My Funny Valentine

My Funny Valentine

My funny valentine, sweet comic valentine
You make me smile with my heart
Your looks are laughable, unphotographable
But you're my favourite work of art
Is your figure less than Greek?
Is your mouth a little weak?
When you open it to speak
Are you smart?
Don't change a hair for me
Not if you care for me
Stay little valentine, stay
Each day is Valentine's day 

 

It was in 1979 that I first started to go out with Brian.  We stayed in the same blocks of student accommodation, I was in my third year and he was a postgraduate student, one of the girls in my flat was on the same course as a guy in Brian's flat and that is how we met.

 

The student flats backed on to an old area which had been pretty much demolished, all that stood was the old communal Baths and a little row with a couple of shops and 'The Royal Bar'.  The Royal Bar was a bit of a dive, frequented by locals and the occasional student.  We once had to leave rapidly when a fight broke out and chairs were being thrown about.  In the Royal Bar there was an old fashioned Juke Box we liked to play and on the B side of Oliver's Army by Elvis Costello and the Attractions, was a vocal and guitar version of 'My Funny Valentine'.  As a dyed-in-the-wool fan of those old musical movies they used to play on a Sunday afternoon, I love those Rogers and Hart tunes and, at that time, Brian was playing bass guitar with the University Big Band and this was one of the numbers that they played.  And that is how it became our tune.

 

We have the record, but I was delighted to see that you could find it on YouTube so, if you would like, you can listen to it too.