"I've Never Left Your Arms"

Hi Ron,

Happy to oblige with your request of help in understanding the lyrics of this song. I too need help, with a least one word. This is what I hear:


I know the purple plains of Burma,
The crystal waters of the coral sea(s).
I know them well
And yet I've never left your arms.

I've heard the gentle bells of S__na
The wind that whispers through the olive trees.
I know them well
And yet I've never left your arms.

I've reached the peak of every mountain
Spanned the shores of every sea
For I embrace the world
When you are embracing me.

I've seen the paradise of Eden.
I can see it still.
And though I've never left your arms
I know I never will.
I know
I never will.
I never will.

[Sound of gong.]

The word that I do not understand sounds lie "Sorna" or "Sorma or "Sauna" or "Sona" ... It presumably is a location famous for its bells, no?

Why do I have the impression that I asked about this before, and was told the exact word? If so, I've forgotten ...

Iv?n





I too have trouble understanding at least one word

I'm fairly certain .the. word is SIAM.

Hi Ivan,

The "mystery word" is Sarna.

David

I believe David is correct -- it is Sarna, but where is Sarna. It is not listed on any geography resource site I can find...the only thing I can come up with from Google is that Sarna is a skin cream that stops itching...

I know this is silly, but now my interest is peaked. Someone write Marilyn Bergman and find out. .

john

Hi everyone,

I thought I would try and help but I cannot find this track on any of my 40 or so albums, nor can I find it in the discography at the back of Peggy's autobiography.

Is this the actual title and if so could someone tell me which on which album (s) it features?

Bob.

Quote:

Bob
Is this the actual title and if so could someone tell me which on which album(s) it features?

Hi Bob,

You must have missed our earlier discussions of "Peggy at Basin Street East -- The Unreleased Show," which was released last month by Collectors' Choice. From the menu-bar at your left, click on "New CD Releases."

Although Peggy never recorded "I've Never Left Your Arms" in the studio, she evidently was quite fond of the song in the early 1960s. It was part of her Basin Street East engagement and, as someone else recently reported, she sang it on Jo Stafford's TV show. She also sang it on Perry Como's "Kraft Music Hall" TV show. Fairly major exposure, particularly considering it wasn't a record she was promoting.

It was written by Marilyn and Alan Bergman and Lew Spence, all of whom attended Peggy's beautiful memorial service in February. Previously, Lew Spence and Marilyn Bergman (then known as Marilyn Keith) cowrote the evocative "That's Him Over There," recorded by Peggy in 1952. And the three of them wrote Frank Sinatra's classic "Nice 'n' Easy," which Peggy covered on "Guitars ala Lee." By himself, Lew wrote "I've Never Been So Happy in My Life," found on Peggy's "Make It with You."

At 82, Lew's alive and kicking -- and then some. He's a great raconteur, and he has a truly optimistic spirit. I've had the pleasure of spending some time with him over the past year, both in Washington (where he sang and played some of his witty and poignant songs at a Corcoran Gallery concert I organized) and in L.A. He'll surely be happy to hear that Peggy's "new" recording of his old song is so warmly appreciated.

David

Hi Friends!

"Sarna" is a surname of a person and also a geografic place. I know that some poet?s has got this surname. Maybe Jacob Sarna has wrote a poem about gentle bells.

Jarl

Thank, you, Ivan and all who contributed to helping solve the mystery.

Just as a point of information. When i worked at ASCAP, i found a listing of a recording of this song by Dinah Shore. I've never come across the record. Wish i could, just to have anotehr recording of this beautiful song.

Hi Michael,

I too am curious to hear that Dinah Shore version, for the same reason that you give. It's definitely not on CD. Apparently, the Dinah version originally came out on 45, which would explain our current difficulty in finding it. I learned about its existence from Mr. Spence, the lyric writer, himself. Ironically, he knew about Dinah's version but not about Peggy's, whereas I knew about Peggy's version but not about Dinah's, so the exchange of information was mutually benefitial!

