Background
"Me and My Shadow" is a 1927 popular song. Officially the credits show it as written by Al Jolson, Billy Rose, and Dave Dreyer; in fact, Billy Rose was exclusively a lyricist and Dreyer a composer.
William "Billy" Rose (September 6, 1899 – February 10, 1966) was a Jewish American impresario and lyricist. He is credited with many famous songs, notably "Me and My Shadow" (1927), "Without A Song" (1929), "It Happened in Monterey" (1930) and "It's Only a Paper Moon" (1933).
For decades preceding and immediately after the Second World War he was a major force in entertainment, with shows, such as Jumbo (1935) and Billy Rose's Aquacade, his Diamond Horseshoe nightclub, and the Ziegfeld Theatre influencing the careers of many stars.
In 1943, he produced Carmen Jones with an all-black cast. An adaptation of Georges Bizet's opera Carmen, it was an instant hit. The New York Telegraph called it "far and away the best show in New York"; The New York Times said it was "beautifully done ... just call it wonderful."
In 1946 Rose's memoir "Wine, Women and Words", dedicated to Rose's early patron Bernard M. Baruch, was published in New York. The book was illustrated, including the cover of the numbered and signed first edition of 1500 copies, by Salvador Dalí.
Rose died in 1966 in New York City, aged 66. At the time of his death, his fortune was estimated at about $42 million, which he left entirely to a foundation named after him.
Me and my shadow
Strolling down the avenue
Me and my shadow
Not a soul to tell our troubles to
And when it's twelve o'clock
We climb the stair
We never knock
For nobody's there
Just me and my shadow
All alone and feelin' blue
And when it's twelve o'clock
We climb the stair
We never knock
For nobody's there
Just me and my shadow
All alone and feelin' blue
Songwriters
DAVE DREYER, AL JOLSON, BILLY ROSE
Published by
Lyrics © BOURNE CO., MEMORY LANE MUSIC GROUP