Irving Caesar; Lyricist of ‘Tea for Two,’ ‘Swanee’

Irving Caesar, 101, the lyricist for classic popular songs such as “Tea for Two” and “Swanee.” Caesar, a New Yorker, once told the Los Angeles Times that good songs “write themselves,” adding: “I wrote the words to ‘Tea for Two’ in five minutes and ‘Swanee’ in 15.” Occasionally, Caesar composed the music to go with the words, as in the song “If I Forget You.” Working with composers George Gershwin, Oscar Levant, Victor Herbert, Sammy Lerner and others, Caesar wrote lyrics to such songs as “Just a Gigolo,” “Crazy Rhythm” “The Yankee Doodle Blues” and Shirley Temple’s “Animal Crackers in My Soup.” After Al Jolson popularized “Swanee,” he asked Caesar for another Southern-themed song. The result was “Is It True What They Say About Dixie?” Highly respected by his peers, Caesar served for years on the executive committee of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). On Tuesday in New York City.