Noel Coward "Nina" (1955)

Noel Coward performing "Nina" (1955)

[@melanievotaw1303]

Fantastic. The Cole Porter jab cracked me up.

[@klaatoris]

Each gesture communicates something. Every little twitch of an eye muscle, every miniscule wiggling of a finger, is significant. This is a master at work, and it's a true joy to behold. And then I haven't even mentioned the lyrics!

[@spadebraithwaite1762]

Fifty years ago my father's car got broken into and all his tapes got stolen. So, at twelve years old, my father bought two dozen blank cassettes and paid me, over the Summer holiday, to record all his favourite music from vinyl. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. I discovered Noel Coward, Louis Armstrong, Elizabeth Welch, Cab Calloway, Gilbert and Sullivan, so much fantastic music. My buddies were listening to Fun-Boy-Three and I was listening to the ink Spots.

[@Warpedsmac]

Based on the artists you've mentioned...our dads had the same music tastes. I was listening to the Ink Spots and Satchmo etc while everyone my age in Australia heard ACDC and Midnight Oil.... Cheers from the Hunter Wine Country NSW.

[@PeterBrownPianist]

The Master - as fresh sounding as when I first heard him sing this song - 50 years ago!

[@davesawyer1164]

I love his style and portrait but who is this amazing person?

[@classicalbanksy4908]

Frank Sinatra considered him the greatest of all Cabaretiers. Flew in a 747 to Las Vegas, after Coward's sell-out Cabaret at the Savoy in 1953, was bought and he took up one of the first Vegas Residences the following year. His Diaries are WELL worth a read - hilarious, insightful, witty, scandalous!

[@alanscott6836]

An Artist at Work. This is simply great.

[@julianbaldwin9834]

Just watched this vid, a master at what he did, and impeccable timing through out his performance aswell as flawless delivery of complicated lengthy lyrics, almost a precursor to modern rap music when so much lyrical content is sqeezed into such a short space of time! remarkable

[@doreencellner55]

@julianbaldwin9834 Excellent observations and comments. Sir Noël was actually referred to as "The Master", so if you didn't already know this, your instincts to call him that were absolutely right dead on! 🙂🎶👌

[@Warpedsmac]

That orchestra sounds HOT MAN!!! And what about him? One of the very best ever.....although Jeremy Irons did a very good job of it the PROMS in 1999.

[@duncanrichardson2167]

Lyrics plus deliver, incomparable

[@magloyd4907]

I'm so grateful to finally see this after reading about his Las Vegas stint for years.

[@JohnSpawn1]

Señorita Nina, from Argentina, knew all the answers Though her relatives and friends were perfect dancers She swore she'd never dance a step until she died She said, ""I've seen too many movies, and all they prove is too idiotic. They all insist that South America's exotic Whereas it couldn't be more boring if it tried."" She added firmly that she hated The sound of soft guitars beside a still lagoon She also positively stated That she could not abide a Southern moon She refused to Begin The Beguine when they requested it And she made an embarrassing scene if anyone suggested it For she detested it. Though no-one ever could be keener than little Nina On quite a number of very eligible men who did the rhumba When they proposed to her she simply left them flat. She said that love should be impulsive, but not convulsive And syncopation had a discouraging effect on procreation And that she'd rather read a book and that was that. Señorita Nina, from Argentina, despised the Tango Although she never was a girl to let a man go She wouldn't sacrifice her principles for sex. She looked with scorn on the gyrations Of her relations who danced the conga And swore that if she had to stand it any longer She'd lose all dignity and wring their silly necks. She said that frankly she was blinded To all the over advertised romantic charms And then she got more bloody minded And told them where to put their tropic palms. She said ""I hate to be pedantic but I'm driven nearly frantic When I see that unromantic, sycophantic lot of sluts Forever wriggling their guts. It drives me absolutely nuts."" She declined to Begin The Beguine when they besought her to And with language profane and obscene she cursed the man who taught her to She cursed Cole Porter too. From this it's fairly clear that Nina, in her demeanour Was so offensive that when the hatred of her friends grew too intensive She thought she'd better beat it while she had the chance After some trial and tribulation, she reached the station And met a sailor, who had acquired a wooden leg in Venezuela And so she married him, because he couldn't dance. There surely never could've been a More irritating girl than Nina They never speak in Argentina Of this degenerate bambina Who had the luck to find romance But resolutely wouldn't dance.

