Most of the great songwriters either wrote music or lyrics, specializing in one of those two areas. Cole Porter (1891-1964) was, like Irving Berlin, one of the few songwriters who was brilliant at both. Porter wrote some of the sexiest lyrics ever penned, hinting at all types of ideas while being charming and almost seeming innocent. At the same time, as a composer, his songs were full of surprises. Rather than always being 32 bars as with most standard songs of the time, his pieces often had extensions and unexpected twists and turns that were ultimately logical. One of his songs, “Begin The Beguine”, was so long at 108 bars that it was joked that he should write a reprise called “End The Beguine.” Born in Peru, Indiana, he was the grandson of a multi-millionaire. Porter was sophisticated from an early age and adopted a relaxed lifestyle since money was never an issue for him. He was attracted to music by the time he started attending Yale with one of his first originals being a football song for the University. While he wrote his first show in 1916, Porter spent the 1920s in Europe and only wrote music on an occasional basis for the next decade. However after he had a hit in 1928 with “Let¹s Do It”, he finally began to take his talents seriously. Returning to the United States, Porter soon became a household name, writing for numerous shows.