After the Ball

Dominic Vautier
11/2006
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Charlie Harris got the idea for his song during an incident he had witnessed in Chicago some years earlier while attending a formal ball.  While Charlie and his friends were leaving at the end of the dance, he happened to overhear a quarrel between a  couple.  The man finally turned on his heel and went home in a big huff, leaving her behind.  She burst into tears and left unescorted--which was quite an embarrassment.  This left a lasting impression on Harris who always had a soft spot in his heart for women so later that year he returned to Milwaukee and completed the work of his lifetime.

The song is a story told by an old man to his little niece about a young woman that he had once taken to a ball years before.  He went to get her a glass of water and, upon returning, found her in the arms of somebody else.  Full of anger, hostility, and disappointment, he left her then and there, never to speak to her again.  She later died of a broken heart.  Many years later the old man found out that the “other man” was the girl’s brother.

The gentle and lilting waltz melody has been a favorite from its first release.  After the Ball is synonymous with the “Gay Nineties”, an everlasting period of slow waltzes and broken hearts, canoe rides and parasols.  The song continued to do well for the next 15 years.  It is said to have eventually sold 6 million copies, and it has become a part of our music history.

After the ball is over, after the break of morn,
After the dancers leaving, after the stars are gone,
Many a heart is aching, if you could read them all;
Many the hopes that have vanish’d after the ball.