This was a big hit for Annette.  It has a lot of common symbols in it that poets often use.  Annette has lost her lover. When she is in love, she aludes to the fact that everything has "colors" but now she is "in winter" that is "gray and cold".  When you are lonely, when you are sad and the colors turn from bright to dull and gray.  When she is in love she has "pride", but now "her pride has been humbled".  She suddenly realizes that the "foundation" of her love was shaky and "her house of cards" has fallen.  In the very first verse, she declares that her love was the "light" of her life and now she is lost in the night.  This is kind of typical for a song of the depression.  It show's Annette versatility.  She could sing a happy bouyant love song, but she could also grasp the listener with sudden intense sadness from the loss of a love.  What made this song one of her hits I think is the intense emotion that Annette brings to the song.  None of the musicians stand out.  They certainly do their job of course but the intensity in this one is all Annette.  It shows more than any other song that she sang with such intense versatility.  Good Stuff.

Also, if you look at the recording dates for this song you find that Paul Whiteman recorded this song first in January of 1930 and then it was Libby Holman in March of 1930 and then Annette's old nemesis Ruth Etting in October of 1930. Annette recorded it the same month! Not sure who recorded it first, but it is surely no conincidence that both Columbia singers recorded the same song at almost the same time. Was it because Ruth recorded it that someone in Annette's camp, possibly Wally thought that maybe Annette should record it? Surely this song was more of the kind of song that Libby Holman or Ruth would have recorded than Annette. Annette was happiest recorded happy, bouncy numbers. But she wouldn't shy away from a good torch song. And if you listen to the each of the recordings, Annette's version comes through stronger and with more feeling than either Libby Holman or Ruth's version. This is somewhat surprising as both Ruth and Libby specialized in being good torch singers. It just shows Annette's surprising versatility during this time. However, this was not one of Annette's signature tunes. I suppose this more of a marketing plan than anything else. Another interesting fact is that Annette recorded this for the "dime store" labels of Harmony and Velvetone for the cheaper price of 35 cents, where both the Ruth Etting Version and Libby Holman version would have been priced at 75 cents. Annette could have gotten more exposure just from the cheaper price of the record.

Body and Soul

I'm lost in the dark
where is the spark
for my love
I'm lost in the night
holding the light of my love
the heaven's opened and closed
as well I might have supposed
and I am left in this abandon
so far removed fromall that I have planned on
my days have grown so lonely
 for I have lost my one and only
My pride has been humbled
but I am his
Body and Soul

I was a mere sensation
my house of cards
had no foundation
although it has tumbled
I am still his body and soul

What lies before me
the future is stormy
a winter that is gray and cold
unless there's magic
the end will be tragic
the echoes the tale have been told
so often
My life revolves about him
what earthly good am I without him
my castles have crumbled
but I am his
Body and Soul

My life revolves about him
Lord nows I am just no good without him
my castles have crumbled
but I am his
Body and Soul

mbut