Chappells Studios in London in February 1975. He was accompanied by Pete Moore and his Orchestra. The songs from the album were included on a 3-CD s ...

'' (1976) *

Russ Conway Russ Conway, DSM (born Trevor Herbert Stanford; 2 September 1925 – 16 November 2000) was an English popular music pianist and composer. Conway had 20 piano instrumentals in the UK Singles Chart between 1957 and 1963, including two numbe ...

included in the album ''Russ Conway Presents 24 Piano Greats'' (1977) *

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (often shortened to just Me First or the Gimmes) are a punk rock supergroup and cover band that formed in San Francisco in 1995. The band's lineup consists of Spike Slawson, Fat Mike, Joey Cape, and Dave Raun. Ch ...

on their album “Are a Drag” (1999) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3o7xfJ08anw *

Ashleigh Murray Ashleigh Monique Murray (born January 18, 1988) is an American actress and singer. She portrayed Josie McCoy, the lead singer of the band Josie and the Pussycats, on the CW television series '' Riverdale''. Murray reprised this role in the '' R ...

for the '' Riverdale'' third season soundtrack (2019)

Chart history

;Marilyn Maye ;Mike Douglas ;Ray Conniff ;Herb Alpert

References

External links

* * * * {{authority control Songs about Berlin Songs about theatre 1966 songs 1966 singles 1967 singles 1968 singles 1972 singles Songs from Cabaret (musical) Songs with music by John Kander Songs with lyrics by Fred Ebb Liza Minnelli songs