Doo Wop

The Platters were one of the most successful vocal harmony groups of the 1950s, selling more than 53 million records. They were also among the first doo wop groups to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. Sometimes in this first era of rock and roll, something old is new again. There are golden oldies and then there are those already popular songs that become a golden oldie. And that’s true of “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” by The Platters.The song was originally a show tune that Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach wrote for a 1933 musical titled Roberta. The most famous version of “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” was recorded in 1958 by The Platters. Kern’s widow expressed concern that her late husband’s composition would be turned into a rock and roll record.  However, the song went to #1 the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the R&B Chart. It went to #1 on the U.K. and Australian Charts. (A bit of trivia: The song was parodied by The Four Preps in their 1961 lampoon hit “More Money for You and Me.”)

Here are the lyrics to “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” by The Platters:

“They asked me how I knew
My true love was true I of course replied
Something here inside cannot be denied
They said “someday you’ll find all who love are blind”
When your heart’s on fire,
You must realize, smoke gets in your eyes

So I chaffed them and I gaily laughed
To think they could doubt my love
Yet today my love has flown away,
I am without my love (without my love)

Now laughing friends deride
Tears I cannot hide
Oh, so I smile and say
When a lovely flame dies, smoke gets in your eyes”

If you want to read more about songs by The Platters, please click here for “The Great Pretender” or click here for “Twilight Time.”

For More Golden Oldies Music

The Daily Doo Wop Rec Room has daily featured doo wop, rock and roll, R&B, or rockabilly songs that were hits during the first era of rock and roll (that is, from about 1952 until the British invasion in 1964). After a song is featured, it then goes into the juke box. You are welcome to listen to any of the 40+ selections there. Every weekend, there is a Golden Oldies Juke Box Saturday Night, and the juke box is full of song requests from the 1950s and 1960s.

Please click here for the Daily Doo Wop YouTube channel, to which you can subscribe. Thank you for stopping by The Daily Doo Wop. Hope you enjoyed “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” by The Platters.