"Boy, Girl, and Island" is a 1957 American popular song with lyrics by Yip Harburg and music by Harold Arlen.Lehman Engel, Their Words Are Music: The Great Theater Lyricists and their Lyrics (New York: Crown Publishers, 1975), p. 261. Originally written for the musical Jamaica, the song was cut before the show's Broadway opening and replaced by the song "Take It Slow, Joe" in an attempt to tighten the show's plot line.Stanley Green, Encyclopedia of the Musical Theater (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1976) p. 216 Although Lena Horne's performance of the replacement song was generally praised,Richard Watts, Jr., "Two on the Aisle", New York Post (November 1, 1957) the show, with or without "Boy, Girl, and Island," was criticized for a weak plot.John Chapman, "'Jamaica' Has Horne, Needs Plot", New York Daily News (November 1, 1957)
Recordings The Island Boys perform the song on their 1958 LP "Go Calypso" (Kapp KL-1057),"Kapp LPs (KL/KS) [USA]" at Rate Your Music although it is not one of the 6 songs on their 45 singles with the same title.
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