The Last Time I Saw Paris is a song composed by Jerome Kern, with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, published in 1940.[1] It was sung in the 1941 film Lady Be Good by Ann Sothern.[1]
The song was not written for the film, and Hammerstein said the song was "not written to order", and by December 1940, six versions were on the charts, with Kate Smith having exclusive radio rights for the song for six weeks. The song catered to a nostalgia for songs of European cities following the Battle of France (which brought Paris under Nazi control), with "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" also proving popular.[2]
"The Last Time I Saw Paris" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1941. This was Kern's second Academy Award for Best Original Song (following his success with "The Way You Look Tonight" in 1936), and Hammerstein's first.[1]
Seth MacFarlane covered the song in 2005 in character as his Family Guy character, Brian Griffin, for the album Family Guy: Live in Vegas.
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