Today’s song of the day is “Anniversary Song,” which is based on Ion Ivanovici’s 1880 song “Waves of the Danube.”

Fun Facts

• The first edition of “Waves of the Danube” was published in Bucharest in 1880. It was attributed to Emma Gebauer, the spouse of Constantin Gebauer, a music producer.
• “Anniversary Song” was written by Al Jolson and Saul Chaplin for the musical historical film The Jolson Story of 1946, which starred Larry Parks as Al Jolson with musical sequences being directed by Joseph H. Lewis.
• On Feb 7, 1947, Al Jolson released “The Anniversary Song” on the Decca label, which peaked at number 2 on the Billboard charts for 14 weeks.
• The same song was recorded by Dinah Shore and released on the Columbia label, which first appeared on the Billboard charts on Feb 28, 1947, and remained on the charts for eight weeks, reaching the fourth position.
• Guy Lombardo made a recording on Dec 13, 1946, and was released by Decca Records. It debuted on the Billboard charts on Feb 14, 1947, and remained there for ten weeks, peaking at number four.
• In 1947, RCA Victor also published a rendition of the song by Tex Beneke and the Glenn Miller Orchestra, with Garry Stevens as well as the Mello Larks on vocals. It debuted on the Billboard charts on Feb 21, 1947, and remained there for eight weeks, peaking at number three.
• A beautiful environment is created by Dinah Shore’s rendition, with swirling strings, gentle drumming, and violin, and a good voice, although the execution is just of fair quality.

Lyrics:

(LyricFind)

So many times

Said it was forever

Said our love would always be true

Something in my heart always knew

I’d be lying here beside you

On my own

On my own

On my own

So many promises never should be spoken

Now I know what loving you cost

Now we’re up to talking divorce

And we weren’t even married

On my own

Once again now

One more time

By myself

No one said it was easy

But it once was so easy

Well I believed in love

Now here I stand

I wonder why

I’m on my own

Why did it end this way

On my own

This wasn’t how it was supposed to be

On my own

I wish that we could do it all again

So many times

I know I should have told you

Losing you it cut like a knife

You walked out and there went my life

I don’t want to live without you

On my own

On my own

On my own

This wasn’t how it was supposed to end

I wish that we could do it all again

I never dreamed I’d spend one night alone

On my own, I’ve got to find where I belong again

I’ve got to learn how to be strong again

I never dreamed I’d spend one night alone

By myself by myself

I’ve got to find out what was mine again

My heart is saying that it’s my time again

And I have faith that I will shine again

I have faith in me

On my own

On my own

On my own