Skylark is a jazz standard composed in 1941 by Hoagy Carmichael with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. Carmichael wrote the melody inspired by a Bix Beiderbecke cornet improvisation, originally for a Broadway project based on the novel Young Man With a Horn; after the project failed, Mercer penned the lyrics. The song was first recorded by Gene Krupa & His Orchestra with Anita O'Day in 1941 and published that year, with the 1942 single release helping to popularize it.
Several 1942 charting versions followed, including the Glenn Miller Orchestra with Ray Eberle, Bing Crosby, and Dinah Shore, with the Miller version reaching No 7 on the Billboard pop chart. Skylark is regarded as a jazz standard and is associated with Mercer’s longing for Judy Garland, expressed through images of a skylark, a gypsy serenading the moon, and a meadow in the mist. A Buick Skylark car model named after the song ran from 1953 to 1998. The tune has been recorded many times; notable albums include Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Johnny Mercer Song Book (1964), and performers such as Art Blakey with Freddie Hubbard, Bob Dylan, and many others have covered it over the years.
