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A Foggy Day

original song written and composed by George and Ira Gershwin; from the 1937 film "A Damsel in Distress"

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 9, 2026
Entity authorityQ300410 ↗
Source-derived summary

"A Foggy Day" is a popular song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin. The song was introduced by Fred Astaire in the 1937 film A Damsel in Distress. It was originally titled "A Foggy Day (In London Town)" in reference to the pollution-induced pea soup fogs that were common in London during that period, and is often still referred to by the full title.

The commercial recording by Astaire for Brunswick was very popular in 1937.

Other recordings

Frank Sinatra – Songs for Young Lovers (1953)

Bud Powell – Bud Powell's Moods (1956)

Charles Mingus – Pithecanthropus Erectus (1956)

Louis Armstrong with Ella Fitzgerald – Ella and Louis (1956)

Billie Holiday – Songs for Distingué Lovers (1957)

Ella Fitzgerald on her Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Song Book from Verve Records, 1959, and on Nice Work If You Can Get It (1983)

Red Garland – Red Garland at the Prelude (1959)

Frank Sinatra — Ring-a-Ding-Ding!

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “A Foggy Day” as original song written and composed by George and Ira Gershwin; from the 1937 film "A Damsel in Distress". This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Foggy, original and song.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1937, 1953, 1956, 1957—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1937. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Foggy, original and song providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “A Foggy Day”, the useful work is to connect “original song written and composed by George and Ira Gershwin; from the 1937 film "A Damsel in Distress"” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q300410. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1937, 1953, 1956 and 1957.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “A Foggy Day”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow A Foggy Day primary sources, A Foggy Day archive and Foggy research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “A Foggy Day”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “A Foggy Day” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.