Mrs. Sally Adams

Album: Call Me Madam (1950)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • There are many songs about girls and women named Sally; if this is one of the less inspiring of the genre it is because it is a purely functional one. The first number from the musical Call Me Madam, like the rest of the songs in the show it was written by Irving Berlin.

    In the 1953 film version, this brief number is performed by three women - secretaries or some such - who sing down their telephones:

    "Mrs. Sally Adams
    Requests the pleasure of your company"
  • The song includes a tiny snatch of "God Bless America." When Berlin refers to "Mrs. Sally Adams, queen of all the madams" there is no innuendo or smuttiness implied, Mrs. Adams - played in the film by Ethel Merman - is a wealthy widow, and a person of some importance in political circles, hence the invitation to one of her parties. The song is also reprised at the end of the second act. >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alexander Baron - London, England, for above 2

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie Combination

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie CombinationSong Writing

In 1986, a Stephen King novella was made into a movie, with a classic song serving as title, soundtrack and tone.

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real Group

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real GroupSong Writing

The leader of the Modern A Cappella movement talks about the genre.

Jeff Trott

Jeff TrottSongwriter Interviews

Sheryl Crow's longtime songwriting partner/guitarist Jeff Trott reveals the stories behind many of the singer's hits, and what its like to be a producer for Leighton Meester and Max Gomez.

Michael Schenker

Michael SchenkerSongwriter Interviews

The Scorpions and UFO guitarist is also a very prolific songwriter - he explains how he writes with his various groups, and why he was so keen to get out of Germany and into England.

Loudon Wainwright III

Loudon Wainwright IIISongwriter Interviews

"Dead Skunk" became a stinker for Loudon when he felt pressure to make another hit - his latest songs deal with mortality, his son Rufus, and picking up poop.

Little Big Town

Little Big TownSongwriter Interviews

"When seeds that you sow grow by the wicked moon/Be sure your sins will find you out/Your past will hunt you down and turn to tell on you."