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Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better)
1946 song from the musical Annie Get Your Gun
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better)" is a show tune composed by Irving Berlin for the 1946 Broadway musical Annie Get Your Gun.[1] The song is a duet, with one male singer and one female singer attempting to outdo each other in increasingly complex tasks.
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| "They Say It's Wonderful" | |
|---|---|
| |
| Single by Ethel Merman and Ray Middleton | |
| from the album Annie Get Your Gun | |
| A-side | "They Say It's Wonderful" |
| Released | May 16, 1946 |
| Genre | show tune |
| Length | 3:10 |
| Label | Brunswick |
| Songwriter | Irving Berlin |
In the musical, the song sets the scene for the climactic sharpshooting contest between Annie Oakley and Frank Butler.[2] Its most memorable lines are, "Anything you can do, I can do better; I can do anything better than you." The song was first performed in Annie Get Your Gun by Ethel Merman and Ray Middleton.[3]
During the song, they argue playfully about who can, for example, speak softer, sing higher, sing sweeter, and hold a note for longer, and boast of their abilities and accomplishments, such as opening safes and living on bread and cheese, although Annie almost always seems to counter Frank's argument. Neither can "bake a pie," though.[4]
Notable versions
- Ethel Merman and Ray Middleton from original cast recording (1946).[5]
- Bing Crosby, Dick Haymes and The Andrews Sisters—recorded for Decca Records on March 19, 1947.[6]
- Betty Hutton and Howard Keel in the 1950 film version of the musical
- Mary Martin and John Raitt on the 1957 National Tour recording
- Doris Day and Robert Goulet for the Columbia Records album Annie Get Your Gun (1963)
- In 1963, Heidi Brühl and Robert Trehy performed a German version in the stage version of this musical at the Theater des Westens in Berlin.
- Dusty Springfield and Freddie Paris on the Australian Bandstand TV programme in 1967.
- Robert Morse and an office computer in 1968 TV series That's Life, episode S1E11 "Bobby's Pink Slip"[7]
- Two dogs in The Goodies episode "Kitten Kong" (1971).
- Barbara Walters and Howard Cosell on Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell in 1975 debating who interviews people better.
- Ethel Merman and Miss Piggy (1976) in The Muppet Show, episode 1.22
- In 1977, Tina Arena and John Bowles recorded a version for their album Tiny Tina and Little John.
- In 1990, Kidsongs released Ride the Roller Coaster, which contained a version of this song, where they play various arcade games at the Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park.
- Michael Jordan and Mia Hamm, Gatorade "Michael vs. Mia" commercial (1999), performed by Sophia Ramos[8][9][10]
- Lindsay Pearce sang a mashup of "Anything Goes"/"Anything You Can Do" in the Glee 2011 third-season premiere, "The Purple Piano Project".
- Dirty Rice sampled the opening lines of the song in the 116 Clique song "Envy", from the 2011 album Man Up by the 116 Clique.
- Laura Osnes and Jeremy Jordan live at Cafe Carlyle in 2012.[11][better source needed]
- Dame Shirley Bassey performed this song with the group Blake on the 2016 TV Special titled David Walliams Celebrates Dame Shirley Bassey.
- Barbra Streisand and Melissa McCarthy perform the duet as part of Streisand's 2016 album Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway, with altered lyrics.
Other recorded versions
- Ethel Merman and Neilson Taylor (1973)
- Judy Garland and Howard Keel (Pre-Production of film Annie Get Your Gun)[12]
- The Majors
- Von Trapp Children (song is on their Live in Concert DVD)
- Jim McNaught (1964)
Variants
- Peter Tosh: "I'm the Toughest"
- Neil Patrick Harris and Hugh Jackman: Live performance, 2011 Tony Awards[13]