America (West Side Story song) America (West Side Story song) “America” is a song from the musical "West Side Story". Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics and Leonard Bernstein composed the music. In the original stage version, Anita – the most important female character after Maria and the girlfriend of Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks – praises America while a fellow Puerto Rican immigrant, Rosalia, supports Puerto Rico. This version of the song deprecates the island and highlights the positive qualities of American life ("I’ll drive a Buick through San Juan/If there’s a road you can drive on"). The irony of this supposedly pro-American number,
Somewhere Along the Way Cole Story" (1961). Somewhere Along the Way "Somewhere Along the Way" is a popular song. The music was written by Jimmy Van Heusen under the pseudonym Kurt Adams, the lyrics by Sammy Gallop. The sheet music was published in 1952. The original recording by Nat King Cole was released by Capitol Records as catalog number 2069. It first reached the "Billboard" Best Seller chart on May 23, 1952 and lasted 22 weeks on the chart, peaking at #8. The song became the opening track to Nat's 1952 album "8 Top Pops". Cole re-recorded the song in stereo for his album