"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" is a 1933 hit song with lyrics by Al Dubin and music by Harry Warren. Deane Janis with Hal Kemp's Orchestra recorded the original version on October 31, 1933, in Chicago, which was issued by Brunswick Records. In 1934, a rendition sung by Constance Bennett appeared in the film Moulin Rouge, but was unreleased on record. Set in Paris, the lyrics include "I walk along the street of sorrow/The Boulevard of Broken Dreams/Where gigolo and gigolette/Can take a kiss without regret/So they forget their broken dreams." Boulevard of Broken Dreams served as the title tune for a stage musical which played February 11March 9, 2003 at the Coconut Grove Playhouse: featuring a libretto by Joel Kimmel the play was based on the life of composer Al Dubinplayed by Jordan Bennettand featured a number of Dubin compositions as its score. The song "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" has been added to the score of the stage musical 42nd Street for its 2017 West End run being performed by Sheena Easton in the character of Dorothy Brock: the Daily Express opined that "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" seemed "out of place" in 42nd Street while stating that Easton sang the song "splendidly". This piece is written as a tango in the harmonic minor scale. The song is in the key of E minor.
Jan Garber and His Orchestra recorded the song with vocals by Lee Bennett on December 14, 1933 on the Victor label as catalog number 24498. Their recording remained on the U.S. Billboard chart for 11 weeks and reached number six in 1934.
Ed Lloyd's Rhythm Boys recorded the song with vocals by Helen Ward on February 2, 1934 on Conqueror Records as catalog number 8261.
Bing Crosby sang the song with Jimmie Grier and His Orchestra on April 16, 1934 on his radio show Bing Crosby Entertains.
Connee Boswell recorded the song on April 27, 1934 on the Brunswick label for the b-side of the 78rpm single to "Carioca" as catalog numbers 6871 and 01783.
María Teresa Vera composed and sang Veinte años in 1935 with the melody of the first 2 lines taken from Boulevard of Broken Dreams, and Spanish lyrics by Guillermina Aramburu. This song became a Cuban calssic, and was later covered by many other Cuban singers.
Harry Sosnik and His Orchestra recorded the song with vocals by Frances Langford on July 3, 1939 in Los Angeles on the Decca label for the b-side of the 78rpm single to "Moonglow" as catalog number 2861.
This song was featured on a BBCApprentice advertisement in 2010. It was also featured in all of the five concerts for Amy Winehouse's return tour in 2011 in Brazil.
Leslie Cheung covered it in 1996 and included the cover in the Japanese edition of his album Red.
The song was sung live on the ABC show Dancing with the Stars in 2010 by the show's band during an Argentine Tango dance featuring Anna Demidova & Andrey Begunov.
Amy Winehouse covered the song during her 2011 Soul Festival shows in Brazil.
Sylvia Brooks covered the song on her 2013 album Restless.
Haim Hefer wrote Hebrew lyrics titled Ha-Peruta veha-Yareach in 1948 to a melody based in part on Boulevard of Broken Dreams and in part on Veinte años.
Puddles Pity Party recorded a cover of the song in Doppler Studios, Atlanta GA on Sept 29th 2015.
