“Someday My Prince Will Come” is a tune written by Frank Churchill and lyrics by Frank Morey. In case you were wondering if this is the same tune from that Disney movie you used to watch as a kid, yes it is! The tune was written for Walt Disney’s 1937 animated film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”.
The first time it was performed as a jazz standard, believe it or not, was at a Nazi concentration camp called Theresienstadt in 1943 during World War II. The band that performed it was called the “Ghetto Swingers”.
In 1957 pianist Dave Brubeck, inspired by his child’s collection of Disney music, included it on his record “Dave Digs Disney”. The tune became popular among jazz musicians and artists such as Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock and Oscar Peterson began performing and recording it.
A note-able recording is from Miles Davis’ record entitled “Someday My Prince Will Come”. This version uses an F pedal as an intro and ending which is commonly used today.
The tune is most commonly played in Bb major.