"If Love Were All" is a song by Noël Coward, published in 1929 and written for the operetta Bitter Sweet.[1][2] The song is considered autobiographical, and has been described as "self-deprecating" as well as "one of the loneliest pop songs ever written".[2][3][4]
Ivy St. Helier performed the song in the 1933 film version of Bitter Sweet.
In June 2009, an Off-Broadway play of the same name about Coward's relationship with Gertrude Lawrence premiered at Lucille Lortel Theatre in New York City.[5]
Reception[]
"If Love Were All" has been described as "self-deprecating" as well as "one of the loneliest pop songs ever written".[3][4] Rod McKuenconsiders the song to be among the "truly great" songs about "entertaining from the entertainment point of view".[6]
Cover versions[]
Cover versions appear on Judy Garland's Judy at Carnegie Hall (1961),[7] Pet Shop Boys' Alternative (1995),[8] and Rufus Wainwright'sRufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall (2007) and Milwaukee at Last!!! (2009), [9] but also by Sarah Brightman's The Songs That Got Away (1989). In the latter part of her life, Garland often included "If Love Were All" in her concert and television repertoire.[10]