Originals
Covers
You'll Remember Me
Music by Michael William Balfe and lyrics by Alfred Bunn
From The Bohemian Girl, First performed in London on November 27th, 1843
The origins and authorship(s) of this song are somewhat obscure. It is at LEAST as old as 1843 and that was well before the days of copyright documentation and enforcement. What attracted me to this composition is the sophistication of its lyrics...including the careful placement of the vowels (which, after all, are THE only letter category that CAN be sung...consonants require a choked-off air stream).
Clearly, this was the creation of someone well-versed in operatic singing...someone who knew how to ‘help’ a singer project into a room. There were no microphones in the world of the 1840’s!
When other lips and other hearts
Their tales of love shall tell,
In language whose excess imparts
The power they feel so well:
There may, perhaps, in such a scene,
Some recollection be
Of times that have as happy been,
And you'll remember me!
When coldness or deceit shall slight
The beauty now they prize,
And deem it but a faded light
That beams within your eyes;
When hollow hearts shall wear a mask,
'Twill break your own to see:
In such a moment I but ask
That you'll remember me!
