"Easy Street"
Song
Written1940
Songwriter(s)Alan Rankin Jones

"Easy Street" is a jazz standard and popular song with lyrics and music written by Alan Rankin Jones in 1940.[1][2][3][4] It was first recorded by 'Jimmy Lunceford and his Orchestra.' [1]

Background

The term 'easy street' originated in the late 1800s and is slang for "a state in which everything is going well and one is comfortable.” It's usually meant momentarily.[2]

Musical characteristics

Easy Street is in thirty-two bar form[4][5] and includes a melody that moves the title line to different pitches whenever it recurs in a phrase.[4][1] The song is usually played with a slow, slightly swinging melody.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Hischak, Thomas S. (2002). The Tin Pan Alley Song Encyclopedia. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. p. 97. ISBN 0313319928. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  2. 1 2 Dodd, David; Hunter, Robert; Trist, Alan; Barlow, John; Carpenter, Jim (2005). The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc. p. 102. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  3. ↑ Kinkle, Roger (1974). The Complete Encyclopedia of Popular Music and Jazz, 1900-1950. New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House. p. 366. ISBN 0870002295. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 Morris, James R.; Taylor, J. R.; Bowers, Dwight Blocker (1984). American Popular Song: Six Decades of Songwriters and Singers. Washington: Smithsonian Collection of Recordings. p. 106. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  5. ↑ Rankin, Jones, Alan; June, Christy (2013-11-26). "Easy Street". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved 2019-01-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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