Baubles, Bangles, & Beads
show tune; from the 1953 musical "Kismet"
"Baubles, Bangles, & Beads" is a popular song from the 1953 musical Kismet, credited to Robert Wright and George Forrest. It is based on the second movement from string quartet nr.2 in D major, "Scherzo. Allegro" by Russian composer Alexander Borodin.
Background
Like almost all the music in that show, the melody was based on works by Alexander Borodin, in this case the second theme of the second movement of his String Quartet in D. The "Kismet" setting maintains the original's 3/4 waltz rhythm; pop music settings change the rhythm to a moderate four-beat accompaniment. Jazz musicians are especially drawn to the song's beguiling melody and advanced harmonic structure. The familiar AA'BA+Coda structure of the song is energized by a key change up a major third interval for every section; the transition is marked by a harmonic progression from the central major key of one section to the tritone minor key of the following section.
1953 recordings
The best-selling version of the song was recorded by Peggy Lee on September 16, 1953 and charted briefly that year. Other versions were recorded that year by Lu Ann Simms and Georgia Gibbs.
Kirby Stone Four recording
The Kirby Stone Four re-make hit No. 25 in the Billboard Top 100 in 1958.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Baubles, Bangles, & Beads” as show tune; from the 1953 musical "Kismet". Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as show tune; from the 1953 musical "Kismet". Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q811117. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1953 and 1958.
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This entry incorporates text from “Baubles, Bangles, & Beads” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.