Night and Day is a classic Cole Porter song written for the 1932 Broadway musical Gay Divorce. Porter introduced the tune, and Fred Astaire sang it on Broadway in 1932; a recording by Fred Astaire with Leo Reisman and His Orchestra was released January 13, 1933. The song sits in the popular music and musical theatre tradition and is a cornerstone of the Great American Songbook. It is noted for its unusual 48-bar chorus, ABABCB, its complex harmonies and a persistent pedal tone that drives the melody. It has been recorded by many artists including Billie Holiday (1939), Ella Fitzgerald (1956), Frank Sinatra (1957), Sergio Mendes (1967), Everything but the Girl (1983) and U2 (1990 for Red Hot + Blue). The piece also features in the 1934 film The Gay Divorcee with Astaire and Ginger Rogers and remains one of Porter’s best known works.
