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01/27/2006 Entry: "Kern"

It's the birthday of Jerome Kern, composer and gambler.

He and his wife survived the sinking of the Lusitania because he overslept and missed the boat.

He once raised over two million auctioning off his massive book collection, invested most of it in stocks and then lost it all in the crash of 1929.

And he composed one of my favorite standards, which goes:

They, asked me how I knew,
My true love was true,
I of course replied, something here inside,
Can not be denied.

They, said some day you'll find,
All who love are blind,
When you heart's on fire, you must realize,
Smoke gets in your eyes.

So I chaffed them, and I gaily laughed,
To think they would doubt our love,
And yet today, my love has gone away,
I am without my love.

Now laughing friends deride,
Tears I cannot hide,
So I smile and say, when a lovely flame dies,
Smoke gets in your eyes.