Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.First released 100 years ago, \u201cTea for Two\u201d is an adorable jazz standard about Britain\u2019s favourite drink \u2014 written by two coffee-swigging Americans. The song\u2019s surprising history connects it to the \u201ccurse\u201d of an American baseball team and a bet made by Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich.The quirky, repetitive tune popped into the head of New York-born composer Vincent Youmans during the first world war, in which he was drafted into the US Navy. He never saw combat and focused on writing troop shows while stationed in Illinois. After the war he set up in Tin Pan Alley and was invited to work with Irving Caesar, writing additional songs for Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel\u2019s 1924 musical No, No, Nanette. Youmans revived his tune, while the chirpy lyrics celebrating the simple joys of romantic domesticity came courtesy of Caesar (best known for writing 1919\u2019s \u201cSwanee\u201d with George Gershwin).A crime caper about three couples caught up in a blackmail scheme, No, No, Nanette was based on Mandel\u2019s 1919 play My Lady Friends. This was financed by Broadway producer Harry Frazee, who was also the owner of baseball team the Boston Red Sox. Many sports fans believe that Frazee sold the team\u2019s premier slugger, Babe \u201cThe Bambino\u201d Ruth, to the New York Yankees that year (for an estimated $100,000) to help fund the show. After Ruth began swinging for the Yankees in 1920, the Red Sox failed to win a championship for 86 years \u2014 a period known to Bostonians as \u201cThe Curse of the Bambino\u201d.Some think the song\u2019s title is a nod to English street traders undercutting rivals selling tea for thruppence, but its origins probably lie in a straightforward caf\u00e9 or tea shop order. Its aspirational narrative might strike a chord with young couples yearning for home ownership today. It begins: \u201cI\u2019m discontented with homes that are rented, so I have invented my own\/Darling this place is a lover\u2019s oasis\u2009.\u2009.\u2009. Cosy to hide in, to live side by side in, don\u2019t let it abide in my dream.\u201dLet us know your memories of \u2018Tea for Two\u2019 in the comments section belowThe paperback edition of \u2018The Life of a Song: The stories behind 100 of the world\u2019s best-loved songs\u2019, edited by David Cheal and Jan Dalley, is published by ChambersMusic credits: Zip Media; Vintage; Naxos;\u00a0Music and Arts Programs of America; The Verve\/Universal; Decca; Columbia\/Sony; Heinz<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.First released 100 years ago, \u201cTea for Two\u201d is an adorable jazz standard about Britain\u2019s favourite drink \u2014 written by two coffee-swigging Americans. The song\u2019s surprising<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":265241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-265240","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265240"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265240\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":265242,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265240\/revisions\/265242"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}