Who sings it in Anything Goes?

Production song lists credit the number to Moonface Martin.

Where does it happen in the story?

It is sung in Act II when Moon tries to cheer Billy up in the brig.

Is it part of the original 1934 Broadway structure?

Yes. The original production record includes it in Act II.

Why does the lyric lean on a bluebird image?

The bluebird becomes a quick metaphor for refusing to sulk. It is optimism packaged as a rule you can repeat.

Does the song ever get trimmed in performance?

Yes. Some edition notes mention missing material in later versions, and directors often keep the refrain and cut optional lines for pacing.

Did Cole Porter record it himself?

Yes. A Library of Congress document notes Porter recorded it on January 3, 1935.

Is it meant as sincere encouragement or satire?

Both can be true. In the scene it helps a friend, but historical commentary also reads it as Porter teasing the era's uplift-song trend.

Is there a modern video reference performance?

Yes. The PBS Great Performances capture of Anything Goes includes the lyric in performance, and the 2011 cast recording track is widely circulated online.

Be Like the Bluebird Lyrics — Anything Goes

Be Like the Bluebird Lyrics

[MOON]
You know your problem, Billy?
You ain't got no philosophy.
It's like Dillinger once told me:
"Remember, it's always the darkest
just before they turn on the lights."

There's an old Australian bush song
That Melba used to sing,
A song that always cheered me when I was blue.

Even Melba said this bush song
Was a helluva song to sing,
So be quiet whilst I render it for you.

When your instinct tells you that disaster
Is approaching you faster and faster,
Then be like the bluebird and sing,
"Tweet tweet, tra-la, tra-la, tra-la."

When you know you're headed for the jailer
Don't allow the old face to look paler
But be like the bluebird and sing,
"Tweet tweet, tra-la, tra-la, tra-la."

Be like the bluebird who never is blue,
For he knows from his upbringing what singing can do,
And though by other birdies in the boughs,
He may be told that his efforts are perfectly lousy,
He sings on and on till his troubles are through,
"Tweet tweet, tra-la, tra-la, tra-la."
Last Update: February, 13th 2026

Song Overview

Be Like the Bluebird lyrics by Cole Porter — Cole Porter lets Moonface pitch optimism like a con man selling sunshine in the brig.

Review and Highlights

Quick summary

Work: Anything Goes (opened November 21, 1934).
Stage moment: Act II in the brig, Moonface Martin tries to lift Billy's mood.
Who sings it: Moonface Martin in production song lists, with the scene built to feel like a quick pep talk.
Why it works: A cheerful tune that is slightly suspect, coming from a guy who is always slightly suspect.
Long afterlife note: Cole Porter recorded it in January 1935, which helped pin it to the public ear beyond the theatre.

Scene from Be Like the Bluebird by Cole Porter — On recordings, the track often sits right after Hope's regret ballad, like a comic reset button.

Anything Goes (1934) - stage musical - non-diegetic. This is one of those numbers that pretends to be a throwaway, then quietly steals the scene. Moonface is stuck in a cell, the plot is tense, and instead of brooding he goes for a bright little philosophy lecture with a wink. The melody stays breezy, but the joke is in the delivery: Moon is preaching cheer while trapped, like he is testing whether confidence alone can pick the lock.

Key takeaways: (1) Play it straight and it becomes a genuine lift. (2) Play it too cute and it turns into novelty. (3) The best performances balance comfort and mischief, because Moon is comforting Billy while also entertaining himself.

Creation History

The song is part of the original Broadway structure, with production records placing it in Act II and crediting it to Moonface Martin. Harms published the Anything Goes sheet music folio in November 1934, and bibliographies of Porter sheet music list this title among the officially issued songs. Soon after, Porter himself recorded it on January 3, 1935, according to a Library of Congress preservation-board document, adding another layer to its early footprint outside the theatre.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Cole Porter Be Like the Bluebird performance moment — Video moments that reveal the meaning: the chirpy asides, then the lyric landing like a practical rule.

Plot

Act II opens with trouble: Billy and Moon are locked up, and the ship feels less like a party and more like a courtroom. That is exactly why the number matters. It keeps the show from sinking into gloom. Moon tries to cheer Billy up in the brig, and the audience gets reminded that Anything Goes is a comedy that refuses to stay solemn for long.

Song Meaning

The meaning is simple on paper: keep singing, stay light, do not let circumstances decide your mood. But the scene adds a second meaning. Moon is selling resilience the way a hustler sells anything: with confidence, patter, and the assumption that repetition makes a statement true. In that context, the "bluebird" is not just a bird, it is a strategy.

Annotations

Be like the bluebird who never is blue, for he knows from his upbringing what singing can do.

This is the core idea, and it is written like folk wisdom on purpose. The lyric is almost annoyingly tidy, which makes it funnier coming from Moon. He sounds like a motivational lecturer, but he is still a guy with a fake identity in a jail cell.

Moon tries to cheer Billy up in the brig.

The placement keeps the number honest. If Moon sang it on deck at sunset it could drift into greeting-card sweetness. In a cell, it becomes defiance and comic therapy at the same time.

Some editions note that a verse can be missing in later versions.

That tells you the song is flexible. Directors can trim it to keep pacing tight, and the point still lands because the refrain carries the whole philosophy.

Porter recorded the song in January 1935.

This is a reminder that Porter treated his theatre writing like repertoire, not disposable stage material. When the composer records it himself, the number stops being just "a Moon scene" and becomes part of the larger Porter songbook.

