Memory (song) 1926755 224130941 2008-07-07T13:23:54Z 58.69.69.121 {{Unreferenced|date=February 2008}} "'''Memory'''" is a [[show tune]] from the [[1981 in music|1981]] [[Andrew Lloyd Webber]] [[musical theatre|musical]] ''[[Cats (musical)|Cats]]'' sung by the character [[Grizabella]], a one-time glamour cat who is now a shell of her former self. The song is a nostalgic remembrance of her glorious past and a declaration of her wishes to start a new life. Sung briefly in the first act and in full near the end of the show, "Memory" is the climax of the musical, and by far its most popular and well-known song. The lyrics, written by [[Trevor Nunn]], were based on [[T. S. Eliot]]'s poems "Preludes" and "Rhapsody on a Windy Night". Lloyd Webber, fearing that the tune sounded too similar to a work of [[Giacomo Puccini|Puccini]], asked [[William Lloyd Webber|his father's]] opinion. According to Lloyd Webber, his father responded, "It sounds like a million dollars!" Notable artists who have made the song popular include [[Elaine Paige]] (the original Grizabella), [[Barbra Streisand]], [[Betty Buckley]] (first to play Grizabella on Broadway), [[Barry Manilow]], [[Simone Simons]] and [[Petula Clark]]. The song's climax is in the key of [[D-flat major]], the composer's favorite. The song is often incorrectly referred to as "Memories"; the correct title is the singular "Memory". With lyrics in [[Swedish language|Swedish]] by [[Olle Bergman]], [[Kikki Danielsson]] [[cover version|covered]] the song on her [[1982]] album ''[[Kikki (album)|Kikki]]'' as "Minnet" (translated: "The memory"). ''[[American Idol]]'' contestant [[Jason Castro]] sang this song on the [[American Idol (season 7)|show's seventh season]]. ==External links== *[http://www.poetry-archive.com/e/rhapsody_on_a_windy_night.html Rhapsody on a Windy Night] and *[http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/107.html Preludes] the T. S. Eliot poems that inspired the lyrics to Memory [[Category:Kikki Danielsson songs]] [[Category:Songs from musicals]] [[Category:Songs with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber]] [[Category:Show tune stubs]] [[Category:Barbra Streisand songs]] [[Category:Sarah Brightman songs]] [[Category:1981 songs]] [[Category:1983 singles]] [[de:Memory (Lied)]] [[it:Memory (canzone)]] [[pl:Pamięć (piosenka)]]