[@nickyeomans2947]

Absolute genius! xxx

[@simonf8902]

The master. ❤

[@simonf8902]

The master’s voice !

[@maxinejacobson4006]

Brilliant.

[@simonf8902]

The master.

[@joanmulhall5616]

He's the Best.

[@ericholck3914]

Insanely clever. Now I know why he was nicknamed “master.”

[@naly202]

I've just realised (now being interested in the history of Argentina), that at the time (1955) the situation in Argentina was anything but jolly and full of music and dance: Evita had just died and Peron had been deposed in a bloody coup. A military junta had taken over, civilians were being arrested, interrogated tortured and in many cases never came back. Pretty dark times for Argentina.

[@robruss62]

Pity Noel didn't make it to 1982, he'd have outdone himself... Though admittedly the jaunty and ironic British variation of the Battle of New Orleans about the Falklands War might get an honorable mention

[@kaibroeking9968]

My favourite line is "She also positively stated that syncopation had a discouraging effect on procreation."

[@steveliveshere]

”and that she'd rather read a book, and that was that!”

[@johntyjp]

First time I heard this was in a tribute show called Cowardy Custard in London in 1973 🧐

[@kliberalsing]

Reminds me of my proud and angry ex-wife from Brazil :-)

[@peterlarsen1000]

Brilliant artist. Rosa Larsen

[@momeara7482]

Brilliant

[@jerzybrudnicki6815]

Gem

[@garrettbays6942]

When I first saw this performance of this song, I felt that I had committed a horrible crime. I performed this song as part of my voice recital, which I was required to do (the recital, not the song) in order to graduate from college. I chose the song from a book of Noel Coward songs I owned, hoping to add some fun to my program of songs to sing. Unfortunately, I had very little help from my instructor, as well as my accompanist (who I had to pay a fucking $200 for, and she frankly sucked, and couldn't have been less interested in performing for me; and she was one of the main educators in the department!). I don't think my instructor knew much about Coward's songs, or the way he sang them, and all I had to go on (I had only seen two films that barely featured him at the time) was a very genius performance from his godson, Daniel Massey, in the film Star! (1968) In some way, that should have given me some help, but I listened more to my instructor. He had me do it in a way too operatic sound (it seemed like the college's music department only wanted opera singers), even slowing down the speed, and I was none the wiser. While the recital was good enough for me to graduate, I never realized how wrongly I performed the song. I was so angry when I saw how it should have been done. I would have had so much fun with this number.

[@cajsheen2594]

Well, if you slowed it down that was maybe all to the good, because The Master sings it so fast you can't really relish the lyrics. Just a thought. X

[@mioumioutoolate]

Well yes, its cabaret, not opera 😀

[@bt9124]

@@cajsheen2594 Completely agree. It's the same when Rach plays Rach. One's better off hearing it by anyone other than the great maestro. The other thing about such a good composer is that their works perform well anyway; technique is required of course, but that's it?

[@tangatoto362]

Let’s hope that every year on the anniversary of his death they play a 78 record of this on the verandah of the Firefly Estate in Jamaica for it to waft through the garden to his grave overlooking the bay. Wonderful!

[@robindutt7169]

Scintillating and mischievous delicious nonsense-sense...

[@ebardog2048]

Funny song. By the way, Coward pronunces correctly "Argentina", no in the english way. Well done!

[@conniefoster9733]

Does anybody have the lyrics?

[@malcolmlyndsell5009]

I studied his beginnings, I can see how he escaped the mold

[@ElvisTranscriber2]

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