Morning Star (Nat King Cole song)

"Morning Star" is a track sung by Nat King Cole from the 1958 album St. Louis Blues. "Morning Star", taken from the Paramount picture, St. Louis Blues, with new lyrics by Mack David, was based on W. C. Handy's spiritual "Shine Like a Morning Star".{{cite book|author1=William Christopher Handy|author2=Abbe Niles|author3=Elliott S. Hurwitt|title=W.C. Handy's Blue|isbn=978-0486486192|date=2012|page=262|quotation=Another extraordinary example, in march time, is Shine Like a Morning Star, which is to be found only in Handy's own published arrangement.}} The song describes, among other things, a mother's love for her son. The lyrics commence "I asked my mother / Is there a morning star? / I was answered by my mother / Yes, there's a morning star".

Handy's original song, "Shine Like a Morning Star", was also arranged for SATB quartet as a four voice spiritual.{{cite book|author=Evelyn Davidson White|title=Choral Music by Afro-American Composers: A Selected, Annotated Bibliography|date=1981|page=118|quotation=WILLIAM C. HANDY SECOND COLLECTION OF 37 SPIRITUALS Mixed Voices, Male Voices and Vocal Solos with Piano Accompaniment Arranged by William C. Handy ... Shine Like a Morning Star (SATB) 4|publisher=Scarecrow Press|edition=First|isbn=978-0810814516}}{{cite book|author=David Robertson|title=W.C. Handy: The Life and Times of the Man Who Made the Blues|date=2009|quotation="Shine Like a Morning Star"|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|isbn=978-0307266095}}{{cite book|author=Leslie Gourse|title=Sassy: The Life of Sarah Vaughan|date=2009|page=276|isbn=978-0786751143|quotation=Of the songs that were released, "Morning Star" was written by Jimmy Rowles with lyrics by Johnny Mercer, though W. C. Handy was given credit — apparently by accident — for the composition. This information comes directly from Jimmy}}