Jason P. Grisell sings and plays a summer afternoon version of the Irving Berlin song "The Song Is Ended (But the Melody Lingers On)" Music by Irving Berlin, Lyrics by Beda Loehner. 1927 My thoughts go back to a heavenly dance A moment of bliss we spent Our hearts were filled with a song of romance As into the night we went And sang to our hearts' content The song is ended But the melody lingers on You and the song are gone But the melody lingers on The night was splendid And the melody seemed to say "summer will pass away Take your happiness while you may" There 'neath the light of the moon We sang a love song that ended too soon The moon descended And I found with the break of dawn You and the song had gone But the melody lingers on There 'neath the light of the moon We sang a love song that ended too soon The moon descended And I found with the break of dawn You and the song had gone But the melody lingers on Take your happiness while you may

For the last year or two I have been going back into the deep waters of song that were the popular music landscape of the early twentieth century and thereabouts. I spent this afternoon playing and recording this song by Irving Berlin, The Song Is Ended (But The Melody Lingers On). I came across this song through the interpretation of Whispering Jack Smith. This version is the most spare and atmospheric of the many versions I have heard. It captures the melancholia and existential weight of many of the songs from that era which are often cloaked in orchestration and arrangement. Incidentally, Whispering Jack Smith got a job as a "song plugger" for Irving Berlin Music Publishing in 1918 after his service in World War One. His throat was damaged in a poison gas attack and gave him his unique vocal approach which was understated and intimate by the standard of the time where singers would belt out their songs. His rise into the public eye dovetailed with the advent of microphone technology in live vocal performance, allowing for the whispering romantic style.