Track 13
Track 14

Born Israel Baline in Russia, he emigrated to America at age four and began working as a song-plugger and singing waiter as a teen. On his first published song, at age 19, his last name was misspelled “Berlin”. He changed his first name to Irving and went on to become one of the greatest American song writers of all time. With over 1500 published songs, twenty Broadway shows, and seventeen Hollywood musicals, he is unmatched in terms of quantity as well as quality. As Jerome Kern once remarked— “Irving Berlin has no place in American music. He is American music.” One of the most tender love songs of all time, Irving Berlin wrote “Always” as a wedding present for his beloved wife, Ellin.

LYRICS

Verse

Everything went wrong

and the whole day long I'd feel so blue

For the longest while

I'd forget to smile then I met you.

Now that my blue days have passed,

now that I've found you at last.


Chorus

I'll be loving you, always.

With a love that's true, always.

When the things you've planned,

need a helping hand,

I will understand, always, always.

Days may not be fair, always.

That's when I'll be there, always.

Not for just an hour, not for just a day,

not for just a year but always.

The 1935 film, “Every Night at Eight”, was a forgettable little movie about Alice Faye, Francis Langford, and Patsy Kelly singing their way to fame with bandleader George Raft. But two of the songs from the score, written by the marvelous team of Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh, were unforgettable— “I Feel A Song Coming On” and “I’m in the Mood for Love.”

LYRICS

I'm in the mood for love,

simply because you're near me

Funny but when you're near me,

I'm in the mood for love.

Heaven is in your eyes,

bright as the stars we're under.

Oh, is it any wonder,

I'm in the mood for love?

Why stop to think of whether,

this little dream might fade?

We put our hearts together,

now we are one, I'm not afraid.

If there's a cloud above,

if it should rain we'll let it

But for tonight, forget it!

I'm in the mood for love.

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“I’m in the Mood for Love”

(Dorothy Fields/Jimmy McHugh)

1935

“Always”

(Irving Berlin)

1925

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