"I Get a Kick Out of You" is a song by

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

, which was first sung in the 1934

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

musical '' Anything Goes'', and then in the 1936 film version. Originally sung by Ethel Merman, it has been covered by dozens of prominent performers, including

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album ...

, and

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

. A cover by

Mel Tormé Melvin Howard Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999), nicknamed "The Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer, composer, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for " The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roasting on an ...

won the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement with Accompanying Vocal(s) for arranger Rob McConnell, while a duet version by

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birt ...

and

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

was nominated for three awards at the 2022 ceremony, including

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

Alterations to the song

The lyrics were first altered shortly after being written. The last verse originally went as follows: After the 1932

Lindbergh kidnapping On March 1, 1932, Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. (born June 22, 1930), the 20-month-old son of aviators Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was abducted from his crib in the upper floor of the Lindberghs' home, Highfields, in East Am ...

, Porter changed the second and third lines to: In the 1936 movie version, alternative lyrics in the second verse were provided to replace a reference to the drug

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Am ...

, which was not allowed by Hollywood's Production Code of 1934. The original verse goes as follows: Porter changed the first line to: Frank Sinatra recorded both

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

and post-Code versions (with and without the cocaine reference): the first in 1953 and the second in 1962. On a recording live in Paris in 1962 (not released until 1994), Sinatra sings the altered version with the first line as "Some like the perfume from Spain". Other Porter-approved substitutions include "whiff of

Guerlain Guerlain () is a French perfume, cosmetics and skincare house, which is among the oldest in the world. Many traditional Guerlain fragrances are characterized by a common olfactory accord known as the "Guerlinade" (fr). The house was founded in P ...

." There is also a version with the lines "Some like the bop-type refrain, I'm sure that if I heard even one riff..." on '' Sinatra and Swingin' Brass''. All three of the above alternatives are mentioned in the liner notes to Joan Morris and William Bolcom's CD, ''Night and Day''; on the recording, Morris sings the original second verse.

Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga version

Background and reception

and

recorded a version of the song for their second collaborative album, '' Love for Sale''. It was released as the first single from the album on August 3, 2021, to digital retailers. The recording sessions for the song took place at

Electric Lady Studios Electric Lady Studios is a recording studio in Greenwich Village, New York City. It was commissioned by rock musician Jimi Hendrix in 1968 and designed by architect John Storyk and audio engineer Eddie Kramer by 1970. Hendrix spent only ten we ...

in downtown

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. ''

AARP the Magazine ''AARP: The Magazine'' is an American bi-monthly magazine, published by AARP, which focuses on aging-related issues. History and operations In 1958, AARP began publishing a magazine titled ''Modern Maturity.'' ''Modern Maturity'' was later spli ...

'' revealed that Bennett was a "considerably more muted presence during the recording of the new album with Gaga", as he was diagnosed with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As ...

in 2016, before the sessions began. The duo's version is "a campy take" on "I Get a Kick Out of You". They are backed by "jaunty piano" at the beginning of the track, with Gaga slowly starting the song with the line "My story is much too sad to be told, but practically everything leads me totally cold." Bennett then picks up with "The only exception I know is the case..." line, and when he says “Then, I see your fabulous face", Gaga jokingly asks Bennett, "Are you talking about me?" The big band arrangement then commences, and accompanies the two for the rest of the song. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' Jon Blistein described the song as "delightfully classic", and thought that "the two vocalists exude plenty of chemistry". Heran Mamo of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' opined that while Gaga's "portion of the first verse does anything but leave us totally cold", Bennett's "beautifully raspy vocals leave his counterpart emotional", and thought that "the full band breathes new life into Cole Porter's classic tune". Helen Brown of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' thought that the song revolves around "the mutual appreciation" of the pair for each other, "on which Bennett nails the dizzying internal rhyme scheme of lines such as: 'Flying too high with some girl in the sky is my idea of nothing to do...'"

Neil McCormick Neil McCormick (born 31 March 1961) is a British music journalist, author and broadcaster. He has been Chief Music Critic for '' The Daily Telegraph'' since 1996, and presented a music interview show for Vintage TV in the UK, Neil McCormick's Ne ...

of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' found Gaga and Bennett sounding the happiest on the album when they are "diving into the witty wordplay" of "I Get a Kick Out of You" and " You're the Top".

Alexis Petridis Alexis Petridis ( el, Αλέξης Πετρίδης; born 13 September 1971) is a British journalist, head rock and pop critic for the UK newspaper ''The Guardian'', as well as a regular contributor to the magazine '' GQ''. In addition to his mus ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' thought that the song was evidence that Bennett's health condition didn't seem to affect the chemistry between the duo. Athena Serrano from

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

noted that "Bennett doesn't fail to deliver his strong vocals even at 95." While reviewing the album, Robin Murray of '' Clash'' wrote that "''Love For Sale'' hinges on the neat chemistry between the two, their nimble performances fuelling a later turn on 'I Get A Kick Out Of You'."

Music video

The accompanying music video premiered on MTV on August 6. It begins with Bennett saying "All set", and Gaga laughing and stating that "Tony's always ready". It then shows Bennett and Gaga recording the song, while they smile at each other and hug several times emotionally. Gaga appears wearing a simple black dress, while Bennett wears a blue suit and tie. The video shows Bennett snapping his fingers, lending several thumbs up to the instrumental proceedings, and winking at Gaga. At one moment of the video, Gaga rests her head on Bennett's shoulder, while another part shows a closeup of Gaga, revealing tears in her eyes. The video had a positive reception, with critics calling it "heartwarming", "emotional" and "sweet".

Accolades

The song was nominated for

and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the

64th Annual Grammy Awards The 64th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 2020, to September 30, ...

, while its music video received a nomination in the

Best Music Video The Grammy Award for Best Music Video is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to performers, directors, and producers of quality short form music videos. Hon ...

category.

Release history

Other covers

* In 1968, schlager singer

Hildegard Knef Hildegard Frieda Albertine Knef (; 28 December 19251 February 2002) was a German actress, voice actress, singer, and writer. She was billed in some English-language films as Hildegard Neff or Hildegarde Neff. Early years Hildegard Knef was born ...

released a version of the song with German lyrics by Mischa Mleinek titled "Nichts haut mich um, aber du" ("Nothing Knocks Me Over But You"). * In 1974, Australian singer

Gary Shearston Gary Rhett Shearston (9 January 19391 July 2013) was an Australian singer and songwriter and Anglican priest. He was a leading figure of the folk music revival of the 1960s and was notable as a performer of Australian traditional folk songs in ...

released a 1920s/30s style version. Issued on the Charisma label, it entered the UK Singles Chart on October 5, 1974, and had an eight week run on the charts with a peak position of No. 7.

References

{{authority control 1934 songs Songs written by Cole Porter Songs from Anything Goes Ethel Merman songs Frank Sinatra songs Ella Fitzgerald songs Shirley Bassey songs Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) Pop standards Columbia Records singles Interscope Records singles