Why Was I Born?

"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	Jerome Kern
Lyricist	Oscar Hammerstein II

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

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]

• 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]