I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles

Music, John Kellett (1873–1922); words, James Kendis (1883–1946), James Brockman (1878–1967) and Nat Vincent (1889–1979)

To my increasing chagrin, I have found that this is the third song in a row about which I have been misinformed concerning the date. These three songs were chosen in the early aughties, so my misinformation dates back to then. I can’t even joke about blaming the messenger again. It wasn’t even that funny the first time. 

The song made its debut in The Passing Show Of 1918. The three lyricists were under contract to separate publishers, so they constructed a pseudonym by combining their names––Jaan Kenbrovin––and used a new publisher. Among James Kendis’ more well-known songs include, “If I Had My Way”, which Bing Crosby recorded, and “Down Among The Sheltering Palms”, which he co-wrote with James Brockman. Nat Vincent performed songs in stores that sold sheet music at the beginning of his career, like Irving Berlin, George Gershwin and many others did. Vincent also performed in two different vaudeville teams as well as a radio/recording duo, The Happy Chappies. Besides his more standard songs, he composed a number of cowboy songs, like, “When It’s Roundup Time In Texas” and “The Strawberry Roan”, which was the title song for a movie I saw in 1948. 

John Kellette also worked as a film director and actor.

Harpo Marx played this tune a on a clarinet, from which bubbles burbled.

Again, I apologize for my sloppy sequencing, rendering part of this epic construction approximate instead of precise. Behold the chaos that ensues when I attempt perfection.