Arthur Swanstrom

Arthur M. Swanstrom (August 4, 1888 – October 4, 1940) was an American lyricist, playwright, producer, and dancer. The son of politician J. Edward Swanstrom, he began his career as a ballroom dancer, primarily performing in that capacity in nightclubs and in vaudeville. He expanded into working as a lyricist, initially working in partnership with John Murray Anderson as the lyricist for the revue The Greenwich Village Follies from 1919 to 1921. He became active as a Tin Pan Alley songwriter, writing lyrics for popular songs. Some of his hit songs included "Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me" (1919), "The Argentines, The Portuguese, and the Greeks" (1920), "Broadway Blues" (1920), "Rain" (1927), and "Twenty-Four Hours A Day" (1935). Many of his songs were written in collaboration with Carey Morgan, although he worked with several other composers during his career. He was both producer and lyricist for the Broadway productions of Sons O' Guns (1929) and Princess Charming (1930), and authored both the lyrics and book to the Broadway musical Sea Legs (1937). Ill health and financial problems plagued Swanstrom in the last years of his life, and he died of a stroke in 1940 at the age of 52.