Between the Covers

Unbound. An archive of unpublished sheet music by the song writing duo Robert A. Bernstein and Warren B. Meyers. Consisting of 23 pieces, most finished and submitted for copyright, but none published. All approximately 9" x 12", some a bit larger, most hand printed, one piece with a negative photostat copy, and one with both a negative and positive photostat copy included, many of the hand notated sheets have typewritten text, some with handwritten corrections and notes, and some sheets are printed on both sides. The pieces only feature a vocal melody and lyrics (as that’s the part eligible for copyright), only one piece features piano, the beginning of a draft for a musical titled *Lonely Means for Anyone*. Most of the pieces have a paperclip mark at the top, some bumping to the corners as to be expected, but overall a near fine archive.

Robert A. Bernstein and Warren B. Meyers appear to have primarily worked together during the 1950s, putting on revues and one act musicals within New York City and its environs; shows such as *No Bed of Roses* (1952), *A la Carte* (1952), *La Donna Della Evening* (1952), *Improper Channels* (1957), and *2x4* (1959), all of which seem to have slipped so fully into obscurity that only a few miniscule newspaper clippings remain to confirm that they ever existed. While Bernstein never stumbled upon a hit (his biggest recorded credit listing him as a writer for the show *Almost Crazy* [1955], which ended up suffering from middling to poor reviews), Meyers produced an unexpected success in 1967 with his first, and seemingly only, foray into the book world, *Who Is That?: The Late, Late Viewers Guide to the Old, Old Movie Players*. A heavily illustrated guide to what the preface describes as showcasing "the most frequently seen players, categorized by their most frequently played roles." The book was a big hit, even getting a write-up in *The New York Times* who flatteringly wrote that readers would find the book, "Near the check-out counter— the place of honor—at your paperback store these days."

Collected here are 21 titles that have been registered with the Copyright Office (two have not), but are reported by said office to have not been published. Whether they were never published but performed in one of Bernstein’s and Meyers' shows, or whether they simply never graced the ears of an audience in any form, we do not know. What we do know is that it makes perfect sense that some of these would not have been published in the 1950s, if ever – From the vague but nonetheless present socialism of the song "Capital in Labor," "Harken to the teacher, love your fellow creature/never bring him ruin or rue/listen honey tell me who wants money/when the sky is sunny big and blue." To the masochistic internalized sexism of "Bane of My Existence," "He beats me, and he hurts me/he cheats me and deserts me/oh he treats me like a slave, but he’s my man.” To the off-the-wall problematic lyrics of "If You Incest," which begins with a female patient singing "I used to be aggressive, but now I'm just depressive/I used to be inspired but now I'm just tired ... Oh, doctor get rid of this hex! Is it related to sex?" To which the male doctor replies, "You mustn't have a fit so, it's fun to be a schizo! ... It makes you cute and coy-a, this charming paranoia," and it only gets worse from there.

While most of the material is rather standard fare for the trade at the time, such as "The Kiss Song," "I'm a dunce for being hooked, I kissed you once and I was cooked," a handful of the songs standout as rather outrageous in their lyrical content; including one song that says all you need to know and more with its title alone, "When Fanny Fans Her Fanny With A Fancy Spanish Fan." Not only do these songs speak about the blatant sexism that was so prevalent in America at the time, but they also speak to both the taboos and trends of the 1950s through lyrics that attempt to break them and mock them. The best example of this being "If You Incest," which can be partially read as a reaction to the contemporary popularity around Freudianism and psychoanalysis; yet also, however unwittingly, highlights the callous manner in which male doctors treated female psychiatric patients.

Then there are the more subtle but no less interesting aspects, such as a lethargic gender swapping edit to the song, "The Only Girl for Me," replacing one pronoun for the other but changing practically nothing else; a song featuring a rebellious Mona Lisa who sings, “I want to fight with a knight and be quite a bit unpleasant/want to spit in a fit on some pitiful old peasant/want to mumble and rumble and grumble for a while/but I don’t want to smile my smile”; and perhaps the most amusing (or saddest) moment, a song of love and longing titled “Dream of Me” filed for copyright in 1951, revised and filed again in 1952 with the same melody but newly titled “Hopelessly,” the lyrics now expressing bitter heartbreak and loneliness.

We were unable to find any published music by Bernstein and Meyers and very little has been written about them. Whether these songs were performed at the time or not, there is one thing for certain, they have not been heard for a long time. A fascinating archive of unpublished songs by a little known, though somewhat successful song writing duo from the 1950s. A list of each title is available upon request.

Item #612527