Two Lovely Black Eyes

Album: Music Hall Classics (1886)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The music hall star Charles Coborn wrote this in 1886 as "a parody upon a stupid American semi-ballad"; this was "My Nellie's Blue Eyes" which was sung by Ida Morris. Coborn wrote in his autobiography: "The air was tuneful enough, but the words were so trivial that I felt that it screamed out to be parodied..." The parody went down much better than the original, although Coborn said he didn't claim that the words were much better. The Coborn song was arranged by Edmund Forman and published by Francis Brothers & Day of London that same year.
  • In his long career, Coborn sang and recorded "Two Lovely Black Eyes" many times. In the 1979 discography British Music Hall On Record, Brian Rust lists a recording at London circa 1905 with the chorus in nine languages - Coborn made a habit of this sort of thing - another circa January 1913 with the chorus in eight languages; and circa November 1924 with the chorus in nine languages again. The song was also recorded by Stanley Holloway. >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alexander Baron - London, England, for above 2

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Amy Lee of Evanescence

Amy Lee of EvanescenceSongwriter Interviews

The Evanescence frontwoman on the songs that have shifted meaning and her foray into kids' music.

Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds

Jim McCarty of The YardbirdsSongwriter Interviews

The Yardbirds drummer explains how they created their sound and talks about working with their famous guitarists.

Bass Player Scott Edwards

Bass Player Scott EdwardsSong Writing

Scott was Stevie Wonder's bass player before becoming a top session player. Hits he played on include "I Will Survive," "Being With You" and "Sara Smile."

P.F. Sloan

P.F. SloanSongwriter Interviews

P.F. was a teenager writing hits and playing on tracks for Jan & Dean when he wrote a #1 hit that got him blackballed.

John Doe of X

John Doe of XSongwriter Interviews

With his X-wife Exene, John fronts the band X and writes their songs.

Commercials

CommercialsFact or Fiction

Was "Ring Of Fire" really used to sell hemorrhoid cream?