Baltimore Oriole is a 1942 song composed by Hoagy Carmichael with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster. Like Carmichael’s Skylark, its words use a bird metaphor to tell a love affair, and it is often regarded as one of Carmichael’s most evocative pieces. The song was slated to be part of the 1944 film To Have and Have Not, but director Howard Hawks had Lauren Bacall sing How Little We Know and Baltimore Oriole mostly appeared as background music. Carmichael recorded it for his 1956 album Hoagy Sings Carmichael and again on his final album Ole Buttermilk Sky. A jazz instrumental version was released by Maynard Ferguson in 1964 on The Blues Roar, and George Harrison later covered it on his 1981 album Somewhere in England. A 2007 tribute album by Rachel Gould and Luigi Tessarollo includes the tune among Carmichael’s works. The piece is considered a classic American popular song and jazz standard, and Australian composer Andrew Ford has called it his favorite Carmichael tune, noting a memorable line about forgiveness in love.
