FATE
Subtitle
It Was Fate When I First Met You
Type
Song
Composer
Byron Gay
Publisher
M. Wimark & Sons
Notes
"Introduced with Great Success by Ted Lewis in the 'Greenwich Village Follies.'"

In the 1923 re-issue, the song is described on the cover as "The Oriental Dance Sensation" and the cover art shows a robed and turbaned old man standing in the clouds, pointing down toward the Sphinx and two pyramids with a lightning bolt angling toward the ground: Allah meets Zeus! Otherwise, it is left to the audience to make the connection between "fate" and "kismet."

For all that fate rules supreme, it is still mother who teaches love, if only to keep the rhyme scheme ("other"/"mother").
Lyrics

Since the world began
It seems that man, no matter what his lot, he lays the blame on fate
Health, his wealth, his fame
Disgrace or shame, it's all the same,
He lays the blame upon his fate
All things small or great
Life or death, its fate

Truth can never fail
It must prevail, in all we do we must be true or live a lie
Fate is all there is
It's your ideas, for what you think
Is what you are, the same as I
Think what love commands
And fate is in your hands. My

CHORUS:
Fate is all that I am
My fate is the law above
When fate seems wrong it's a sham
The law that is real is love
Fate is our love for each other,
Love, as I learned from my mother;
Fate is a love that is true,
So I knew it was fate when I first met you.

  • FATE