In 1911 Ernest M. Burnett copyrighted a song called Melancholy. In 1912 the copyright was assigned to the Joe Morris Music Co. under the much better-known title My Melancholy Baby. We’ve all heard this song so many times I think we may have forgotten a few salient facts about it.
First, its title is most unusual, the seldom-used and dignified adjective “melancholy” qualifying the colloquial term of endearment “baby.” Second, the melody is not only good, containing highly unexpected phrases for that era, hut it also just might be the first torch song.
Third, its melody writer, listed as Ernie Rurnett, may have been a “one-shot” writer. For as far as I can determine, this was his only big song. Until I recently saw its copyright date, I assumed that My Melancholy Baby was a song of the middle, even late twenties, for the writing is unlike that of any song of its period. This isn’t to say that it ranks with the great songs of later years—rather, that it is a good, well-written melody, highly unusual for its time, and certainly not a piece of hack work. Furthermore, i t’s unlike any other melody and deserves to remain a standard almost sixty years after its original publication.
