Try to Remember is a song from the musical comedy The Fantasticks. It is the first song sung in the show, to get the audience to imagine what the sparse set suggests. Its lyrics, written by Tom Jones, famously rhyme "remember" with "September" and "December." Harvey Schmidt composed the music.
Try to Remember was originally sung by Jerry Orbach in the Original Off Broadway production of The Fantasticks. "Try To Remember" made the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart three times in 1965 in versions by Ed Ames, Roger Williams and the Brothers Four. However, in 1975, Gladys Knight & The Pips had a huge international hit with their version of "Try to Remember," combining it into a medley with a cover of Barbra Streisand's "The Way We Were". In Knight's version, she recited some of the lyrics from "Try To Remember" in spoken-word fashion before beginning to sing "The Way We Were." The Greek singer Nana Mouskouri also recorded it in three languages: German, French, and Italian.
Try to Remember was also used in the soundtrack of the film The Man Who Fell to Earth, the video game Chrono Trigger, and the Hong Kong film City of Glass (玻璃之城).
(Quoted from Wikipedia article)
The original lyrics by Tom Jones is as follows.
Try to remember the kind of September
when life was slow and oh, so mellow.
Try to remember the kind of September
when grass was green and grain was yellow.
Try to remember the kind of September
when you were a tender and callow fellow,
Try to remember and if you remember the follow.
Try to remember when life was so tender
that no one wept except the willow.
Try to remember when life was so tender that
dreams were kept beside your pillow.
Try to remember when life was so tender that
love was an ember about to billow.
Try to remember and if you remember then follow.
Deep in December it's nice to remember
altho you know the snow will follow.
Deep in December it's nice to remember
without the hurt the heart is hollow.
Deep in December it's nice to remember
the fire of September that made us mellow.
Deep in December our hearts should remember and follow.
Following is the lyrics of the version sung by The Brothers Four. This version is four lines shorter, with two lines modified, compared to the original version written by Tom Jones.
Try to remember the kind of September
When life was slow and oh, so mellow
Try to remember the kind of September
When grass was green and grain was yellow
Try to remember the kind of September
When you were a tender and callow fellow
Try to remember and if you remember
Then follow, follow.
Try to remember when life was so tender
That no one wept except the willow
Try to remember the time of September
When love was an ember about to billow
Try to remember and if you remember
Then follow, follow.
Deep in December It's nice to remember
Although you know the snow will follow
Deep in December It's nice to remember
The fire of September that made us mellow
Deep in December our hearts should remember
And follow, follow, follow…
Tags: Barbra Streisand, Chrono Triger, Ed Ames, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Harvey Schmidt, Jerry Orbach, Nana Mouskouri, Roger Williams, The Brothers Four, The Fantasticks, The Man Who Fell to Earth, The Way We Were, Tom Jones, Try To Remember, 玻璃之城
