Burning Bright in 1942, but, of the three, "Burning Bright" was the most complete attempt at the form. Steinbeck believed that he may have been the first person to attempt the style. At the time of writing the introduction, in which he explained his intentions, he believed it was a form that would bear further experimentation. In a continuation of the experiment, a stage production was planned to open at the same time the book was published. The original title of the book, "In the Forests of the Night", was a line from "The Tyger" by William Blake, but complaints that it
Blues in the Night cell. As usual with Mercer, the composer wrote the music first, then Mercer wrote the words. Arlen said, The whole thing just poured out. And I knew in my guts, without even thinking what Johnny would write for a lyric, that this was strong, strong, strong! When Mercer wrote "Blues in the Night", I went over his lyric and I started to hum it over his desk. It sounded marvelous once I got to the second stanza but that first twelve was weak tea. On the third or fourth page of his work sheets I saw some lines—one of them