"Say It Isn't So" is a

popular Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...

torch song A torch song is a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a romantic affair has affect ...

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russ ...

, published in

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort to assassinate Emperor Hiro ...

. The song was written when Berlin was suffering a loss of confidence following several setbacks, and he initially placed the song in a drawer, feeling that it would not be successful. However, one of Berlin's employees, Max Winslow, heard it, and on his own initiative, took it to

Rudy Vallée Hubert Prior Vallée (July 28, 1901 – July 3, 1986), known professionally as Rudy Vallée, was an American singer, musician, actor, and radio host. He was one of the first modern pop stars of the teen idol type. Early life Hubert Prior Vall ...

, who was then a major star on radio. Vallee sang it on his radio show and it became an immediate hit. George Olsen and His Orchestra released a version in 1932 that reached No. 1, and other popular versions in 1932 were by

Ozzie Nelson Oswald George Nelson (March 20, 1906 – June 3, 1975) was an American actor, director, producer, screenwriter, musician, composer, conductor and bandleader. He originated and starred in '' The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'', a radio and te ...

Connee Boswell Constance Foore "Connie" Boswell (December 3, 1907 – October 11, 1976) was an American vocalist born in Kansas City but raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. With sisters Martha and Helvetia "Vet", she performed in the 1920s and 1930s as the trio ...

and Vallée.

Alfredo Antonini Alfredo Antonini (May 31, 1901 – November 3, 1983) was a leading Italian-American symphony conductor and composer who was active on the international concert stage as well as on the CBS radio and television networks from the 1930s through the e ...

and his orchestra collaborated with Victoria Cordova and John Serry Sr. to record the work for

Muzak Muzak is an American brand of background music played in retail stores and other public establishments. The name has been in use since 1934, and has been owned by a division or subsidiary of one or another company ever since. In 1981, Westingho ...

in the 1940s.

Cover versions

The song has been recorded many times by different artists. Notable versions include: *

(1932, No. 10) * Bing Crosby recorded the song for his album ''

Bing Crosby's Treasury - The Songs I Love (1968 version) ''Bing Crosby's Treasury - The Songs I Love'' is an LP set issued in both mono and stereo formats by a mail-order firm, The Longines Symphonette Society, an educational service of the Longines-Wittnauer Watch Company. A similar LP set had been is ...

''. * Layton & Johnstone - Columbia DB982 (1932) *

Bob and Alf Pearson Bob and Alf Pearson were an English musical variety double act, consisting of brothers Robert Alexander Pearson (15 August 1907 – 30 December 1985) and Alfred Vernon Pearson (15 June 1910 – 7 July 2012), who were mainly known for their singi ...

- Imperial 2816 (1933) *

Johnny Maestro The Brooklyn Bridge (also known as The Bridge and as Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge since the 1980s) is an American musical group, best known for their million-selling rendition of Jimmy Webb's " Worst That Could Happen" (1968). History Ne ...

- Released as a solo single while he was lead singer of The Crests (1960) * Aretha Franklin for her album ''

Laughing on the Outside ''Laughing on the Outside'' is the fourth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin, released on August 12, 1963, by Columbia Records. The album was recorded at Columbia Recording Studios in New York and Hollywood. These sessions found ...

'' (1962) *

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop s ...

- ''Lady Sings the Blues'' (2010 box set) *

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized ...

- ''One Night Stand With Harry James on Tour in '64'' (Joyce LP 1074, 1979) * Stacey Kent - '' The Boy Next Door'' (2003) *

Stan Kenton Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though K ...

- ''

The Romantic Approach ''The Romantic Approach'' is an album by the Stan Kenton Orchestra recorded in 1961 and released by Capitol Records. It is the first album by the orchestra to be released with a mellophonium section.Vosbein, PStan Kenton Discographyaccessed June ...

'' (1961) *

Teddi King Teddi King (September 18, 1929 – November 18, 1977) was an American jazz and pop vocalist. Born Theodora King in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, she won a singing competition hosted by Dinah Shore at Boston's Tributary Theatre, later beg ...

- A 1957 recording for a RCA-Victor, andRound Midnight'' (2008) * Julie London on her 1955 LP album, ''

Julie Is Her Name ''Julie Is Her Name'' is the first LP album by Julie London, released by Liberty Records in December, 1955, under catalog numbers LRP-3006, in monaural form. It was subsequently reprocessed to produce a stereophonic album, and this stereophonic ve ...

.'' * Lucy Maunder for her album, ''Songs in the Key of Black'' (2012). * Ozzie Nelson and His Orchestra (1932, #8) *

Dinah Washington Dinah Washington (born Ruth Lee Jones; August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was an American singer and pianist, who has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the 1950s songs". Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performe ...

for her album '' In the Land of Hi-Fi'' (1956). * Andy Williams for his album, '' Lonely Street'' (1959). *

The Caretaker ''The Caretaker'' is a play in three acts by Harold Pinter. Although it was the sixth of his major works for stage and television, this psychological study of the confluence of power, allegiance, innocence, and corruption among two brothers a ...

, sampling the song for a track of his last release ''

Everywhere at the End of Time ''Everywhere at the End of Time'' is the eleventh and final recording by the Caretaker, an alias of English electronic musician Leyland Kirby. Released between 2016 and 2019, its six studio albums use degrading loops of sampled ballroom music ...

'' (20162019).

References

1932 songs Songs written by Irving Berlin {{Pop-standard-stub