Monday, July 6, 2026

Straighten Up and Fly Right - Nat King Cole

Straighten Up and Fly Right - Nat King Cole
2:36
The Nat King Cole Story, 1961
Written by Nat King Cole and Irving Mills

Cole originally released this song in 1944; he re-recorded it for this album with a jaunty tune and cheery male backing vocals.  It's a humorous fable in which a monkey is being carried by a buzzard, who tries to throw him to the ground.  The monkey manages to get his tail around the bird's neck and, presumably, forces him to land.  It shares a similar plot and moral with Rudy Greene's "Buzzard Pie."  Cole's song was based on an African-American folk tale that his father had used as a theme for one of his sermons. 

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