It is one of the most famous arias from the opera (along with "Summertime", "It Ain't Necessarily So", and "Bess, You Is My Woman Now") and it has been recorded by hundreds of singers and music groups.
[3] There is a short reprise of the song at the end of the act, as Porgy sings cheerfully to himself after Bess has left on her fateful trip to Kittiwah Island.
At the very end, a fragment of the principal phrase appears at the beginning of the final aria, "Oh Lawd, I'm on my way", to signal Porgy's renewed optimism and potential happiness as he sets out to find Bess.
Unusually, he sketched the tune before the lyrics were written, playing a rough version on the piano at a meeting with the opera's lyricists, his brother Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward.
Some of the most notable performers included Bing Crosby (recorded March 29, 1936),[6] Aaron Bridgers (1950), Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong (1957), Frank Sinatra (1957), Pearl Bailey (1959), Carol Kidd (1994).