Love Is Here to Stay

"Love Is Here to Stay" was first performed by Kenny Baker in The Goldwyn Follies but became popular when it was sung by Gene Kelly to Leslie Caron in the film An American in Paris (1951); however, it was not included in the 2015 Broadway musical An American in Paris.{{cite web|author=Marilyn Stasio |url= https://variety.com/2015/legit/reviews/american-in-paris-review-broadway-1201471069/ |title=Islands: Broadway Review: 'An American in Paris' |publisher=Variety |date=April 12, 2015 |access-date=August 22, 2016}}{{cite book |last1=Jablonski|first1=Edward |title=Gershwin | date=1988 |publisher=Simon & Schuster | location = London |isbn=0671699318 |page =317}} The song appeared in Forget Paris (1995) and Manhattan (1979).

It can also be heard in the film When Harry Met Sally... (1989) sung by Harry Connick Jr.{{cite web |url=http://musicfromfilm.com/movies/whenharrymetsally.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100314083505/http://musicfromfilm.com/movies/whenharrymetsally.php |url-status=usurped |archive-date=March 14, 2010 |title=When Harry Met Sally (1989) |publisher=Musicfromfilm.com |access-date=August 22, 2016}}

An instrumental version of the song is sometimes heard in certain episodes of the American television sitcom The Honeymooners when Ralph Kramden apologizes to his wife Alice.{{cite web |url=https://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-0/loveisheretostay.htm |title=Love Is Here to Stay (1938) |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |date= |website=www.jazzstandards.com/ |publisher= |access-date=March 25, 2024 |quote= Love Is Here to Stay - The Honeymooners (1955) Ralph Kramden's apology to Alice music}}{{cite web|author=William Grimes |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/17/news/honeymooners-isn-t-over-as-early-sketches-turn-up.html |title=Islands: 'Honeymooners' Isn't Over, As Early Sketches Turn Up |work=The New York Times |date=March 17, 1993 |access-date=August 22, 2016}}[https://open.spotify.com/track/0DuUkZ4W5wL0SIJzMixgTT Jackie Gleason: The Jackie Gleason Story. Our Love Is Here To Stay. "Ralph Kramden's Apology to Alice". 2013. Spotify.]

The song is also used in the musical The 1940's Radio Hour.{{cite web|url=http://www.guidetomusicaltheatre.com/shows_n/1940sRadioHour.html|title=1940s Radio Hour |publisher=guidetomusicaltheatre.com |access-date=August 22, 2016}}

"Love Is Here to Stay" was the last musical composition George Gershwin completed before his death on July 11, 1937. Ira Gershwin wrote the lyrics after George's death as a tribute to his brother. Although George had not written a verse for the song, he did have an idea for it that both Ira and pianist Oscar Levant had heard before his death. When a verse was needed, Ira and Levant recalled what George had in mind. Composer Vernon Duke reconstructed the music for the verse at the beginning of the song.{{cite web|title=Jazz Standards Songs and Instrumentals (Love Is Here to Stay) |url=http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-0/loveisheretostay.htm|website=Jazz Standards |access-date=8 December 2014}} Originally titled "It's Here to Stay" and then "Our Love Is Here to Stay," the song was finally published as "Love Is Here to Stay." Ira Gershwin said that for years he wanted to change the song's name back to "Our Love Is Here to Stay," but he felt it wouldn't be right since the song had already become a standard.

Ira Gershwin recalled, "So little footage was given to 'Love Is Here to Stay' — I think only one refrain — that it meant little in The Goldwyn Follies." Oscar Levant remembers the producer for the film calling Gershwin into a conference one afternoon and insisting that he play the entire score for a panel of attendees. The experience infuriated George, who thought that he had progressed past this stage in his career as a composer.{{cite book|last1=Levant|first1=Oscar|title=A Smattering of Ignorance |date=1942 |publisher=Garden City Publishing |page=196 }} S. N. Behrman visited Gershwin a few days before he died and wrote that George told him, "I had to live for this — that Sam Goldwyn should say to me, 'Why don't you write hits like Irving Berlin?' "{{cite book |last1=Jablonski |first1=Edward |title=Gershwin Remembered |date=1992 |publisher=Amadeus Press |location=Portland, Oregon |isbn=0-931340-43-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/gershwinremember0000jabl/page/157 157] |edition=1 |url=https://archive.org/details/gershwinremember0000jabl/page/157 }}

• Red Norvo with Mildred Bailey – (1938)
• Nat 'King' Cole – Sings For Two In Love (1953)
• Dinah Washington – In the Land of Hi-Fi (1956)
• Frank Sinatra - Songs For Swingin' Lovers (1956)
• Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong – Ella and Louis Again (1957){{cite book |last1=Gioia |first1=Ted |title=The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-19-993739-4 |pages=324–326}}
• Doris Day - Hooray for Hollywood (1958){{cite web|title=www.discogs.com|url=https://www.discogs.com/release/3343832-Doris-Day-Hooray-For-Hollywood|website=discogs.com|date=24 February 1958 |accessdate=June 4, 2024}}
• Ella Fitzgerald – Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Songbook (1959)
• Billie Holiday – All or Nothing at All (1959)
• Michael Feinstein - Pure Gershwin (1987).{{cite web|title=www.allmusic.com|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/pure-gershwin-mw0000650137|website=allmusic.com|accessdate=January 20, 2025}}
• Susannah McCorkle – Hearts and Minds (2000)

• List of 1930s jazz standards

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• {{YouTube|Wi6f5YO6om0|"Love Is Here to Stay" by Frank Sinatra}}
• {{YouTube|p2JR3ZYayw4|"Our Love Is Here to Stay" by Frank Sinatra and Peggy Lee via The Frank Sinatra Show (1957)}}

{{George Gershwin}}

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Category:1938 songs

Category:1930s jazz standards

Category:Songs with music by George Gershwin

Category:Songs with lyrics by Ira Gershwin

Category:Chris Montez songs

Category:Pop standards

Category:Songs written for films

Category:Song recordings arranged by Nelson Riddle