Why Was I Born?

"Why Was I Born?" is a 1929 song composed by Jerome Kern, with lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II.^[4]

"Why Was I Born?"
Single by Helen Morgan
B-side	"Don't Ever Leave Me"
Written	1929
Published	1929 T.B. Harms, Inc., Universal Polygram International Publishing, Inc.[1]
Released	January 20, 1930[2]
Recorded	October 16, 1929 take 2[3]
Studio	New York City
Venue	Sweet Adeline (1929 Broadway musical)
Genre	Show tune, Popular Music
Length	3.22
Label	Victor 22199
Composer(s)	Jerome Kern
Lyricist(s)	Oscar Hammerstein II

It was written for the show Sweet Adeline (1929) and introduced by Helen Morgan.^[5] Popular recordings in 1930 were by Helen Morgan and by Libby Holman.^[6]

Notable recordings

Horne singing "Why Was I Born?" in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)

• Billie Holiday - recorded the song for Brunswick Records (catalog No. 7859) on January 25, 1937 with Teddy Wilson and His Orchestra.^[7]
• Lena Horne in the film Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)
• Frank Sinatra recorded the song for Columbia Records on December 28, 1947.^[8]
• Vic Damone reached No. 20 in the Billboard charts in 1949 with the song.^[9]
• Dorothy Lamour - The Road to Romance...For Bing, Bob and You! (1957).^[10]
• Judy Garland - The London Sessions (1960) ^[11]
• Margaret Whiting - Margaret Whiting Sings the Jerome Kern Songbook (1960)^[12]
• Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane - Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane (1963)^[13]
• Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Songbook (1963)^[4]
• Dinah Washington - for her album Dinah '63 (1963).^[14]
• Georgia Brown - Georgia Brown (The Sensational New Singing Star of Oliver!) (1963).^[15]
• Cher - Bittersweet White Light (1973)^[16]
• Sonny Rollins - Without a Song: The 9/11 Concert (2005)^[17]
• Bob Dylan - Triplicate (2017)^[18]