"Laura" is a 1945 popular song. The music was composed by David Raksin for the 1944 movie Laura starring Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews, and is heard frequently in the movie. The lyrics were written by Johnny Mercer after the film had made the tune popular. According to Mercer, he had not yet seen the movie when he wrote the lyrics, but was aware that it was a romantic, somewhat haunting story.

The song has become a jazz standard, with more than 400 known recordings. Some of the best-known versions are by Woody Herman, Johnny Johnston, Emil Newman, David Rose, Billy Eckstine, Charlie Parker, J. J. Johnson, Frank Sinatra and Julie London (included on her 1955 debut album Julie Is Her Name, Vol. 1). Burt's arrangement of Laura was originally recorded in 1965 and later released on his 1970 album 'Free and Easy' which featured Manfred Moch as the trumpeter.

Bert Kaempfert was a German orchestra leader and songwriter. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records, and wrote the music for a number of well-known songs, such as "Strangers in the Night" and "Spanish Eyes".

Bert Kaempfert (born Berthold Kämpfert; 16 October 1923 -- 21 June 1980) was a German orchestra leader and songwriter. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records and wrote the music for a number of well-known songs, including "Strangers in the Night" and "Moon Over Naples". Many of his tunes became better known as hits for other artists such as "Wooden Heart", "Danke Schoen", "L-O-V-E" and "Happy Feelings" just to name a few.

By the 1970s, sales of Kaempfert's music had dropped off somewhat, but he continued to record (his version of the Theme from Shaft was admired by Isaac Hayes himself) and remained popular with audiences. He expanded the musical scope of his band and recorded in a wide variety of styles. He also began to play live concerts with his orchestra, beginning in 1974, with a successful appearance at London's Royal Albert Hall. A cigarette smoker (as illustrated on the posthumous Best of CD), he died suddenly, at the age of 56, following a stroke at his home on Majorca, shortly after a successful appearance in Britain.

Bert-Kaempfert-Platz, in the Barmbek district of Hamburg, Germany, is named in his honour.

Laura is the face in the misty light
Footsteps that you hear down the hall
The LAUGH that floats on a summer night
That you can never quite recall

And you see Laura on a train that is passing through
Those eyes how familiar they seem
She gave your very first kiss to you
That was Laura but she's only a dream

She gave your very first kiss to you
That was Laura but she's only a dream
But she's only a dream
But she's only a dream

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