Shot of Be Like the Bluebird by Cole Porter — A cell scene, a chirpy metaphor, and a melody that refuses to sulk.

Genre and rhythm

It sits in classic Broadway comic-song territory: light swing energy, speech-friendly lines, and a refrain that invites the performer to toss in character touches. When the tempo is buoyant, the lyric reads like a coping trick. When it drags, it risks sounding preachy.

Cultural touchpoint

A later historical note frames the song as Porter poking at the era's uplift craze, the kind of "pick yourself up" messaging that was everywhere in Depression culture. The satire is gentle, but it is there, and it fits Moon perfectly because he is always half-selling you something.

Technical Information (Quick Facts)

Song: Be Like the Bluebird
Artist: Cole Porter
Featured: N/A
Composer: Cole Porter
Producer: Recording-dependent
Release Date: November 21, 1934 (Broadway premiere context)
Genre: Musical theatre; comic character song
Instruments: Voice; orchestra or piano-vocal arrangement
Label: Recording-dependent
Mood: Bright, teasing, stubbornly upbeat
Length: Recording-dependent (often a short Act II scene number)
Track #: Commonly placed in Act II after Hope's ballad in modern lists
Language: English
Album (if any): Cast recordings and Porter compilations; 2011 Broadway cast recording includes it as a Moonface track
Music style: Swing-era Broadway with patter-friendly phrasing
Poetic meter: Accentual, speech-forward phrasing

Frequently Asked Questions

Who sings it in Anything Goes?: Production song lists credit the number to Moonface Martin.
Where does it happen in the story?: It is sung in Act II when Moon tries to cheer Billy up in the brig.
Is it part of the original 1934 Broadway structure?: Yes. The original production record includes it in Act II.
Why does the lyric lean on a bluebird image?: The bluebird becomes a quick metaphor for refusing to sulk. It is optimism packaged as a rule you can repeat.
Does the song ever get trimmed in performance?: Yes. Some edition notes mention missing material in later versions, and directors often keep the refrain and cut optional lines for pacing.
Did Cole Porter record it himself?: Yes. A Library of Congress document notes Porter recorded it on January 3, 1935.
Is it meant as sincere encouragement or satire?: Both can be true. In the scene it helps a friend, but historical commentary also reads it as Porter teasing the era's uplift-song trend.
Is there a modern video reference performance?: Yes. The PBS Great Performances capture of Anything Goes includes the lyric in performance, and the 2011 cast recording track is widely circulated online.

Additional Info

Moonface is a criminal, but he is also the show's best mood mechanic. This number proves it. The lyric offers a tidy self-help slogan, yet the scene keeps it grounded: they are locked up, so optimism becomes a tool, not a personality. That double edge is why I like the song. It can be played as comfort, or as comic salesmanship, and both readings fit the character.

According to a Goodspeed production-history PDF, the song has been described as Porter mocking the flood of "lift-your-spirits" writing that surrounded Depression-era entertainment, and it even quotes the famous opening couplet to make the point. It is a smart observation because the lyric does sound like it is intentionally too neat. Meanwhile, the hard documentation on the song's early life is equally telling: the Porter bibliography lists it among the Harms publications for Anything Goes in November 1934, and the Library of Congress document notes Porter's own recording session in January 1935.

Key Contributors

Entity	Type	Relationship statement
Cole Porter	Person	Cole Porter wrote the music and lyrics and later recorded the song in January 1935.
Anything Goes	Work	Anything Goes includes the number in Act II as a brig scene.
Moonface Martin	Fictional character	Moonface Martin performs the song to cheer Billy in the brig.
The Broadway League (IBDB)	Organization	IBDB documents the Act II placement and singer assignment.
Harms, Inc.	Organization	Harms published the Anything Goes sheet music titles in 1934 bibliographies.
Library of Congress	Organization	The Library of Congress document notes Porter's January 3, 1935 recording session including the song.
PBS Great Performances	Organization	PBS hosts a filmed performance that includes the lyric in the show sequence.

How to Sing Be Like the Bluebird

Because the song is character-driven, the most useful technical targets are the ones that support clear words and quick mood shifts. A vocal-metadata listing gives a practical reference key of G major and a printed range that reaches up to F sharp 5 in that key, while the song's stage identity stays grounded in speech-forward phrasing. Use the published idea as a starting point, then transpose if the top makes you tense. Moon should sound relaxed, not athletic.

Tempo: Keep it buoyant. Think brisk walk, not sprint. The cheer needs air.
Diction: Hit the internal rhymes cleanly. The lyric is the joke delivery system.
Breathing: Take quick, quiet breaths between thought units. Do not let breaths sound like effort, because Moon is performing ease.
Flow and rhythm: Speak-sing the setup lines, then let the refrain settle into steadier time so the optimism sounds convincing.
Accents: Stress the instruction words, and toss away the filler. It should feel like advice tossed over a shoulder.
Range and key: If the upper lines feel tight, transpose down. The character reads better with comfort than with strain.
Acting beat: Start as if you are entertaining Billy, then end as if you are also reassuring yourself. That turn gives the song a little shadow.
Pitfalls: Avoid syrup. Avoid big crooner vibrato. Keep it conversational and lightly mischievous.

Sources

Sources: IBDB production song lists, Cole Porter sheet music bibliography, Anything Goes Script:Vocal Book PDF, Library of Congress preservation-board document, PBS Great Performances episode page, Goodspeed production-history PDF, Wikipedia musical-number summary, YouTube 2011 cast track upload

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