A lady known as Paris, Romantic and Charming / Has left her old
companions
and faded from view
Lonely men with lonely eyes are seeking her in vain / Her streets are
where
they were, but there’s no sign of her
She has left the Seine
The last time I saw Paris, her heart was warm and gay,
I heard the laughter of her heart in every street cafe‚
The last time I saw Paris, her trees were dressed for spring,
And lovers walked beneath those trees and birds found songs to sing.
I dodged the same old taxicabs that I had dodged for years.
The chorus of their squeaky horns was music to my ears.
The last time I saw Paris, her heart was warm and gay,
No matter how they change her, I’ll remember her that way.
I’ll think of happy hours, and people who shared them
Old women, selling flowers, in markets at dawn
Children who applauded, Punch and Judy in the park
And those who danced at night and kept our Paris bright
‘til the town went dark.
Oscar Hammerstein was so
distraught when the Germans entered Paris on June 14, 1940, that he
wrote the lyric to "The Last Time I Saw Paris." Jerome Kern set it to
music and it was introduced by Kate Smith. The song became so popular
that MGM put it into the film Lady, Be Good. It went on to win the Academy
Award, although it wasn't specifically written for the film.
Hammerstein realized the injustice and insisted that the Academy change
the rules for songs, which they did.
