Released 1982 Length 3:52 | Format LP Label Columbia | |
B-side Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born) Writer(s) Andrew Lloyd Webber and Trevor Nunn, | ||
"Memory", often incorrectly called "Memories", is a show tune from the 1981 musical Cats. It is sung by the character Grizabella, a one-time glamour cat who is now only a shell of her former self. The song is a nostalgic remembrance of her glorious past and a declaration of her wish to start a new life. Sung briefly in the first act and in full near the end of the show, "Memory" is the climax of the musical, and by far its most popular and well-known song. Elaine Paige originated the role of Grizabella in the West End production of Cats, the first to publicly perform the song on stage and bringing attention to its writers Andrew Lloyd Webber and Trevor Nunn, who received the 1981 Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.
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Conception and composition
The lyric, written by Cats director Trevor Nunn, was based on T. S. Eliot's poems "Preludes" and "Rhapsody on a Windy Night". Andrew Lloyd Webber's former writing partner Tim Rice and contemporary collaborator Don Black submitted a lyric to the show's producers for consideration, although Nunn's version was favoured. Elaine Paige has said that she sang a different lyric to the tune of "Memory" for the first ten previews of Cats.
Composer Lloyd Webber feared that the tune sounded too similar to Ravel's Bolero and to a work by Puccini, and also that the opening – the haunting main theme – closely resembled the flute solo (improvised by Bud Shank in the studio) from The Mamas & the Papas' 1965 song "California Dreamin'". He asked his father's opinion; according to Lloyd Webber, his father responded "It sounds like a million dollars!"
Prior to its inclusion in Cats, the tune was earmarked for earlier Lloyd Webber projects, including a ballad for Perón in Evita and as a song for Max in his original 1970s draft of Sunset Boulevard.
In its original orchestration, the song's climax is in the key of D-flat major, the composer's favourite.
While Lloyd Webber mentions Ravel's Bolero, there is no mention of similarity to "Bolero in Blue" written by Larry Clinton. In this case Lloyd Webber's composition appears to replicate note for note the first several measures from Clinton's composition.
Larry Clinton wrote "Bolero in Blue" in the 1930s and performed it on his mid-fifties album "Larry Clinton in hi fi".
The arrangement of the lyrics in the show were changed after the initial recordings of the track, with the first verse, beginning "Midnight, not a sound from the pavement..." being used in only the brief, Act I rendition of the song and a new verse, "Memory, turn your face to the moonlight...'" in its place for the Act II performance. In addition, the original second bridge section became the first and a new second bridge was added. Consequently, the arrangement of the lyric for a recording usually depends on whether the artist has played the role on stage.
Cover versions
"Memory" has been covered by numerous musical acts. Among the more notable are the following:
Barbra Streisand version
Barbra Streisand recorded "Memory" (recording produced by Lloyd Webber himself) for her 1981 album Memories. When released as a single, Streisand's cover reached No. 52 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 9 on the Billboard adult contemporary chart in 1982. In the UK this version peaked at No. 34 the same year. A music video was made for her version of the song; it was filmed with only one camera on a set resembling a recording studio, and utilized some vintage stock footage of New York City and New Year's Eve parties to make the mood melancholy. The video was produced by Chips Chipperfield. The single sold 749 000 copies in France and is the 231st best-selling single of all-time in the country.