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The Springsteen Song Rejected By the Harry Potter Films

Springsteen Song Harry Potter

The Harry Potter films had almost everything. They had magic and adventure. They had a story beloved by children and adults. But they did not have a Bruce Springsteen song, although they could have.

Bruce Springsteen offered his song “I’ll Stand By You Always” to the franchise, but filmmakers turned him down. Reportedly, Springsteen wrote the song between 1998 and 2000 after reading the first Harry Potter book to his eldest son, Sam. He then made the song available to director Christopher Columbus for either Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) or Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002).

Springsteen explained to BBC Radio 2 that “I’ll Stand By You Always” “was a big ballad that was very uncharacteristic of something I’d sing myself.” He added, though, that “it was something that I thought would have fit lovely.”

The song’s rejection had nothing to do with the quality of the song. Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling’s contract stipulated that no commercial songs could be used in the movies.

“I’ll Stand By You Always” almost had a second life when Marc Anthony planned to include it on his album Mended (2002). But ultimately Anthony left the song off the album.

In Springsteen’s demo version, “I’ll Stand By You Always” is a quiet ballad. The lyrics contain no overt references to Harry Potter, but they do sound like they were written from a parent to a child.

I know here in the dark tomorrow can seem so very far away;
Here the ghosts and the goblins can rise from your dreams to steal your
heart away;
Together we’ll chase those thieves that won’t leave you alone out from
under the bed, out from over our home;
And when the light comes we’ll laugh my love about the things that the
night had us so frightened of;
And until then,

I’ll stand by you always, always, always.

Around the time that Springsteen was shopping the song to the Harry Potter folks, a CD-R with the song was given to some executives at Columbia Records. But the song is not generally available. Springsteen’s demo of “I’ll Stand By You Always” hit the Internet for a brief period recently, but for now it is gone.

Springsteen does tend to release old songs eventually, so we may still see an official release of “I’ll Stand By You Always.” But until we do, you may imagine how the song might sound along with Conan O’Brien (“Let’s raise our wands to all the wizards and steel workers. . . “).

Leave your two cents in the comments.

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Ernie Kovacs and the Covair

On January 13, 1962, groundbreaking comedian Ernie Kovacs died at the age of 42 in a car crash. His Chevrolet Covair crashed into a telephone pole in Los Angeles, California.

Some authorities surmised that he was lighting one of his trademark cigars when he lost control of his vehicle. His tombstone at Forest Lawn Cemetery is inscribed, “Ernie Kovacs 1919 – 1962 — Nothing In Moderation.”

The unique style of comedy that Kovacs brought to television and several movies is often cited as inspiring a number of later classic shows. You can see Kovacs in shows ranging from Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In to Saturday Night Live to children’s shows like Sesame Street. And anytime you see the madcap antics of late night TV hosts like David Letterman or Conan O’Brien, you are seeing a little bit of the visual and surreal humor of Kovacs.

You may read more about the career of Ernie Kovacs on the Ernie Kovacs website, or you may watch an episode of The Ernie Kovacs Show from around 1962 below.

The car that Kovacs was driving, the Chevrolet Corvair, would go on to further fame when Ralph Nader crusaded to reveal safety problems with the car.

What is your favorite clip of Ernie Kovacs? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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The Civil War and Conan O’Brien

On November 6, 1860, the United States affirmed that a democratic system of government can work when the country elected what many consider the greatest U.S. president, Abraham Lincoln. The election occurred during a time the country was greatly divided, and three other candidates also appeared on the ballot splitting the vote: John C. Breckinridge, John Bell, and Stephen Douglas. Lincoln won with 40% of the popular vote. But the nation had to endure President James Buchanan for several months because Lincoln would not be inaugurated until March 4, 1861.

Lincoln had little time in office before the first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. As the nation went into the bloody war, citizens had no idea what the future held — or that one day Conan O’Brien would visit with a group of Civil War reenactors.

What is your favorite Civil War story? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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80 Years of Willie: From Opry Singer to Outlaw to Wizard

Eighty years ago this week, Willie Hugh Nelson was born on April 29, 1933 in Abbott, Texas. Nelson is still going strong making music, and he using his annual birthday concert to benefit the West, Texas volunteer fire department that was affected by the recent fertilizer plant explosion that killed fourteen people and injured many others.

We have highlighted some of Nelson’s songs in other posts, and the man has such a range it is hard to select one song to celebrate the special occasion. So here are several spanning the birthday boy’s career.

Here is some early Willie Nelson from before the long hair and the beard. In this video, he performs a medley of songs at the Grand Ole Opry. One of the songs he performs is “Night Life,” which he wrote and which became a hit for Ray Price. Nelson also played bass for a time in Price’s band. Nelson also performs part of his classic ‘Crazy,” which of course was a big hit for Patsy Cline.

Around 1970, Nelson left Nashville and moved back to Texas, where he became an “outlaw.” Here in this performance from 1974, Nelson performs “Good-Hearted Woman,” which he wrote and recorded with Waylon Jennings.

Here is a 1975 performance of “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.” The song was written by Fred Rose, but the song is forever linked to Willie Nelson after he covered the song on his great concept album, Red-Headed Stranger (1975).

Here is one you might have missed, a more recent song from Nelson. Nelson is a great interpreter of a range of styles and songwriters, which he shows here in a cover of “Gravedigger,” a Dave Matthews song. The song appeared on Nelson’s 2008 album Moment of Forever.

Finally, here is something even more recent showing Nelson’s sense of humor. Conan O’Brien recently showed Willie Nelson’s audition tape for the role of Gandalf in Hobbit 2. Of course, there is some of Nelson’s pot humor as well as a short rendition of “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Orcs.”

Whether you like early Willie, Outlaw Willie, or modern Willie, put on some music today.

What is your favorite Willie Nelson song? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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Steven Spielberg’s New Film with “Daniel Day-Lewis” as Obama

At the recent annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner M.C.’d by Conan O’Brien, one of the highlights was this short film where director Steven Spielberg announced that after Lincoln (2012), he decided the logical choice for his next movie is Obama, about our current President Barack Obama. In the video Spielberg explains why “Daniel Day-Lewis” was the natural choice for the lead. Pres. Obama shows a good sense of humor here, too, even poking fun at his ears. Check it out.