from his romantic operetta 'Bitter Sweet' (1929)
bitter sweet
noel coward
Story behind the song
In 1875, Sarah Millick, a wealthy London girl, is having a singing lesson with her dashing music teacher, Carl Linden. The spirited Sarah is engaged to Lord Hugh, a wealthy but rigid young nobleman, but she and her music teacher have fallen in love. Carl is a man of integrity and does not want to ruin Sarah's young dreams. He plans to return to his native Austria late that night but vows to think of Sarah each spring.
Lyrics
To begin with, if you please, sing a scale for me.
Take a breath and then reprise in a diff'rent key.
All my life I shall remember knowing you;
All the pleasure I have found in showing you
The diff'rent ways that one may phrase,
The changing light and changing shade,
Happiness that must die, melodies that must fly,
Memories that must fade dusty and forgotten by and by.
Learning scales will never seem so sweet again
Till our destiny shall let us meet again.
The will of fate may come too late.
When I'm recalling the hours we've had
Why will the foolish tears tremble across the years?
Why shall I feel so sad, treasuring the memory of these days, always?
I'll see you again whenever spring breaks through again.
Time may lie heavy between, but what has been is past forgetting.
This sweet memory across the years will come to me;
Tho' my world may go awry, in my heart will ever lie
Just the echo of a sigh, goodbye!