After the Ball (song)

"After the Ball" became the most successful song of its era, which at that time was gauged by the sales of sheet music.

Its total sheet music sales exceed five million copies, making it the best seller in Tin Pan Alley's history.

[2] It exemplifies the sentimental ballads published before 1920, whose topics were frequently babies, separation, and death.

[4] It was not an immediate success, but Harris published it himself and arranged for it to be interpolated into the touring musical production of A Trip to Chinatown, in which it was sung by J. Aldrich Libbey.

Its popularity grew when it was performed regularly by John Philip Sousa and his band at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago.

In the last scene of an episode of Season 10 of Murdoch Mysteries, Dr. Julia Ogden plays the song on a gramophone as she removes for examination the brain of a serial killer on the autopsy table.

Bright lights were flashing in the grand ballroom, Softly the music playing sweet tunes.

Alternative parody verse 2 of above: After the ball was over, Bonnie took out her glass eye, Put her false teeth in the basin, corked up a bottle of dye Put her false leg in the corner, hung up her hair on the wall And all that was left went to bye byes after the ball.

Alternative parody verse: After the ball was over, Bonnie took out her glass eye, Put her false teeth in water, Hung up her wig to dry Put her peg leg in the corner Hung her tin ear on the wall And then what was left Crawled into bed after the ball Alternative parody verse: After the ball was over, Molly took out her glass eye, put her false teeth in saltwater hung up her wig to dry Put her cork leg in the corner unscrewed the tin ear from her head.