Nat King Cole sings “In the Cool of the Day”, a very well known song that was heard in the homonym movie of 1963.
What does “In the cool of the day” have to do with Greek songs and Greek music? Well, let’s say that we will have a small tribute to famous Greek songs that made a second career internationally, with English lyrics, sung by famous foreign singers.
“In the cool of the day” originates from the Greek song “Kane ton pono sou hara” originally performed by Mary Linda. Manos Hadjidakis composed the music for the song and little later, MGM decided to shoot a film in Greece with Peter Finch, Jane Fonda and Angela Lansbury. This is how In the cool of the day was born.
Nat King Cole sings the song with his velvet voice, that lends harmoniously with the amazing images of the Greek landscape as depicted in the movie.
What is funny though is that the version with Mary Linda was released publicly in 1964, although it was composed earlier than the English version.
In any case, who ever has not seen the movie should give it a try. It’s filled with love, hope, a few sad moments and a terrific series of images of the Greek islands in the 60s. Until then, enjoy Manos Hadjidakis and his tender melodies..