Torch Songs: Why Don’t You Do Right?

Jessica Rabbit (sung by Amy Irving): Why Don‘t You Do Right

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As we have seen this week already, “torch song” is a slippery term, hard to define. But I know a definition that captures it exactly. A torch song is that moment in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? where we first meet Jessica Rabbit. Jessica’s speaking voice was done by Kathleen Turner, who used a Lauren Bacall kind of voice that was perfect. So I was surprised to learn that Turner didn’t do Jessica’s singing voice. That was Amy Irving, who I never knew could sing. The song, of course, was Why Don’t You Do Right?, and here it is. The song was originally a signature song for Peggy Lee, but I would have to say that Jessica more than does it justice.