
In 1937, when the Gershwins contributed nine songs to the Astaire film, "A Damsel In Distress," "Nice work if you can get it" was a popular expression in England - and the film was set in England; it also included "A Foggy Day," destined to become another Gershwin classic. In "Nice Work," lyricist Ira Gershwin stole his own line from "I Got Rhythm" "Who could ask for anything more." The song features circle-of-fifths movement at the beginning of the chorus (moving up by fourths: A7, D9, G7, C9, F, Bb). This arrangement, in F, includes the often omitted intro/verse which, typically, is more complicated than the chorus, chord-wise. The chorus has an AABA structure with, as in many Gershwin compositions, two extra bars at the end of the final A part.