Thanks to all of you, guys, for the discussion about the word Sarna. To tell the truth, I would have preferred the word to be Siam, or something else, but not Sarna! That's because in Spanish (my native language) "sarna" is a leprosy-like disease that stray dogs get. Not only is it unpleasant to look at, but it is also a very distressing sight-- it must itch a lot, because the poor dogs scratch themselves unrelentlessly. So, the line "I hear the gentle bells of Sarna" is currently holding very little romantic appeal for me! -- I'm picturing, in my mind, a sad, little leprous doggie with a bell around his neck ... the bell being a warning so that everybody stays away from him. Oh well.

(My only consolation: at least, the song is not refering to that itch-stopping cream that John mentioned! Had that been the case, the person of the song would be better off leaving the other person's arms ASAP, don't you think?)

Sarna or no sarna, it is a lovely song.

Iv

There is a river called "SURMA" in India. Could this be the word? As it rhymes with BURMA it is a distinct possibility. Marilyn Bergman is the one who obviously knows, but I cannot find an EMAIL address for her.

Around the time Peggy played at BSEast, there were a number of "exotica" instrumental albums on the market.They were popular because they conjured up faraway places, featuring percussion that showed off the then-new stereo sound systems.
I recall one such album, "Ports of Pleasure," that had a song called "The Temple Bells of Sarna."

If memory serves me, this was recorded by Les Baxter who like Peggy was affiliated with Capitol Records.Perhaps this can explain the reference in "I Never Left Your Arms."

George K.

Ivan:

I just wanted to let you know that i won, on ebay, a copy of Dinah's recording of this song, which i've never heard. I'll let youo know if her rendition comes anywhere near the exotic version we have of Peggy's on that unreleased Basin St. East CD.

michael:

Look up "Bells of Sarna" and maybe you'll understand, and btw, Sarna is in India.

Michael,

Richard's post about the new "I've Never Left Your Arms" YouTube clip brought me back to this thread. Did you receive that Dinah Shore 45? If you did, how is her version? Does she sing it slowly, too? Are there any exotic elements in the musical accompaniment and arrangement?

Ivan

Hi Ivan,

Never meant to take so long to respond. I've listened to Dinah Shore's version a couple of times and her main backing is strings nothing too exotic that stands out like Peggy's. Her version is so much more pensive and oriental sounding. Oh, how I wish she had recorded it in a studio. Gorgeous song.

Regards,
michael W

To clear up the mystery, the line is:

"I've heard the gentle bells of Sarna."

These were small brass bells, often strung together, popular in the '50s and '60s. They had the words "Bells of Sarna" or just "Sarna" etched in them, and each bell or bell string had a tag that named it and included a story about it. Many Americans assumed that Sarna was a place in India with a tradition of bell-making, and that the names and stories about the bells were likewise traditional. In fact, Sarna was the name of the man who imported the bells, and the names and stories for the bells were invented to appeal to American buyers with a taste for exotica.

Mr. Sarna tells the story of the bells here:

The Story of Bells of Sarna

Hi gentle friends,

I'll go along with Iv's description minus the leprosy connection. I have been battling hives for years and am using a non-prescription medicine by the name of, you guessed it, SARNA. It doesn't cure tne hives, but the menthol it contains does have a cooling affect. It can be bought "for a song" for about $12.00 per bottle . Why it was named Sarna I have no idea. Best wishes to you all.

This has been an enjoyable, educational thread -- what with the variety of factoids that have been mentioned along the way. Peter's explanation was the cherry on top.

Re: Dinah's rendition. Thanks, Michael. Sounds like her version is pretty much the way that I had imagined -- straighforward singing and a backing of basic strings.

I went to check out the Sarna lotion (well, what can be said about it... at least some of the bottles are pretty!) and along the way I found out that Sarna is a not-uncommon last name in Poland. Maybe the creator of the lotion was Polish.

Another discovery made "along the way" was the translation for Spanish sarna (the illness that affects stray dogs and which I dramatically compared to leprosy, while trying to remember, from way back in my childhood, how it looked): scabies.

Ivan

According to Wikipedia, Sarna is an Indian word that means sacred grove. A Google search suggests that “Sarna bells” are an Indian phenomenon.