"Lullaby of the Leaves" is a Tin Pan Alley song with music by Bernice Petkere and lyrics by Joe Young, first published and performed in 1932. Petkere, who was dubbed the "Queen of Tin Pan Alley" by Irving Berlin, regarded it as her biggest critical and commercial success. The song was introduced in the Broadway revue Chamberlain Brown's Scrap Book, sung by Ina Hayward. Early recordings by Ben Selvin and Connee Boswell followed, and George Olsen's version with a vocal group reached number one in 1932; by January 1933 more than 50,000 copies had sold in the United States. The original recording, by Adrian Schubert & His Orchestra with a vocal chorus by Harold Van Emburgh, dates from March 1932.
The song became a jazz standard. Allen Forte observes that it is not complex in harmony or form; its effect rests on melodic contours and small motifs, with a lively bridge. Later versions include those by Benny Goodman's sextet (1951), Anita O'Day (1952), Billy Eckstine (1958), the Ventures (1961) and Ella Fitzgerald (1964).
