I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles

"I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" is a popular song which debuted in 1918 and was first published in 1919.

The tune is by John Kellette. The lyrics are credited to "Jaan Kenbrovin", actually a collective pseudonym for the writers James Kendis, James Brockman and Nat Vincent. The number was debuted in the Broadway musical "The Passing Show of 1918", and it was introduced by Helen Carrington.

The copyright to "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" was originally registered in 1919, and was owned by the Kendis-Brockman Music Co. Inc. This was transferred later that year to Jerome H. Rernick & Co. of New York and Detroit. When the song was written, James Kendis, James Brockman, and Nat Vincent all had separate contracts with publishers, which led them to use the name Jaan Kenbrovin for credit on this song. James Kendis and James Brockman were partners in the Kendis-Brockman Music Company.

The waltz was a major Tin Pan Alley hit, and was performed and recorded by most major singers and bands of the late 1910s and early 1920s.

The song was a hit for Ben Selvin's Novelty Orchestra in 1919. The Original Dixieland Jass Band recording of the number is an unusual early example of jazz in 3/4 time.

The song also became a hit with the public in British music halls and theatres during the early 1920s. Dorothy Ward was especially renowned for making the song famous with her appearances at these venues. The song was also used by English comedian "Professor" Jimmy Edwards as his signature tune - played on the trombone. Harpo Marx would play the song on clarinet, which would then begin emitting bubbles. The title air, or first line of the chorus, is quoted in the 1920s song "Singing in the Bathtub", a favorite of cartoon canary Tweety Bird. In the early 1970s, The Bonzo Dog Band's stage show featured a robot that sang the title air while blowing bubbles.

The writer Ring Lardner parodied the lyric during the Black Sox scandal of 1919, when he began to suspect that players on the Chicago White Sox team were deliberately losing the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. [ [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballplayers/player.php?name=Ring_Lardner Entry for Ring Lardner at the Baseball Library] ] His version began: "I'm forever blowing ballgames".

The song features extensively in the 1931 prohibition gangster movie "The Public Enemy" starring James Cagney. It also was sung by a white bird in the "Merrie Melodies" cartoon "I Love to Singa".

A parody of the song was written and performed as; "I'm forever blowing bubble-gum" by Spike Jones and his City Slickers.

West Ham United connection

The song is now better known in the UK as the club anthem of West Ham United, a London-based football club.

"I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" was introduced to the club by former manager Charlie Paynter in the late twenties. A player, Billy J. "Bubbles" Murray who played for the local Park School had an almost uncanny resemblance to the boy in the famous "Bubbles" painting by Millais used in a Pears soap commercial of the time. Headmaster Cornelius Beal coined singing the tune "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" with amended lyrics when Park players played well.cite web |url=http://www.whufc.com/page/VintageClaret/0,,12562~1193983,00.html | title=The Story of Bubbles | publisher=West Ham United | author=John Helliar]

Beal was a friend of Paynter, while Murray was a West Ham trialist and played football at schoolboy level with a number of West Ham players such as Jim Barrett. Through this contrivance of association the club's fans took it upon themselves to begin singing the popular music hall tune before home games, sometimes reinforced by the presence of a house band requested to play the refrain by Charlie Paynter.

There is a slight change to the lyrics sung by the Upton Park faithful. The second line's "nearly reach the sky" is changed to "they reach the sky", "Then like my dreams" is also changed to "And like my dreams". In addition the fans begin a chant of "United, United!" to cap it off.

These touchline songs were a form of predecessor to the terrace chants that have since become a trademark of the game. It was adopted by West Ham's supporters in the late 1920s and is now one of the most recognisable club anthems in English football along with "You'll Never Walk Alone".

As a tribute to West Ham, the punk rock band the Cockney Rejects covered the song in 1980. The song is also distinctly heard in the movie "Green Street", [The film is known alternatively as "Green Street Hooligans" (US) or "Hooligans" (Aus/Rest of the world)] starring Elijah Wood.

In 2006 at the final match at Arsenal F.C.'s Highbury stadium, Arsenal supporters broke into song to celebrate West Ham's defeat of Tottenham which elevated Arsenal into the Champions League on the last day. Similarly, Blackburn Rovers were heard singing 'Bubbles' in their dressing room after West Ham assisted them winning the Premiership in 1995 having held Manchester United 1-1.

Lyrics

Listen
filename=Ben Selvin - I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles.ogg
title=I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles
description=Performed by Ben Selvin and His Novelty Orchestra (recorded 31 July 1919)
format=OggThe original lyrics per first publication.

Verse 1

:"I'm dreaming dreams",:"I'm scheming schemes",:"I'm building castles high".:"They're born anew",:"Their days are few",:"Just like a sweet butterfly".:"And as the daylight is dawning",:"They come again in the morning".

Chorus

:"I'm forever blowing bubbles",:"Pretty bubbles in the air".:"They fly so high",:"Nearly reach the sky",:"Then like my dreams",:"They fade and die".:"Fortune's always hiding",:"I've looked everywhere",:"I'm forever blowing bubbles",:"Pretty bubbles in the air".

Notable recordings

Notable recordings of the song include:

*Albert C. Campbell & Henry Burr
**Columbia A-2701 (matrix: 78263-1)
**Recorded January 22, 1919

*Helen Clark & George Wilton Ballard
**Edison Blue Amberol 3798
**Released August 1919

*Ben Selvin & his Novelty Orchestra
**Victor 18603 (matrix: 22966-6)
**Recorded July 31, 1919

*Peter Dawson (as Will Strong)
**HMV B 1092
**Recorded London February 17, 1920

*Vera Lynn
**Recorded London

*Doris Day & Jack Smith with the Norman Luboff Choir with orchestra directed by Paul Weston
**Columbia 39453 (matrix: RHCO 4481-1N)
**Also released as a track of the 10" LP, "On Moonlight Bay"
**Recorded Los Angeles April 27, 1951

*Frank Fontaine (as Crazy Guggenheim on The Jackie Gleason Show/CBS-TV;'Songs I Sing on the Jackie Gleason Show' - Track 2)
**ABC Paramount Records 90212
**Recorded 1962
**Number One Album on Billboard in February 1963

References

External links

* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=17:714499 I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles] at Allmusic
* [http://www.kumb.com/club.php West Ham United club history at KUMB] , contains full lyrics for the song
* [http://www.whufc.com/claret/?page_id=3595 The Story Of Bubbles] by John Helliar, from the official West Ham United website
*cite book |last=Hogg |first=Tony |title=Who's Who of West Ham United |year=2005 |publisher=Profile Sports Media| id= ISBN 1 903135 50 8 |pages=24