It's Not For Me To Say - Robert Allen (Johnny Mathis)

"It's Not For Me To Say" is a song with lyrics by Al Stillman and music by Robert Allen. It was featured in the 1957 movie "Lizzie" and sung by Johnny Mathis, who had a gold record with his performance. This song, along with "Wonderful, Wonderful" (a chord chart for this one is coming) was recorded in 1956, and were two of Mathis's early hits.

The song itself has a standard 32-bar ABAC structure, notable only in that the second A section is only four measures long, and the B and C sections are completely unrelated. The melody is well-crafted, with the last phrase recapitulating the opening motive (the lyrics parallel this structure). Mathis gives the definitive performance, which can be found on Youtube. There are others: Johnny Contardo and Sha-Na-Na (I'm not kidding) and Nat King Cole both give fine live performances. I would avoid those by Barry Manilow, Bing Crosby, and Chris Connor. Also avoid that by Billie Holiday recorded a few months before her death in 1959.

I am posting two versions of the chord chart. Neither is exactly the same as the Mathis version. The difference between can be found in measures 27 and 28. The first version uses standard changes in these measures; the k ver is my choice for slowing down the harmonic rhythm. You can choose which you prefer.

This song is one of many undeservedly neglected songs of the 1950s and 1960s for which I have posted charts. I frequently play for retirees in their seventies and above who appreciate this repertoire. I hope you do, too.

I play this tune in the Ballad Swing style at 85 bpm, a bit faster than Mathis's tempo of about 78 bpm.

It's Not For Me To Say - Allen

It's Not For Me To Say (k ver) - Allen