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"Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland" was one of the most famous and beloved popular songs of the early 20th century. This gentle waltz, with lyrics by Beth Slater Whitson and music by Leo Friedman, was published in Chicago in 1909.
Friedman and Whitson sold it to the largest publisher in Chicago, Will Rossiter. Unfortunately, Rossiter never paid one cent to the authors in royalties.[citation needed] It was first introduced to the American public by Reine Davies (1883–1938), who was known as "The New American Beauty" and by her friends as "The True Blue" girl. Davies first introduced the song in New York at the leading vaudeville house, and received countless encores for her artistic work. Vera Berliner, "The Violinist With a Soul," played the chorus of this song, walking down the centre aisle, which made it an instantaneous success.
Originally, on the sheet music cover was an artist who was unknown. Rossiter then took a 1903 photo of Reine Davies and used her on his sheet music cover. After he did that, sales of the sheet music went to over two million in that first year. Some people mistakenly connect the song with the opening of Coney Island's Dreamland; however, Dreamland at Coney Island opened in 1904 while the song was written in 1909.
The chorus is:
- Meet me tonight in dreamland,
- under the silvery moon;
- Meet me tonight in dreamland,
- where love's sweet roses bloom.
- Come with the love-light gleaming
- in your dear eyes of blue;
- Meet me in dreamland,
- sweet dreamy dreamland;
- There let my dreams come true.