When I Lost You

By Irving Berlin
1912

A truly heartbreaking song, and one of the most personal of standards. Berlin wrote it following the typhoid fever death of his wife of five months, a singer named Dorothy Goetz. Berlin himself made the first recording of it, and it soon became his first hit ballad. A simple waltz with bittersweet harmony and diminished seventh chords, it was the only song born so directly of the composer's personal pain.

Lyrics:

I lost the sunshine and roses,
I lost the heavens of blue.
I lost the beautiful rainbow,
I lost the morning dew.

I lost the angel who gave me
Summer the whole winter through.
I lost the gladness that turned into sadness,
When I lost you.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Bing Crosby
Tony Bennett
Jessica Molaskey
Maude Maggart

My Melancholy Baby

By Ernie Burnett & George A. Norton
1912

In one of the most bizarre bits of trivia I've ever come across, it might interest you to know that it was William "Fred Mertz" Frawley who introduced this song at the Mozart Cafe in Denver, Colorado. The sentimental favorite was a major theme in the Cagney pic The Roaring Twenties, in which it was sung by his co-star Priscilla Lane.

Lyrics:

Come sweetheart mine,
Don't sit and pine.
Tell me of the cares that make you feel so blue.
What have I done?
Answer me, hon.
Have I ever said an unkind word to you?
My love is true,
And just for you.
I'd do almost anything at any time.
Dear when you sigh,
Or when you cry,
Something seems to grip this very heart of mine.

So come to me, my melancholy baby,
Cuddle up and don't feel blue.
All your fears are foolish fancy, maybe.
You know, dear, that I'm in love with you.

Every cloud must have a silver lining.
Wait until that sun shines through.
Smile, my honey dear,
While I kiss away each tear,
Or else I shall be melancholy, too.

Recorded By:

Barbra Streisand
Al Bowlly
Coleman Hawkins
Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie & Thelonious Monk
Leon Redbone