Smiles

DESCRIPTION: "Dearie, now I know, Just what makes me love you so... For life’s sadness turns to gladness When you smile on me." "There are smiles that make us happy, There are smiles that make us blue... And the smiles that fill my life with sunshine" are yours
AUTHOR: Words: J. Will Callahan / Music: Lee S. Roberts
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (copyright)
KEYWORDS: love nonballad campsong
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Harbin-Parodology, #54, p. 20, "Smiles" (1 text)
Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, p. 269, "Smiles" (notes only)
Colonial-Dames-AmericanWarSongs, p. 166, "Smiles" (1 text)
Fuld-BookOfWorldFamousMusic, pp. 507-508, "Smiles"
SAME TUNE:
Smiles That Are Best of All (File: Paro089)
Crowds ("There are crowds that make you grumpy") (Harbin-Parodology, #44, p. 18)
Leagues That Brag ("There are leagues that do a lot of bragging") (Harbin-Parodology, #147, p. 43)
There Are Leagues ("There are leagues that make you happy") (Harbin-Parodology, #148, p. 43)
Beds ("There are beds that make us cozy") (Harbin-Parodology, #236, p. 59)
There Are Eats ("There are eats that make us happy, There are eats that make us chew") (Harbin-Parodology, #282, p. 68)
There Are Germs (Pankake/Pankake-PrairieHomeCompanionFolkSongBook, p. 112)
There Are Ships (Pankake/Pankake-PrairieHomeCompanionFolkSongBook, p. 253)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
There Are Smiles That Make Me Happy
NOTES [139 words]: Thomas S. Hischak, The American Musical Theatre Song Encyclopedia (with a Foreword by Gerald Bordman), Greenwood Press, 1995, p. 310, says that this was written "for The Passing Show of 1918, where it was sung by Neil Carrington and the girl's chorus.... 'Smiles' became the biggest hit of the season, with over three million copies of sheet music. It became the theme song for the Ipana Troubadors on early radio, and years later Judy Garland made a hit recording of it. In the Broadway revue Tintypes (1980), it was sung by Jerry Zaks, Catherine Wright and the company as the finale."
Edward Foote Gardner, Popular Songs of the Twentieth Century: Volume I -- Chart Detail & Encyclopedia 1900-1949, Paragon House, 2000, p. 322, estimates that this was the most popular song in America in 1918, peaking at #1 September 1918. - RBW
Last updated in version 7.1
File: CSF269S

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography