It seems to me I've heard that song before;
It's from an old familiar score;
I know it well that melody.
It's funny how a theme recalls a favorite dream,
A dream that brought you so close to me.
I know each word, Because I've heard that song before;
The lyric said "Forevermore";
Forevermore's a memory.
Please have them play it again,
By 1940, Jule Styne had been a vocal arranger
and singing coach at 20th Century Fox for some time. Tiring of his
routine and confident that he could write songs with the best of them,
he approached Darryl Zanuck, the head of the vast studio. Just at
that time, however, Zanuck had announced a halt on musicals. After
fulfilling his Fox contract by going on the road as coach and accompanist
with actress Constance Bennett, Styne signed on with Republic Studios, known
primarly for "oaters" staring Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and other Western heroes.
But sometimes the company turned out cheap musicals such as the 1942
film Youth On Parade which Jule was assigned
to write with a man he had never met, a struggling young lyricist named
Sammy Cahn. When the two were introduced, Styne was busy plucking
out a melody. Years later, Sammy recounted that the first sentence
he uttered to the sensitive composer almost ended their association before
it began. What he said was "It seems to me I've heard that song before."
Well, the mere suggestion of plagiarism is enough to incite the mildest-mannered
songwriter to riot, and Styne exploded. It took Sammy some time to
explain that he meant that the last five words of his sentence should be
the title of the tune that Jule was working on. It was the beginning
of a beautiful - and most profitable - friendship.