Songwriter George David Weiss has died. He co-wrote three of the most indelible songs of the 20th century: “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” “I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” and the one in the video above, which most people probably know best from the Louis Armstrong version that Barry Levinson used so manipulatively (and successfully) to wrench tears from the eyes of moviegoers in Good Morning Vietnam. It’s testament to Weiss’s craft that it also sounds so great being sung by Joey Ramone, who is also dead and greatly missed.
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I grew up in New Jersey. I live in New York. I write for the Awl, and also a book called Public Apology, for Grand Central Publishing.