Carly Simon and Harry Conick, Jr. / I Have Dreamed

Gorgeous pieces of music come back into our lives through many ways. In this case, it was my habit of listening to late night radio of Coast to Coast AM. Here, the bumper music for a segment a few nights ago I had to track down. And of course I/ve heard this piece before and saw the film. A truly inspired piece of music.

The song “I Have Dreamed” was from the 1951 Rogers and Hammerstein muscial the King and I. In the original Broadway production it was sung by Doretta Morrow and Larry Douglas. It has since become a standard, with many artists recording the song.

In the show, the characters of Lun Tha and Tuptim sing of how they have dreamt of their true love blossoming in freedom, as they prepare to escape from the King’s palace. This is in contrast to the subdued mood of the song “We Kiss in a Shadow,” when they fear that the King will learn of their love.

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The song “I Have Dreamed” was added to the score of The King and I during its out-of-town tryout run. The song was recorded for the soundtrack of the 1956 film version of the King and I, but ultimately, no footage was shot to feature it. Only the melody is heard in the film, as incidental music prior to the “We Kiss in a Shadow” sequence. However, “I Have Dreamed” was retained on the soundtrack album where it was sung by Reuben Fuentes and Leona Gordon.

The beautiful song has been sung by everyone from Frank Sinatra, Matt Monroe, Bobby Darwin, Barbara Steisman, The Letterman, Chad and Jeremy … and so on. There are at least fifty famous singers listed on Wikipedia who have appraoched the song.

Over the years, I’ve gotten a lot out of Coast to Coast, late night radio.

Here, just that footnote of a show called “bumper music.”