Where Did the Magic Go

Tony Bennett

I’ve dreamed my dreams in blues and grays
Happy timeless yesterdays
The blues in sea and Lady Day
Ellington and Hemingway
Candlelight and Courvoisier
Where did the magic go?

I loved the age when movie stars
Had fancy furs and foreign cars
Spencer playing Katherine’s beau
Bogie in a gangster role
Fred and Ginger dancing slow
Where did the magic go?

Where did the magic go, my friend
Since that lovely time
When Rodgers found a melody
And Hart made up the rhyme
Walking miles through the snow
To hold that one girl’s hand
When life was all illusion
All illusion grand

But now there’s too much empty space
Too little style, too little grace
Louis’ sound cannot be found
Byrd and Tatum aren’t around
And who remembers Dorsey’s sound
Where did the magic go?

We gathered at the Avalon
To hear the late great tunes
And Francis Albert sang to us
In lonely dark saloons

Gershwin played his Rhapsody
Garbo spoke a line
Ella gave us ballads
By Kahn and Jule Styne

The lights have dimmed on names I’ve know
The stage is dark, the dreams have flown
The memories of songs by Bing
Benny was the King of Swing
Basie on a one-night stand
Artists dream by Kenton’s band

I remember everything
And great music never dies
These were moments through the years
The sounds that brought us joy and tears

I remember every scene
We’ll never let it go
This magic that’s in our souls, my friend
When magic is in your soul, my friend
This magic will never die