From the 1938 film “Alexander’s Ragtime Band”
Words and music by Irving Berlin
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
All the world’s great lovers have been glorified
History placed them in a romantic set
In between book covers they are side by side
But the real thing hasn’t been written yet
Chorus
Now it can be told
Told in all its glory
Now that we have met
The world may know the sentimental story
The greatest romance they ever knew
Is waiting to unfold
Now it can be told as an inspiration
Every other tale of “Boy Meets Girl”
Is just an imitation
The great love story
Has never been told before
But now, now it can be told
Sung here by Laurence Rubenstein: