The Best Is Yet to Come explained

The Best Is Yet to Come
Published:	1959 by Edwin H. Morris & Co.
Genre:	Jazz
Composer:	Cy Coleman
Lyricist:	Carolyn Leigh

The Best Is Yet to Come
Type:	song
Artist:	Frank Sinatra
Album:	It Might as Well Be Swing
Recorded:	June 9, 1964
Label:	Reprise
Composer:	Cy Coleman
Lyricist:	Carolyn Leigh
Producer:	Sonny Burke
Prev Title:	I Wanna Be Around
Prev Year:	1964
Next Title:	The Good Life
Next Year:	1964

"The Best Is Yet to Come" is a 1959 song composed by Cy Coleman to lyrics by Carolyn Leigh.^[1] It is associated with Frank Sinatra, who recorded it on his 1964 album It Might as Well Be Swing accompanied by Count Basie under the direction of Quincy Jones. It was the last song Sinatra sang in public,^[2] on February 25, 1995, and the words "The Best is Yet to Come" are etched on Sinatra's tombstone.^[3] Although Sinatra made it popular, the song was written for and introduced by Tony Bennett.^[4]

Before it was recorded by Sinatra, the song's debut was sung and played by Cy Coleman on Hugh Hefner's Playboy's Penthouse variety show.

Notable recordings

• Tony Bennett (I Left My Heart in San Francisco) (1962)^[5]
• Tony Bennett and Diana Krall () (2006)^[6]
• Tony Bennett and Diana Krall in Tony Bennett: An American Classic. Documentary directed by Rob Marshall (2006)
• Michael Bublé (Call Me Irresponsible) (2007)^[7]
• James Darren (This One's from the Heart) (1999)^[8]
• Blossom Dearie (May I Come In?) (1964)^[9]
• Matt Dusk (Back in Town) (2006)^[10]
• Bob Dylan (Triplicate) (2017)^[11]
• Ella Fitzgerald (The Best Is Yet to Come) (1982)^[12]
• Stacey Kent (The Boy Next Door) (2003)^[13]
• Chaka Khan (ClassiKhan) (2004)^[14]
• Peggy Lee (Sugar 'N' Spice) (1962)^[15]
• Diane Schuur (In Tribute) (1992)^[16]
• Frank Sinatra (It Might As Well Be Swing) (1964)^[17]
• Lisa Stansfield () (1999)^[18]
• Nancy Wilson (Yesterday's Love Songs/Today's Blues) (1963)
• Bobby Caldwell - Come Rain or Come Shine (1999)
• Sarah Vaughan (You're Mine You) (1962)^[19]

In popular culture

• In February 1999, James Darren and Avery Brooks sang the song in the final scene of "Badda-Bing Badda-Bang", a seventh-season episode of the syndicated science fiction television series .^[20]
• The song was played as a wake-up call for the crew of Apollo 10 on May 22, 1969. The historic day marked the first time that the Lunar Module flew solo in lunar orbit as it made man's closest approach to the lunar surface to date.^[21]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Original versions of The Best Is Yet to Come written by Cy Coleman, Carolyn Leigh. Secondhandsongs.com. 26 April 2021.
2. Web site: Di Nunzio . Miriam . Happy 100th birthday, Frank Sinatra . Chicago Sun-Times . 30 November 2018 . 6 March 2016.
3. Book: Baker, Christopher P. . Explorer's Guide Palm Springs & Desert Resorts: A Great Destination. 29 November 2018. 3 November 2008. Countryman Press. 978-1-58157-048-9. 141–.
4. Liner Notes, Natalie Cole, Still Unforgettable
5. Web site: Ruhlmann . William . I Left My Heart in San Francisco . AllMusic . 6 October 2018.
6. Web site: Bush . John . Duets: An American Classic . AllMusic . 6 October 2018.
7. Web site: Collar . Matt . Call Me Irresponsible . AllMusic . 6 October 2018.
8. Web site: Nathan . Dave . This One's from the Heart . AllMusic . 6 October 2018.
9. Web site: Yanow . Scott . May I Come In? . AllMusic . 6 October 2018.
10. Web site: Back in Town . AllMusic . 6 October 2018.
11. Web site: Erlewine . Stephen Thomas . Triplicate . AllMusic . 6 October 2018.
12. Web site: The Best Is Yet to Come . AllMusic . 6 October 2018.
13. Web site: The Boy Next Door . AllMusic . 6 October 2018.
14. Web site: Classikhan . AllMusic . 6 October 2018.
15. Web site: Sugar 'n' Spice . AllMusic . 6 October 2018.
16. Web site: In Tribute . AllMusic . 6 October 2018.
17. Web site: It Might as Well Be Swing . AllMusic . 6 October 2018.
18. Web site: Swing . AllMusic . 6 October 2018.
19. Web site: You're Mine You . AllMusic . 6 October 2018.
20. Badda-Bing Badda-Bang. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Ira Steven Behr & Hans Beimler (writers); Mike Vejar (director). Syndicated. 1999-02-24. 7. 15.
21. Web site: Apollo 10 Flight Journal. https://web.archive.org/web/20110720232138/http://history.nasa.gov/ap10fj/as10-day4-pt16.htm. dead. 20 July 2011. NASA. 13 Jun 2012. David Woods . Robin Wheeler . Ian Roberts.