At the Music Hall, “After the Ball,” 1891-1892

After the ball is over,
After the break of morn –
After the dancers' leaving;
After the stars are gone;
Many a heart is aching,
If you could read them all;
Many the hopes that have vanished
After the ball.

Written in 1891-1892 by Charles K. Harris, this sentimental waltz was the top-selling song of 1892. Sales of sheet music for After the Ball reached over two million copies that year. To date, sheet music sales for the song have exceeded five million copies.

After the Ball is often considered to be the quintessential 1890’s song and is frequently used in films and theater to musically represent the era. The song was first incorporated into a theatrical production in A Trip to China Town and was also used in the Broadway hit, Showboat.

The lyrics tell the story of an older man whose niece asks him why he never married. He recounts a tale of having seen his sweetheart kissing another man at a ball. He refused to hear her explanation, feeling betrayed. He tells the young girl, that many years later, after his beloved dies, he realizes that the man that his girl was so innocently kissing was her brother.

The song has an enduring charm. This 1929 Max Fleischer animated short features a "follow the bouncing ball" style rendition of the song--complete with lots of knee-bending antics from a cartoon dog.