# Does This Song Exist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 29, 2019, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-song-exist/845561 "2019-12-29T20:47:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kaiwik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaiwik/32/3978_2.png) [@kaiwik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaiwik)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-song-exist/845561/1 "2019-12-29T20:47:37Z")
I have been recording a few old black and white tv-shows in order to enjoy them with my daughter, specifically _Hazel_, _The Joey Bishop Show_, and _The Burns and Allen Show_. It’s fun to laugh at the old shows and to marvel at how formally they dressed back then. I have been searching for a song, and at this point, I would settle for knowing that it was just a title and a line or two created for the show. George Burns makes many mentions of a song, _In the Heart of a Cherry_. I have searched everywhere I can think of and have come up with absolutely nothing. Does anyone here know of this song, or of its non-existence? Finding out has become a bit of an obsession with me, and I would certainly appreciate getting the straight dope. Thanks in advance! ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-song-exist/845561/2 "2019-12-29T21:15:44Z")
I did some searching and found one reference that said that Burns took this song from a musical called _The Gaieties of 1919_. I found several references to this musical. It appears to be something that played on Broadway in 1919. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-song-exist/845561/3 "2019-12-29T21:24:24Z")
Some further searching shows that there was a musical written by Eubie Blake called _Shubert Gaieties of 1919_, but this may be something unrelated. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-song-exist/845561/4 "2019-12-29T21:54:38Z")
Thomas S. Hischak’s book _Broadway Plays and Musicals_ says this about the Shubert Gaieties of 1919: “(7 July 1919) Musical revue by Edgar Smith, Harold Atteridge, Ed Wynn (skts), Jean Schwartz (mu), Alfred Bryan (lyr) 44th St Thea; 87 p. A quickly tossed together entertainment that often resembled a vaudeville show, the revue featured Henry Lewis, Gladys Walton, Jimmie Fox, Jack Bohm, Gilda Gray, and Stewart Baird. Irving Berlin’s “You’d Be Surprised” from the current Ziegfeld Follies was the only notable song and the production numbers paled in comparison to the other revues. All the same, the show ran eleven weeks. Other songs: A Maid Like You; Little Boy Blue; This Is The Day; Crazy Quilt (Dippy-Doodle-Um).” But no Cherry. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-song-exist/845561/5 "2019-12-29T22:09:25Z")
Further searching shows that there was something in 1919 called _The Shubert Brothers’ Gaieties of 1919_ which Ed Wynn" was in. The Shubert Brothers were part of a family which established Broadway as the theater center of the U.S. The family still owns a number of theaters in various places. It’s possible that Eubie Blake didn’t write the musical I mentioned but merely recorded some songs from the musical that are now available on a single album. ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-song-exist/845561/6 "2019-12-30T02:02:37Z")
I found some references of Burns referring to it as one of “his” songs, so I suspect it’s one that he wrote himself for his act. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-song-exist/845561/7 "2019-12-30T03:50:32Z")
Several sources I’ve looked at say that Burns used a bunch of names in his early years. This includes the period of _The Shubert Brothers’ Gaieties of 1919_. Even if we could find a complete list of everyone appearing in it, Burns might be listed under a different name. ---
**Author:** ![kaiwik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaiwik/32/3978_2.png) [@kaiwik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaiwik)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2019, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-song-exist/845561/8 "2019-12-31T20:33:37Z")
Thank you **Wendell Wagner** , **Prof. Pepperwinkle** , and **MrKnowItAll** , I knew that it was going to be a long shot, and that if I couldn’t find it this would be the place where someone could. Apparently it will remain one of those mysteries I never solve. Or, maybe someday I will! Again, thank you, you are kind to have looked around for the answer I was seeking. ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2019, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-song-exist/845561/9 "2019-12-31T23:28:28Z")
Take a look at this [PDF](https://repository.asu.edu/attachments/204789/content/SM4143_CherryBlossomLane_1919_Score.pdf). Internet Broadway Database lists the show and includes the song _Cherry Blossom Lane_. It includes a cast list which doesn’t have the name George Burns or Nathan Birnbaum. A search of the song title with the name of the show led me to the site where this 1919 song (so certainly out of copyright) is found. The chorus is: In the heart of a cherry, stony heart of a cherry There’s a song of the bluebird that tells of happiness From the lips of the Maytime it was stolen one daytime It’s a tuneful, Tuneful, croonful, melodyness. Which may explain why Van Halen never recorded it. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2020, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-song-exist/845561/10 "2020-01-01T02:51:15Z")
By George, I think he’s got it. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2020, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-song-exist/845561/11 "2020-01-01T03:10:46Z")
Nice research, Julius! Dennis ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2020, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-song-exist/845561/12 "2020-01-01T04:05:54Z")
> [@Julius\_Henry](#): > > Which may explain why Van Halen never recorded it. But Alfred Bryan did write the lyrics for _Come Josephine in My Flying Machine_ the song that Jack sings to Rose in\*\* that\*\* scene in _Titanic_. ---
**Author:** ![kaiwik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaiwik/32/3978_2.png) [@kaiwik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaiwik)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-song-exist/845561/13 "2020-04-13T21:54:46Z")
Well, how about that! I thought it was a lost cause, it has been a nagging earworm, just the two lines that George sings every now and again. So I typed it in Google to do some more looking around just now, and lo and behold, **Julius Henry** solved the puzzle! I cannot express how grateful I am, this has been nagging at me for months! Thank you everyone for making the effort, and extra special thanks to **Julius Henry** for finding the prize, you rawk! 😃