Why Was I Born?

Song lyrics to Why Was I Born? (1929) music by Jerome Kern, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

“Why Was I Born?” is a 1929 song composed by Jerome Kern, with lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was written for the show “Sweet Adeline” (1929).

Why was I born?
Why am I living?
What do I get?
What am I giving?

Why do I want a thing I daren’t hope for?
What can I hope for?
I wish I knew

Why do I try to draw you near me?
Why do I cry?
You never hear me

I’m a poor fool, but what can I do?
Why was I born to love you?

Media Performances

• Sweet Adeline (1929) by Helen Morgan
• The Red Skelton Show – Clem the Rookie by Diahann Carroll

Notable recordings

• Lena Horne in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)
• Billie Holiday – recorded the song for Brunswick Records on January 25, 1937 with Teddy Wilson and His Orchestra.
• Frank Sinatra for Columbia Records (1947).
• Vic Damone reached No. 20 in the Billboard charts in 1949 with the song.
• Dorothy Lamour – The Road to Romance…For Bing, Bob and You! (1957).
• Judy Garland – The London Sessions (1960) [11]
• Margaret Whiting – Margaret Whiting Sings the Jerome Kern Songbook (1960)
• Ella Fitzgerald – Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Songbook (1963)
• Dinah Washington – for her album Dinah ’63 (1963).
• Georgia Brown – Georgia Brown (The Sensational New Singing Star of Oliver!) (1963).
• Cher – Bittersweet White Light (1973)
• Sonny Rollins – Without a Song: The 9/11 Concert (2005)
• Bob Dylan – Triplicate (2017)