Video: Geraldine Fitzgerald’s ‘Bermuda’ In 1962
There have been many odes to Bermuda written and sung over the years, with the songs generally brimming with praise for the island, its people, and its climate, but Geraldine Fitzgerald’s rendition of “Bermuda” in 1962 rather brings to mind visions of lost love and heartache.
Born in Dublin, Ireland in 1913, Ms. Fitzgerald made her theatrical debut at that city’s Gate Theater in 1932 before moving to New York City and making her Broadway debut in 1938.
The multi-talented artist went on to appear in a number of high profile Hollywood films of the time, including Wuthering Heights in 1939.
Ms. Fitzgerald was married to the fourth baronet of Rotherfield Hall in Rotherfield, in the United Kingdom; that marriage, which lasted until 1946, produced their son, TV, film and theater director Michael Lindsay-Hogg in 1940.
Despite his official lineage, it was revealed in 2010 that Michael was possibly the son of writer, actor, producer and director Orson Welles, according to the New York Times.
Both her stage and film career continued on from her role in Wuthering Heights, including appearances in Broadway productions that included Long Day’s Journey Into Night and The Shadow Box, as well as a one-week cabaret act.
That act was later revived as Streetsongs in New York nightclubs, where she would not only sing, but also reminisce about her life’s memories.
That singing voice made her version of “Bermuda” particularly unique. The recording session was accompanied by a video camera, leaving us with a full length video of the haunting rendition of the song.
“Down in Bermuda, paradise for two, I lost my lover, there on the blue,” sings the Irish American crooner as the song’s lyrics lament a love lost on the island.
“We went sailing on a coral sea, starlit waters, my darling and me, time was endless, love sang its song, we dreamed of tomorrow, now he is gone.”
“In Bermudian waters, oh, so clear and cold, I wait, my loved one, as I grow old,” the song continues. “Down in Bermuda, paradise for two, I lost my lover there on the blue.
“We went sailing on a coral sea, starlit waters, my darling and me. Time was endless, love sang its song, we dreamed of tomorrow, now he is gone.”
“I see his lips in the coral, I see his eyes in the blue, I see his hair in the sunlight, a vision clear, calling me near.
“In Bermudian waters, oh, so clear and cold, I wait, my loved one, as I grow old, as I grow old.”
Geraldine Fitzgerald sings “Bermuda” in 1962.
The song closes by repeating its first refrain, “Down in Bermuda, paradise for two, I lost my lover, there on the blue.”
Ms. Fitzgerald died in 2005, at the age of 91, in New York City of complications from Alzheimer’s disease.
In eulogising her, the New York Times said following her death, “Witty and intelligent, she was also notoriously combative and blamed herself for sabotaging her early Hollywood success by battling with studio executives over roles.
“Norman Lloyd, a longtime friend and founding member of the Mercury Theater, where Ms. Fitzgerald worked, described the effect she had.”
“She was a staggeringly beautiful girl with the most delightful speech, a slight Irish tinge, not a thick brogue, and this glorious red hair,” he said.
Ms. Fitzgerald is survived by her two children, Michael Lindsay-Hogg and daughter Susan Scheftel.
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