Swanee (song)

"Swanee"
1919 "Swanee" sheet music with Jolson on the cover
Single by Al Jolson, "Incidental whistling by Mr. Jolson" (disc label)
B-side	"My gal" by Frank Crumit
Published	October 31, 1919 (1919-10-31) T. B. Harms & Francis, Day & Hunter, Inc., T.B. Harms, Inc., Warner Bros, Inc.
Released	April 1920[1]
Recorded	January 9, 1920[2]
Studio	New York City
Venue	Sinbad (1919 Broadway musical)
Genre	Popular Music
Length	2.39
Label	Columbia A-2884 Label Printing Code BW (February 1920)
Composer(s)	George Gershwin
Lyricist(s)	Irving Caesar

Swanee

Al Jolson's hit 1920 recording.

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"Swanee" is an American popular song written in 1919 by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Irving Caesar. It is most often associated with singer Al Jolson.

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 written partly as a parody of Stephen Foster's "Old Folks at Home", including the title in its lyrics. 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.^[3]