The Don

Lord Grade of Yarmouth has been at it again. This time introducing a tribute show to Don Black and chinwagging with him on a sofa on the stage of the Royal Festival Hall. As you do.

During their initial banter there was some time spent on rhyme. Like a dedicated stamp enthusiast, The Don apparently collects rhymes and files them away in little books. But, it seems, he doesn't post 'em. That's to say, he isn't really a flambuoyantly rhyme-y lyricist in the Noel/Cole sense.

From all the songs heard in the tribute the most memorable rhyme was probably found in "Some of Us Belong to the Stars" from Billy:

"Some of us belong to the stars
And that is where I am going
I will soar all over the sky
And I won't need a Boeing"

Which is fun. But not as fun as:

"My name is Dr. Sibelius
Don't worry, that's just an alias"

Which was part of a little tribute ditty performed by fellow-lyricist Richard Stilgoe.

The point is that the greatness in The Don's songs does not, I think, lie in their rhymes. Something else is going on.

Let's take a look at "Diamonds are Forever":

"Diamonds are forever
Sparkling round my little finger
Unlike men, the diamonds linger
Men are mere mortals who are not worth going to your grave for
I don't need love
For what good will love do me
Diamonds never lie to me
For when love's gone
They'll lustre on"

Now I've heard it said that the lyric is made lustrous by that that "lustre". It is the perfect word for the occasion, le mot juste. That may be true, but it's not the perfect lyric. To my ear, it doesn't sing. For starters there's the adjacent consonants of "they'll lustre" which is tricky. Then there's the problem of "lustre on" which, when sung, comes out as Lusteron. It's fine once you know the proper lyric but, until then, you could be left thinking that the song is about one of the randier robots from the Transformers franchise.

No, for me the line that makes the song is a few bars before:

"Men are mere mortals who are not worth going to your grave for"

That sentence-ending preposition may cause some heartache for traditional grammarists but, honestly, this ain't grammar. It's lyric writing. "Mere mortals" and "going to your grave" are the kind of everyday phrases that, in the right context and given the right tune (those menacing triplets from composer John Barry), are turned into a great songwriting. Follow that with "I don't need love" with "love" coming on a big long outburst of a note. What you get is the disdain, the anger, the hurt, the defiance. In short, what you get is a genuine character. And that also explains why The Don moved so successfully from pop songs to the theatre.

I've said it before, he is the Little Black Dress of lyricists: simple, classy, goes with everything.