The song of the day for Wednesday, October 21, 2026, is “The Song Is Ended (but the Melody Lingers On).”

About Today

Today we are celebrating Dizzy Gillespie who was born 109 years ago on October 21, 1917, in Cheraw, South Carolina.

Some years ago I was watching an Ask Me Anything interview that Tony Bennett was doing; his son and manager Danny was there as well, and Bennett told this story. Turns out that Gillespie had been a neighbor of Tony’s when he lived in Englewood, New Jersey. One day, the doorbell rang and young Danny answered it. Standing there was Dizzy Gillespie who said “I’m Dizzy!” Danny, who had never met Gillespie, asked him if he’d like to come in and have a glass of water. The adult Danny blushed a little bit and said something like “oh, Dad.” I love that story.

About This Song

“The Song Is Ended (but the Melody Lingers On)” was written by Irving Berlin in 1927. Ruth Etting and Whispering Jack Smith both recorded it in 1928. The song references Ira Gershwin’s lyric in “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” in the line “the song is ended, but as the songwriter wrote, the melody lingers on.” Gershwin may have based his lyric on Berlin’s 1924 song “All Alone,” which has the line “Just like a melody that lingers on.”

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “The Song Is Ended (but the Melody Lingers On)” in May 1987 for Bennett/Berlin. Dizzy Gillespie is featured on trumpet in this recording.

“The Song Is Ended (but the Melody Lingers On),” as well as Bennett/Berlin, is available on Apple Music.

One thing I’ve discovered over the years of doing this blog is that Ruth Etting recorded just about every song written in the 1920s. Here’s her recording of “The Song Is Ended (but the Melody Lingers On).”