Lover, Come Back to Me is a show tune with music by Sigmund Romberg and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, composed in 1928 for the Broadway operetta The New Moon. The show, which opened on September 19 at the Imperial Theatre, told a story loosely based on an 18th-century French aristocrat's adventures and romance, and the song was introduced by soprano Evelyn Herbert. Romberg reportedly tested the lyric setting by mumbling Hammerstein's words over the piano to confirm the fit between melody and text. The composition features a soaring, romantic melody with a memorable stepwise opening phrase that builds emotionally across the A sections, while the bridge offers a smoother, barcarolle-like passage that draws on the spirit of Tchaikovsky's June Barcarolle. The harmonic language is elegant and accessible, with chromatic embellishments and a shift from minor to parallel major in the bridge that creates satisfying tension and resolution. The tune's rich chord structure has made it a natural vehicle for jazz improvisation, and Art Blakey later used its changes as the basis for his composition Quicksilver. First recorded by the Victor Arden-Phil Ohman Orchestra in October 1928, it quickly became a hit and has since been covered extensively by artists ranging from Billie Holiday and Lester Young to Barbra Streisand. It remains one of the most widely performed standards from the operetta tradition in jazz.
