Swanee (song)

"Swanee" is an American popular song from 1919 composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics written by Irving Caesar.

The song was written for a New York City revue called Demi-Tasse, which opened in October 1919 at the Capitol Theater.

Caesar, who was then aged 24, claimed to have written the song in about ten minutes riding on a bus in Manhattan, finishing it at Gershwin's apartment.

It was originally used as a big production number, with 60 chorus girls dancing with electric lights in their slippers on an otherwise darkened stage.

Arthur Schwartz said: "It's ironic that he never again wrote a number equaling the sales of Swanee, which for all its infectiousness, doesn't match the individuality and subtlety of his later works.