Music TheoryPrint

George Gershwin

Stairway to Paradise

"Stairway to Paradise", also known as "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise", is a song composed in 1922 by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin (under the name Arthur Francis) and Buddy DeSylva

Background#

The lyrics make it clear that the “steps” on the stairway are dance steps.

Other recordings#

  • Sarah Vaughan – Sarah Vaughan Sings George Gershwin (1958)
  • Pat Boone on his 1958 album Yes Indeed!
  • Frankie Vaughan – Frankie Vaughan at the London Palladium (1959).
  • Liza Minnelli – There Is a Time (1966)
  • Joel Grey – Only the Beginning (1967).
  • Featured on the tribute album The Glory of Gershwin (1994), a compilation of Gershwin tunes produced by “Fifth Beatle” George Martin to honour Larry Adler, a lifelong friend of Gershwin, on his 80th birthday. Issy Van Randwyck performs the song.
  • Mark Murphy with the Metropole Orchestra - The Dream (1995)
  • Michael Feinstein – Michael & George: Feinstein Sings Gershwin (1998)
  • Nancy Sinatra on her 2013 album Shifting Gears.
  • Michael Ball and Alfie Boe – Together (2016)
  • Harpers Bizarre – The Secret Life of Harpers Bizarre (1968)
  • In the 1951 American film musical An American in Paris it was performed by Georges Guétary, where it was entitled “I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise”.
  • The song is heard in the 2004 Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator, being sung by Rufus Wainwright, in a scene at the Cocoanut Grove night club set in 1927.

*Original sheet music Digitized copy in the Lest S. Levy Sheet Music Collection, Sheridan Libraries and University Museums, Johns Hopkins University.

Composer
George Gershwin