Track of the Day: ‘Nice, Nice, Very Nice’ by Ambrosia
Earlier this week, my colleague David featured the premiere of “Chicago” by David Nagler—a track from an album based on the poems of Carl Sandburg. To me, turning a poem into a song seemed like the ultimate cross-genre cover—a jump not just to a new musical style, but to an entirely different art form. So I put out a call in our daily newsletter for more songs based on works of literature or visual art. Keith Wells delivers:
In the mid-’70s, Ambrosia had a minor hit with “Nice, Nice, Very Nice,” with lyrics adapted from Kurt Vonnegut’s 1963 novel Cat’s Cradle (he, of course, shared a writing credit for the song). In high school, I was a huge Vonnegut fan and thought it was crazy when I heard the song for the first time. It helped that I immediately liked the song on its own merits.
Apparently, Vonnegut did too. Keith quotes a letter Vonnegut wrote to the band in January 1976:
I was at my daughter’s house last night, and the radio was on. By God if the DJ didn’t play our song, and say it was number ten in New York, and say how good you guys are in general. You can imagine the pleasure that gave me. Luck has played an enormous part in my life. Those who know pop music keep telling me how lucky I am to be tied in with you. And I myself am crazy about our song, of course, but what do I know and why wouldn’t I be? This much I have always known, anyway: Music is the only art that’s really worth a damn. I envy you guys.
Do you know a piece of music that transforms, or emulates, or sheds new light on a different work of art? Please send it our way: hello@theatlantic.com.