"Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Tread)" is a popular standard with music by Rube Bloom and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. Bloom originally composed the melody in 1936 under the title "Shangrila" and introduced it in a production number at the Chez Paree nightclub in Chicago, but the tune remained obscure until 1940, when publishers Bregman, Vocco and Conn suggested new lyrics. Mercer supplied the now-famous words, drawing the title phrase from Alexander Pope's 1709 poem "An Essay on Criticism," lending a literary elegance to Bloom's graceful melody. The song entered the public consciousness immediately upon publication, with simultaneous major recordings by Tommy Dorsey featuring Frank Sinatra, Tony Martin, and Glenn Miller with Ray Eberle all appearing in the spring of 1940. Bloom, an accomplished pianist who had recorded with jazz figures including Bix Beiderbecke in the 1920s, produced many compositions across novelty piano, instrumental jazz, and theatrical settings, but "Fools Rush In" stands as his most enduring and widely recorded work. The tune's melodic accessibility and harmonic sophistication have made it adaptable across genres and generations, from swing-era vocal treatments to Brook Benton's 1960 R&B hit and Rick Nelson's 1963 pop chart success. It remains a staple of both the popular and jazz vocal repertoires.
