In 1925, when he was 37, and 13 years after the death of his first wife, Irving met a socialite, Ellin Mackay, the daughter of Clarence Mackay, the CEO of Postal Telegraph. At the time, a songwriter, even one of Irving’s stature and wealth, was considered beneath her, and Clarence tried to prevent a marriage. At one point, he sent his daughter to Europe to get her out of Irving’s reach. It was during this absence that Irving wrote some of his most beautiful love ballads.
This song was supposed to be used in the Marx Brothers’ Broadway musical, “The Cocoanuts,” but Irving cut it during out-of-town tryouts. It was something of a throwback to the post-Civil War era of sentimentality, in that its lyrics were rather Victorian, as was the waltz tempo. Irving was still writing in the intro-and-chorus format of his youth. This was the first recording of the song, as done by a leading Canadian tenor of the day.
There were five recordings of the song in 1926, and it was to be one of the greatest musical successes of the year.