When I Lost You

"When I Lost You" is a song with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin written in 1912 after his wife of five months, the former Dorothy Goetz, died of typhoid fever. In it he poured out the grief of his loss, the only song that he ever admitted had such a connection to his own life. The song, a ballad, was unlike any of Berlin's previous songs, which were upbeat tunes written to take advantage of the dance craze. The song's melody is a slow, simple waltz with bittersweet harmony and diminished seventh chords. It became Berlin's first hit ballad.cite book
last =Furia
first =Philip
authorlink =
title = The Poets of Tin Pan Alley:A History of America's Great Lyricists
publisher = Oxford University Press
date =1990
location =New York
pages = pp. 51–52
id =
isbn =0-19-506408-9 ]

Berlin had published 130 songs by this point, none of which previously had revealed his ability to write with moving sentiment about his own personal pain. [cite book
first= Alec
last= Wilder
authorlink=
coauthors=
year= 1990
title= American Popular Song: The Great Innovators 1900-1950
edition=
publisher= Oxford University Press
location= New York & Oxford
pages = p. 96
id= ISBN 0-19-501445-6 ]

Background

Dorothy Goetz was one of many singers who arrived at the Waterson, Berlin & Snyder offices after the success of Berlin's "Everybody's Doin' It Now".cite book |accessdate=2008-10-04|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=8ZgJu3UKRfIC&pg=PA85&dq=Irving+Berlin+When+I+Lost+You&lr=&ei=dSHnSOjPAoLoyAS9hZ2nAg&sig=ACfU3U1W789I7rJAwbU-odhDwuMNU9vZtA#PPA84,M1|author= Laurence Bergreen|title= As Thousands Cheer: The Life of Irving Berlin|publisher= Da Capo Press|date=1996| pages=81-85]

Composition

Berlin's initial attempts to resume songwriting after his wife's death were unsuccessful. After accepting an invitation to visit Europe with Dorothy's brother Ray Goetz, Berlin composed "When I Lost You".

:"The birds ceased their song":"Right turned to wrong":"Sweetheart when I lost you":"A day turned to years":"The world seemed in tears":"Sweetheart when I lost you."cite web|url=http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/sheetmusic/b/b01/b0176/b0176-3-72dpi.html|title="When I Lost You" (sheet music p.1)|publisher=Waterson, Berlin & Snyder|accessdate=2008-10-04]

Listen
filename=Irving Berlin, Henry Barr, When_I_Lost_You.ogg
title="When I Lost You"
description=Sung by Henry Burr in 1913 for Edison Records

Reception

Berlin did not make promotional appearances for the song during its first year of release, yet the circumstances of his brief and tragic marriage were common knowledge. The following year he performed the song in London.

Footnotes