You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To - Cole Porter: Paris Parties and Broadway Bangers
Release Date: 10/04/2025
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info_outlineIn this episode of The A to Z of Wartime Song, hosts Lili Redman and Tom Carradine turn their attention to Cole Porter’s romantic 1943 classic "You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To".
Written for the film "Something to Shout About", the song quickly became a wartime favourite, speaking to the longing of couples separated by service and distance. Lili and Tom trace Porter’s glittering - and often scandalous - life, from Yale fight songs and Parisian parties to Broadway triumphs like Anything Goes and Kiss Me, Kate.
They also explore the many unforgettable recordings of this tune, including Dinah Shore’s lush orchestral version, the cabaret intimacy of Hutch, Noël Coward’s unmistakable style and swing-era takes by Six Hits and a Miss, Dick Jurgens and more.
It’s a story of longing, luxury, and one of the Great American Songbook’s most enduring romantic ballads.
SPOTIFY PLAYLIST
You can listen to ALL of the songs that Tom and Lili talk about in the episode on their Spotify playlister here:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1FQDrBphYqYLAuN6Jm01PN?si=b777dc33a703408a
REFERENCES
The Bobolink Waltz
https://www.sondheimguide.com/porter/miscsongs.html
The Whiffenpoofs
https://www.whiffenpoofs.com/
Bingo - Cole Porter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W74zCjVd9EQ
Bull Dog - Cole Porter
https://youtu.be/Bj8HJmhRw9w?si=n3k0Kr08PtqwhPxT
Cole Porter in the French Foreign Legion
https://www.legionofthelost.com/porter
Old Fashioned Garden - Cole Porter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cYtuj0Tz7Q&list=PLTfDZkT4YVdT0RVEZr91EGXov2vMcVX7Z&index=12
Cole Porter’s Paris House
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/28/greathomesanddestinations/a-house-in-the-country-without-ever-leaving-central-paris.html
Ca ‘Rezzonico
https://carezzonico.visitmuve.it/en/home/
Hollywood Canteen 1944 (Highlights)
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnurtxqhggI8yn0tAzDup9GmvPGK-iBCC&si=sJN7qQl3eqHMnZ7f
Cole Porter at Waldorf Towers
https://www.nyclgbtsites.org/site/cole-porter-residence-at-the-waldorf-towers/
Cole Porter Festival, Peru, Indiana
https://www.coleporterfestival.org/
Cole Porter’s Grave
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/827/cole-porter
Cole Porter’s Piano
https://www.untappedcities.com/cole-porter-piano-waldorf-astoria/
https://www.nyclgbtsites.org/site/cole-porter-residence-at-the-waldorf-towers/
Something to Shout About (Full Movie)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnPeo81-Ylo
Sheet Music Cover
https://www.ebay.com/itm/306175580246
Dick Jurgens
https://youtu.be/eEK0gekO1ds
Dinah Shore
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w5KNm1LQ78&t=1s
Emil Davis and his Society Orchestra
https://youtu.be/tJ2-Qaih3N8?si=ZlAoQm9POCLmz4L4
Six Hits and a Miss
https://youtu.be/W9s6nv0kAH8?si=CR1yf1izimIz81V0
Don Ameche
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uy13c-TLyY
Leslie “Hutch” Hutchinson
https://youtu.be/saHxtoNkPK0?si=9248FnfWGrfXsXtd
Dick Bryer and the Song Spinners
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX00iq6S_-w
Noel Coward
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKArygvN7vg
Noel and Cole - similarities and differences
https://politicalscience.osu.edu/faculty/jmueller/NYTnoelcoleREV.pdf
How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning - Irving Berlin
https://youtu.be/71smG5d29to?si=K-0MjQxjboExSvL-
You’ll Never Walk Alone - Christine Johnson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlsUfOjVhrM
Noel Coward - I’m Old Fashioned (by Jerome Kern)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3Ia2hhbFTg
The Real American Folk Song is a Rag - George Gerswhin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seADKw7s2fI
London Pride - Noel Coward
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnB2lewGcYc
CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
00:50 Catch Up
02:20 Y = You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To
03:25 Cole Porter - His Early Years
05:59 Cole Porter - The Yale Years
09:02 Cole Porter - A Move to Paris
15:05 Cole Porter - Conquering Broadway
23:12 Cole Porter - Tragedy Strikes
28:00 Discussing the Sheet Music
31:41 Discussing the Lyrics
35:23 Discussing the Music
37:16 Discussing Versions: Dick Jurgen
38:53 Emil Davis and his Society Orchestra
39:27 Six Hits and a Miss
40:11 Don Ameche
40:50 Leslie "Hutch" Hutchinson
41:45 Dick Bryar and the Song Spinners
42:19 Noel Coward
43:57 Which Is Our Favourite?
44:23 If You Liked That You'll Like This
46:45 Mentioned in Dispatches
47:16 Teaser for Next Week
48:03 Outro
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
You can follow the podcast on social media:
http://instagram.com/warsongspod
https://www.facebook.com/warsongspod
Find more information about Lili Redman here:
https://liliredman.com/
https://www.instagram.com/lili__redman/
https://www.facebook.com/ScalaLil
Or Tom Carradine here:
https://www.tomcarradine.com/
https://www.instagram.com/tomcarradine
https://www.facebook.com/mrtomcarradine
CONTACT THE PODCAST
If there's a wartime song that you think they should discuss, or if you have a personal or family story connected to one, drop them a line at warsongspod@gmail.com to be "Mentioned in Dispatches".
LISTENING LINKS
Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7ktQ4nyudmPRLcCNyNxEfv?si=ac9e1babe6834f2b
Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-a-to-z-of-wartime-song/id1806037318
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