“Love Is Here to Stay” by George and Ira Gershwin

Among the Gershwin brothers’ hundreds of hit songs from the great jazz age, “Love Is Here to Stay” is perhaps the most poignant. George and Ira received a commission to write the song for the 1938 film The Goldwyn Follies. It was George‘s last composition. He died prematurely in July of 1937 at the age of 38, and Ira completed the lyrics alone. Using his beloved brother’s last score, he wrote a love song expressing his grief at the loss of his brother, his partner and his friend, creating the cherished song that we know today.

Though delegated to background music in The Goldwyn Follies, “Love Is Here to Stay” is here to stay indeed. Over the years it has been popularized by many artists and immortalized in The Great American Songbook as one of the most influential songs of its time.

Reflecting Ira’s feelings at the time, the simplicity of both the piano melody and the lyrics are endearing and subtle. And though the song’s emotional severity deepens as the lyrics address the passage of time and the destruction of natural wonders, the tragedy of this loss remains wonderfully overshadowed by the simple truth that Ira’s love for his brother will never fade away.

Love is Here to Stay

It’s very clear
Our love is here to stay;
Not for a year
But ever and a day.

The radio and the telephone
And the movies that we know
May just be passing fancies,
And in time may go!

But, oh my dear,
Our love is here to stay.
Together we’re
Going a long, long way

In time the Rockies may crumble,
Gibralter may tumble,
There’re only made of clay,
But our love is here to stay.

Listen to the song here:

Related SevenPonds Articles:

• Beautiful Memorial Music: “Honey” by Bobby Goldsboro
• Memorial Songs: “Casimir Pulaski Day” by Sufjan Stevens
• Memorial Music: “Will You Miss Me when I’m Gone?” by The Carter Family