It is worth remembering that, like many of the greatest songwriters, Johnny Mercer could neither read or write music. He would have been unable to sing or name the notes in an Cm7 chord (yet he wrote such great melodies as "Dream" and "Something's Gotta Give").

What I love most about the lyric for "One For My Baby" is that the protagonist never actually gets around to telling the bartender one word about the relationship or its ending - - so true to life.

Mercer, married to another woman, wrote this song about his feelings for Judy Garland.

-Adam Miller