Song of the Day: The Song Is Ended

The song of the day for Wednesday, January 22, 2014 is “The Song Is Ended.”

About This Song

“The Song Is Ended (but the melody lingers on)” was composed by Irving Berlin in 1927 for the Broadway musical Will O’ the Whispers. Unlike practically all of his songs, he did not write the lyrics which were by Beda Loehner. You know you’ve written a great song when its lyric is quoted by Ira Gershwin in the verse of “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” when he writes: “the song is ended, but as the songwriter wrote, the melody lingers on.”

This song has had great recordings over the years, starting with Ruth Etting (1927) and Louis Armstrong and the Mills Brothers (1938) to Ella Fitzgerald (1958) and Dizzy Gillespie (1966). And, of course, Tony Bennett.

About This Version

Today’s version is from Tony Bennett’s wonderful 1987 album Bennett/Berlin. The album was produced by his son Danny and featured the Ralph Sharon Trio, including Paul Langosch on bass and Joe LaBarbera on drums. Tony Bennett arranged the songs on the album. “The Song Is Ended” features the great Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet.

http://open.spotify.com/track/3YudPLcZLV79R1j2WaS4xU
“The Song Is Ended,” as well as the Bennett/Berlin album, is available from iTunes.