Track Title:               Why Was I Born?
Album Title:               Jerome Kern Songbook, disc 15


Prime Artist:              Ella Fitzgerald
Arranger:                  Nelson Riddle
Lyrics by:                 Oscar Hammerstein II     (O. Greeley Clendenning H. II)

Music by:                  Jerome Kern   (J. David K.)
Producer:                  Norman Granz
Orchestra:                 Nelson Riddle
From the Show:             Sweet Adeline  1929 (S)

Lyrics:
Spending these lonesome evenings
With nothing to do
But to live in dreams that I make up
All by myself

Dreaming that you're beside me
I picture the prettiest stories
Only to wake up
All by myself

What is the good of me by myself?

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 do I cry
You never hear me

I'm a poor fool
But what can I do
Why was I born
To love you

(bridge)

I'm a poor fool
But what can I do
Why was I born
To love you

transcribed by Todd Peach