In Celebration of the Human Voice - The Essential Musical Instrument

Anything You Can Do

From the musical

Annie Get Your Gun

Music by Irving Berlin, Lyrics by Irving Berlin

"Anything You Can Do" is a song composed by Irving Berlin for the 1946 Broadway musical, Annie Get Your Gun. The song is a duet, with one male singer and one female singer attempting to outdo each other in increasingly complex tasks. In the musical, the song sets the scene for the climactic sharpshooting contest between Annie Oakley and Frank Butler. Its most memorable lines are, "Anything you can do I can do better; I can do anything better than you." The song was first performed in Annie Get Your Gun by Ethel Merman and Ray Middleton.

During the song, they argue playfully about who can, for example, sing softer, sing higher, sing sweeter, and hold a note for longer, and boast of their abilities and accomplishments, such as opening safes and living on bread and cheese, although Annie always seems to counter Frank's argument. Neither can "bake a pie," though. Despite popular belief, Anything You Can Do originates from Annie Get Your Gun, not the musical Guys and Dolls.

Release Date: 1946

Songbooks, Arrangements and/or Media

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Anita Kerr : Broadway Charts

A collection of classic Broadway songs arranged in Anita's inimitable style.

Songlist: Anything You Can Do, My Favorite Things (from The Sound of Music), One, Singing in the Rain, What I Did for Love

Irving Berlin : Annie Get Your Gun

Twelve songs from this Irving Berlin favorite, which won the 1999 Tonyae Award for Best Musical Revival. Includes: Anything You Can Do - Doin' What Comes Natur'lly - The Girl That I Marry - I Got Lost in His Arms - I Got the Sun in the Morning - I'll Share It All with You - Moonshine Lullaby - My Defenses Are Down - An Old Fashioned Wedding - There's No Business Like Show Business - They Say It's Wonderful - You Can't Get a Man with a Gun.

Songlist: An Old Fashioned Wedding, Anything You Can Do, Doin' What Comes Natur'lly, The Girl That I Marry, I Got Lost In His Arms, I Got The Sun In The Morning, My Defenses Are Down, There's No Business Like Show Business, They Say It's Wonderful, You Can't Get A Man With A Gun, I'll Share It All With You, Moonshine Lullaby

Louise Lerch (editor) : Musical Theatre Anthology for Teens - Duets Edition

A three-book series of large collection of theatre and movie musical songs for teens, with no songs duplicated from the best-selling The Teen's Musical Theatre Collection. There are over 35 songs in each volume, with enough variety to keep any stage-struck teen singing for months. Songs range from the classic musicals, to Disney movies, to contemporary Broadway shows.

Songlist: Freedom, Memory, In His Eyes, All I Ask Of You, I'll Cover You, When I'm By Your Side, Who Will Love Me As I Am?, Written In The Stars, Anything You Can Do, Worlds Apart, Getting To Know You, I Could Be Happy With You, I Have Dreamed, I Whistle A Happy Tune, It's A Grand Night For Singing, The Last Night Of The World, A Little Fall Of Rain, My Favorite Things, Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin', People Will Say We're In Love, The Royal Nonesuch, Sisters, Stepsisters' Lament, Sun And Moon, We Kiss In A Shadow, We Make A Beautiful Pair, A Whole New World, Why Am I Me?, Wunderbar, If Momma Was Married, and more

Individual Folios

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Anything You Can Do

Yes, I can...no, you can't...YES, I CAN! Those super lyrics that lit up the Broadway production of Annie, Get Your Gun are back in a great choral setting. You'll have loads of fun programming this energetic crowd-pleaser. Excellent for show choir use. Available: 2-Part. Performance Time: Approx. 2:45.