8/07/2016 , , , ,
Anton Karas - The Third Man Theme
Anton Karas - The Third Man Theme


Anton Karas - The Third Man Theme Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Third Man
Released: 1950

The Third Man Theme Lyrics


When a zither starts to play
You'll remember yesterday
In its haunting strain
Vienna lives again
Free and bright and gay
In your mind a sudden gleam
Of a half forgotten dream
Seems to glimmer when you hear The Third Man Theme

Once again there comes to mind
Someone that you left behind
Love that somehow didn't last
In that happy city of the past
Does she still recall the dream
That rapture so supreme
When first she heard the haunting third man theme?

Carnivals and carousels and Ferris wheels and parasols
The Danube nights, the dancing lights again will shine
The zither's sweet refrain
Keeps swirling in your brain
Like new may wine
Strauss waltzes, candle-glow
And the laughter of long ago
Fill the magic chords and make it seem like today

You never knew that you could be
Enchanted by a melody
The years will never drive it out
You don't know why
It's something you can't live without
You hear it in the twilight hush
And in the morning traffic rush
A song that's always new
In your heart a part of you
Oh, shines so brightly when you hear the third man theme

When a zither starts to play
You'll remember yesterday
In its haunting strain
Vienna lives again
Free and bright and gay
In your mind a sudden gleam
Of a well remembered dream
Seems to glimmer when you hear the third man theme

Once again there comes to mind
Someone that you left behind
Love that somehow didn't last
In that happy city of the past
Does she still recall the dream
That rapture so supreme
When first she heard the haunting third man theme?

Carnivals and carousels and Ferris wheels and parasols
The Danube nights, the dancing lights again will shine
The zither's sweet refrain
Keeps swirling in your brain
Like new may wine
Strauss waltzes, candle-glow
And the laughter of long ago
Fill the magic chords and make it seem like today

You never knew that you could be
Enchanted by a melody
The years will never drive it out
You don't know why
It's something you can't live without
You hear it in the twilight hush
And in the morning traffic rush
A song that's always new
In your heart a part of you
Oh, shines so brightly when you hear the third man theme

Writer/s: KARAS, ANTON
Publisher: Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

The Third Man Theme
  • Karas was an Austrian who played the zither. He was playing in a Vienna tavern when British director Carol Reed heard him and decided to have him score and play for the soundtrack of the film he was then shooting in Vienna, The Third Man. This was a brave decision by the director as Karas had absolutely no experience in composition or film scoring.
  • This was the first #1 in the USA for an Austrian.
  • Karas followed up with an album of his own pieces and other Viennese songs on Decca. He used his earnings from the film and recordings to buy a wine bar in Grinzing called "The Third Man."
  • In the UK, this was titled "The Harry Lime Theme" after the main character in the film.