LOVE FOR SALE (1930)

When Cole Porter’s musical, The New Yorkers, opened in New York City in December of 1930, “Love for Sale” was the scandalous highlight of the show. Although the lyrics are mild by today’s standards, they were shocking to 1930s audiences. The day after it opened, New York newspaper reviews of the show included such comments as “…in the worst possible taste” and “… if we ever get a censorship, I will give odds it will frown upon such an honest thing”.
In the opening show the song was sung by Kathryn Crawford, accompanied by three girl friends, while standing in from of Reuben’s Restaurant and Delicatessen, a landmark eatery at that time located on Madison Avenue. The song caused an immediate outrage; many in the audience objected to a song performed by a white singer that was undeniably about being a prostitute. In January 1931, in order to diffuse the indignant response, the writers replaced Crawford with an African-American singer, Elizabeth Welch, and moved the setting to the front of the Cotton Club in Harlem. This change apparently did not elicit further outrage among the white theater-going audiences.
“Love for Sale” initially was recorded by Libby Holman and Fred Waring, rising respectively to 5th place and to 14th place on the pop charts. At one point in the 1930s it was banned from radio play, but that only seemed to add to its popularity. However, it was not universally popular and other musicians voiced their opinions about the lyrics, including Richard Rodgers, who termed the song the “… bitter exhortation of a streetwalker” and Alec Wilder, who labeled it “…the attempt … to prettify a rather drab profession ….” However, jazz instrumentalists relished the shifting tonalities between major and minor and the chord changes that lent themselves so well to improvisation.
Although there have been more instrumental than vocal recordings made of “Love for Sale”, numerous singers have recorded it also, with interpretations ranging from upbeat to melancholy. It is not known whether Cole Porter intended the song as a morality statement, a sad love ballad, or as a cynical social commentary, but read the lyrics below and decide for yourself.