@@mykoniichistorychannelNot quite.... Wacko Jacko also totally nailed this masterpiece as well.... and his version is sung as it was originally intended from Modern Times, upbeat but also depressingly melancholic. Hard decision for me.
I began listening to Judy recently. Before then, I had no idea a voice could add so much passion to every note in a song. I now know. This was the single most moving performance of this song I've been privileged to witness. Thanks for sharing.
Most versions of this song done by lesser singers make me cringe from being sickly sweet, beauty pageant performances. Only Judy makes it real, touching, and beautiful.
@kevinryan4857 I agree. I think every song she sang turned her inside out. She makes me cry every time. She affects my soul. Listen to her sing anything then watch it again with no volume. The emotion is still there and palpable. I feel it when she sings Old Man River. It would have been life changing to see her in concert. I would have died if I was in the Carnegie Hall audience.
You can only just imagine what’s going through her mind as she sings this song. Because she always smiled though her heart was breaking. Leaves me so touched. 💔😢
As Chaplin himself said-this is the way he wanted this song to be sung- and no one ever did the song better before or after but Judy. I am with Chaplin here-this is--Sublime. Perfect.
I've been emotionally moved many times over listening Judy sing but here, she moved me to tears. No singer has ever done that to me. I've always thought 'Smile' was an all right song, never one of my favorites but still quite good. It took Judy in all her immeasurable brilliance to make it 'sing' for me.
Greatest version of Smile ever sung. My list of the top 5 vocal versions of Smile were sung by 1. Judy, 2. Judy, 3. Judy, 4. Judy, 5. Judy she owned this song, like most songs she sang.
I heard her punch the fool out of this song on stage. She did not hold anything back. Judy could really sing. She sang from the heart, not the head. Too many singers today fake it. As a favorite singer of mine once said, " Sing what you love, sing from the heart, sing it like you mean it, or stay off the stage. That stage is not a play ground."
Most performers sing for you Judy Garland sings TO you There’s a difference and Judy defined just that! And she will always be remembered for her personal connection with her audience.
From 1963. That makes this 65+ years old. This must seem "ancient" to all those "youngsters" today who listen to their far less talented idols on iPhones and such.
While watching her performances, I can tell Judy Garland enjoyed being creative with her beautiful voice while singing. At the same time, I love how she added to her great singing expression her facial & bodily expressions too, like a very good actress.
There is pain behind the smile when she sings this. I feel it, hear it and see it but the smile comes through and we are all taken on her journey and are better because of it. I love you and miss you Judy.
I personally think Michael Jackson recorded the best rendition because it's meant to be melancholic and upbeat.... and that's how he sung it. But this version is also amazing.
@DarthSinistris Judy owns every song she sings. She makes it very personal and you feel as though you have heard the song for the first time and really understand it. She sings with voice and soul and we were so lucky for a short time on earth...
Glorious Garland "Smile" performance never has been equaled, Judy gets inside Charles Chaplin classic with illuminating vocal magic stunning to experience...makes it clear why the great lady became an iconic legend in her lifetime.
I saw this the night it was broadcast on Ed Sullivan and I was thrilled. She looked more beautiful than I had ever seen her--I was a new young fan and ignorant of the MGM years--and her vocal performance was flawless.
Your story and mine are parallels. I had fallen in love with Judy when I saw the 1962 CBS special, and then this was the first time I saw her again. I still remember that Sunday night in 1963. I was enchanted. I still am. (I got to meet her in 1967, and it truly was the high point of my life.)
During this covid-19 pandemic in 2020, hearing her sing this song, gives one a small hope that we will live through this. She just puts today's female singers back in the minor league.
This was the final sequence in an Ed Sullivan retrospective years after that show ended. The way she melted into the fading spotlight at the close --an era in show biz was over.
When I watch Judy's performances here on RU-vid, I'm reminded of some words of advice that Patsy Cline gave to one of the younger singers she befriended. "If you can't sing with emotion, then find something else to do." This song that Judy sings is a perfect example of why emotion is so important in music.
If there is such a thing as perfection in the performing arts, I think this ie "the" example; the one in which it all comes together so beautifully, without a single element that could be improved upon -- the voice, the gestures, the arrangement, the melody, the phrasing, the violin -- that all you can say about it is that it must have been produced and directed by God himself.... surely humans couldn't produce anything quite this perfect! Maybe the next time they sent up a space capsule with examples of what "humanity" is all about, they might find a space for Judy and this particular example of her art.
Judy is an angel in Heaven. She was a great entertainer. More importantly, she was an even greater person. Up in Heaven, she is singing greater than ever.
I saw, once more this, AND ...UF...WHAT CAN I WRITE?... A PIECE OF ART!... A CAPOLAVORO!...AN ASTONISHING INTERPRETATION!... MISS GARLAND HAD TO SANG THIS IN FRONT A MIRROR FOR HERSELF...SHE WAS NOT A HAPPY PERSON BUT... MY GOODNESS, SHE WAS, IS UNFORGETABLE!..." ONE OF THE STARS THAT SHINES IN HEAVEN" WHILE HEAVENS EXISTS" AND "MEMORY OF HUMAN BEINGS EXIST"...
Maravillosa canción y maravillosa interpretación. Smile (From Charles Chaplin's "Modern Times" - 1936) with Judy Garland Smile (Charles Chaplin) Smile, Though your heart is aching Smile, Even though it's breaking, When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by If you smile Through your fears and sorrow, smile And maybe tomorrow You'll see the sun come shining through for you. Light up your face with gladness, Hide ev'ry trace of sadness, Altho' a tear may be ever so near, That's the time you must keep on trying, Smile, What's the use of crying, You'll find that life is still worhwhile, If you just smile.
2,800 views ?...WTF...should be 28,000,000....kids these days...and who's the blasphemous moron who gave Judy a thumbs down......don't worry "baby Gumm"...we love you.....
She died with nothing but debts. Look at the so called stars nowadays. Let them sing a song like this and watch what will come out of their mouths and they have hunderds of millions. What a waste. Such a talent. And they all used her up until there was nothing left.
