Picnic (theme) - Dunning-Allen

"Picnic" is the title song from the 1955 film and was composed by George Dunning with lyrics by Steve Allen. It is a 32-bar AABA form tune notable for using the motive of an ascending third followed by a second ascending interval as the beginning of the A and B sections with additional presentations in the B section, nicely tying the phrases of the melody together. The tune was featured as a counter melody to the popular song "Moonglow" in the film, and a number of recordings of the combination of these melodies were popular at the time. There was also a recording of the song by the McGuire sisters; see Youtube for these performances as well as a clip from the film.

"Picnic" is another attractive song from the 1950s that I think should not be forgotten. A lead sheet for it can be found in the Ultimate Fake Book by Hal Leonard. I play this tune with the Jazz - Swing Two/Four style at 100 bpm, which is the tempo used in the dance sequence in the film.

Picnic - George Dunning