I’m forever blowing bubbles
| AKA | |
| First Published | 1918 |
| Writer/composer | Jaan Kenbrown and John William Kellette | Roud | RNnone |
| Music Hall Performers | Fred Barnes |
| Folk performances | none I’m aware of .. |
From UK Sheet Music (1919) (personal copy) I'm dreaming dreams, I'm scheming schemes, I'm building castles high. They're born anew, their days are few, Just like a sweet butterfly. And as the daylight is dawning, They come again in the morning. I'm forever blowing bubbles, Pretty bubbles in the air, They fly so high, nearly reach the sky, Then like my dreams, they fade and die. Fortune's always hiding, I've looked everywhere, I'm forever blowing bubbles, Pretty bubbles in the air. When shadows creep, when I'm asleep, To lands of hope I stray! Then at daybreak, when I awake, My blue bird flutters away. Happiness, you seem so near me, Happiness, come forth and cheer me!
A Tin Pan Alley song/waltz from 1918 first popularised in the USA by various dance bands. In the UK it was not associated particularly with any individual artiste – it was performed by, amongst others, Fred Barnes. In 1920 the song was used as the basis for a Pears Soap advertising campaign and also later featured in the repertoire of Vera Lynn in the 1930s.
It was later taken up by West Ham fans. The song has been the source of innumerable parodies.
Sources:
- Kilgarrif Sing Us
- UK Sheet Music (as sung by Fred Barnes): personal collection