"So Near and yet So Far" is a song written by

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

, for the 1941 film ''

You'll Never Get Rich ''You'll Never Get Rich'' is a 1941 American musical comedy film directed by Sidney Lanfield and starring Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The title references the U.S. Army song lyric: "You'll never get r ...

'', where it was introduced by

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz, May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, actor, singer, musician, choreographer, and presenter, whose career in stage, film, and television spanned 76 years. He is widely regarded as the "g ...

, and accompanied a dance with Astaire and

Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer, and Pin-up model, pin-up girl. She achieved fame in the 1940s as one of the top stars of the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of ...

, choreographed by

Robert Alton Robert Alton (2 January 1902 – 12 June 1957) was an American dancer and choreographer, a major figure in dance choreography of Broadway and Hollywood musicals from the 1930s through to the early 1950s. He is principally remembered today as the ...

. Astaire and Hayworth's performance was significant as the only occasion where Astaire's female dancing partner led the choreography of the dance. Porter's biographer, William McBrien described the song as "beautiful and highly successful". Priscilla Peña Ovalle in her book ''Dance and the Hollywood Latina'' describes the song as a "latune", a "tune with a Latin beat and an English-language lyric" that was a "U.S. consumer-friendly approximation" of an Afro-Cuban

rumba The term rumba may refer to a variety of unrelated music styles. Originally, "rumba" was used as a synonym for "party" in northern Cuba, and by the late 19th century it was used to denote the complex of secular music styles known as Cuban rumba ...

. Theorist Gustavo Perez Firmat discussed "So Near and yet So Far" in his book ''The Havana Habit'' and described it as "the most elegant rumba ever captured on film".

Notable recordings

Eugenie Baird Eugenie Baird (November 19, 1923 – June 12, 1988) was an American big-band, jazz, and radio singer. Career Baird was from Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of Eugene Baird, whose obituary described him as a construction foreman, ...

with

Tony Pastor Antonio Pastor (May 28, 1837 – August 26, 1908) was an American impresario, variety performer and theatre owner who became one of the founding forces behind American vaudeville in the mid-to-late-nineteenth century. He was sometimes refe ...

(1941 - Bluebird B-11267) *

Bobby Short Robert Waltrip Short (September 15, 1924 – March 21, 2005) was an American cabaret singer and pianist who interpreted songs by popular composers from the first half of the 20th century such as Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold ...

– ''Bobby Short Loves Cole Porter'' (Atlantic, 1972) *

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, 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, phra ...

– '' Ella Loves Cole'' (Atlantic, 1972)

References

* Songs written by Cole Porter Fred Astaire songs 1941 songs {{Pop-standard-stub