Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong - Can't We Be Friends?

Ella & Louis - Can't We Be Friends?

엘라 피츠제럴드와 루이스 암스트롱이 함께 부른 수많은 명곡 중 가장 좋아하는 곡은 바로 앨범 Ella&Louis의 첫 번째 수록곡 Can't we be friends? 이다. 자신이 좋아하는 사람이 친구로 남자고 할 것이라는 슬픈 예감을 귀엽게 표현한 곡이다. 

[Ella Fitzgerald]

I thought I'd found the man of my dreams
Now it seems, this is how the story ends
He's going to turn me down and say
Can't we be friends?

I thought for once it couldn't go wrong
Not for long! I can see the way this ends
He's going to turn me down and say
Can't we be friends?

Never again! 

Through with love, through with men
They play their game without shame, and who's to blame?

I thought I'd found a man I could trust
What a bust! This is how the story ends
He's going to turn me down and say
Can't we be friends?

[Louis Armstrong]

Yes, I thought I knew the wheat from the chaff
What a laugh, this is how the story ends
I'll let her turn me down and say
Can't we be friends?

I acted like a kid out of school
What a fool, now I see this is the end
I'll let her turn me down and say
Can't we be friends?

Oh, what should I give
Though she gave me the air?
Why should I cry
heave a sigh, and wonder why?

Yes, I should have seen the signal to stop
What a flop, this is how the story ends
She's gonna turn me down and say
Can't we be friends?

[Ella Fitzgerald ]
What should I give
Though he gave me the air

[Louis Armstrong]
And why should I cry
heave a sigh, and wonder why

[Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong]
I should have seen the signal to stop
What a flop, this is how the story ends
I let him turn me down and say

Can't we be, can't we be, can't we be
Can't we be, can't we be, 

Can't we be friends
Oh yes

엘라와 루이스는 1956년에 녹음한 이 앨범을 시작으로 Ella and Louis Again(1957), Porgy and Bess(1959)까지 포함하여 3개의 앨범을 내놓았다. 

엘라 피츠제럴드와 루이스 암스트롱의 목소리를 듣고있자면, 인간의 목소리야말로 가장 아름다운 악기라는 말이 무슨 뜻인지 알 것만 같다.