Louis Armstrong – Jeepers Creepers

Song

"Jeepers Creepers" is a popular song and jazz standard. The music was written by Harry Warren and the lyrics by Johnny Mercer for the 1938 movie Going Places. It was premiered by Louis Armstrong and has been covered by many other musicians. The song was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1938 but lost to "Thanks for the Memory".

The song was included in the 1984 Smithsonian collection American Popular Song: Six Decades of Songwriters and Singers and in the 1998 Warren's CD collection The Songs Of Harry Warren.

Background

In 1930s Hollywood, black actors were not filmed singing to each other, so Armstrong sang it to a racehorse named Jeepers Creepers. The phrase is a minced oath for "Jesus Christ," predates both the song and film. Mercer said that the title came from a Henry Fonda line in an earlier movie. The lyrics include:

Jeepers Creepers, where'd ya get those peepers?
J. C., where'd ya get those eyes?

1939 recordings

• There were three popular versions of the song released in 1939, by Al Donahue, Louis Armstrong, and Larry Clinton. It served as a contrafact for the Tadd Dameron composition "Flossie Lou".

Controversy

• Siouxsie and the Banshees's 1988 single "Peek-a-Boo" caused a minor controversy shortly after its release, as the lines of the chorus ("Golly jeepers/Where'd you get those weepers?/Peepshow, creepshow/Where did you get those eyes?") were found to be too similar to the lyrics of "Jeepers Creepers." To remedy the situation and to avoid legal action, the band gave co-songwriting credit on "Peek-a-Boo" to Warren and Mercer

Artist

Louis Daniel Armstrong noto anche con il soprannome di Satchmo o Pops (New Orleans, 4 agosto 1901 – New York, 6 luglio 1971) è stato un trombettista e cantante statunitense.

Armstrong è stato uno tra i più famosi musicisti jazz del XX secolo, raggiungendo la fama inizialmente come trombettista, ma fu anche uno dei più importanti cantanti jazz, soprattutto verso la fine della carriera.

Viene considerato una delle più grandi e influenti personalità in campo musicale del '900, e le sue innovazioni interpretative hanno permesso alla musica jazz di evolversi ed espandersi, aiutandola a diventare un genere celebre in tutto il mondo.

Jeepers, creepers
Where’d you get them peepers?
Jeepers, creepers
Where’d you get those eyes?
Gosh oh, git up
How’d they get so lit up?
Gosh oh, gee oh
How’d they get that size?

Golly gee
When you turn them heaters on
Woe is me
Got to put my cheaters on

Jeepers, creepers
Where’d ya get them peepers
Oh, those weepers
How they hypnotize

Jeepers, creepers
Where’d your get them peepers
Oh, those weepers
How they hypnotize
Where did your get those
Golly where’d your get those
Where did your get them there eyes?

Jeepers, creepers
Dove hai portato quei ficcanaso?
Jeepers, creepers
dove hai preso quegli occhi?
oddio oh, vai su
Come sono diventati così illuminati?
Accidenti oh, guarda oh
Come hanno preso quella dimensione?

Golly gee
Quando accendi i termosifoni
Guai a me
Devo mettere i miei imbroglioni su

Jeepers, creepers
Dove li hai presi?
Oh, quelli che piangono
Come ipnotizzano

Jeepers, creepers
Dove hai portato quei ficcanaso
Oh, quelli che piangono
Come ipnotizzano
Dove li hai presi
Golly dove hai preso quelli
dove li hai portati gli occhi?