The Torch Song

Written for: The Laugh Parade (1931)
Lyric: Mort Dixon & Joe Young
Music: Harry Warren
Year: 1931
Original publisher: Harms, Inc.

Verse:

You've heard it and I've heard it, it's now sung ev'rywhere;
You've wondered just who started that sad song of despair.
The song that's called the "Torch Song" from Maine to Hindustan,
Was started in the Southland
On heart-strings bent with discontent,
And here's how it began.

Chorus:

One night a whippoorwill cried out
Way up in his hideout,
With no one to share it;
A rose the bees had neglected,
Felt blue and dejected,
And just couldn't bear it.
A boy found out he was jilted
And he came moping along;
And soon bedraggled and wilted,
Along came a lady somebody done wrong.
So, while the pale moon was sailing,
They all started wailing,
And gave us the Torch Song!