If You Were the Only Girl (in the World)
Encyclopedia
"If You Were the Only Girl (In the World)" is a popular
song
written by Nat D. Ayer with lyrics by Clifford Grey
. The song was published in 1916
. It was republished in 1946
. The song has become a standard, recorded by many artists.
It was introduced on 19 April 1916 at the premiere of the musical/revue The Bing Boys Are Here
at The Alhambra, Leicester Square
, sung as a duet between the original stars, George Robey
as Lucius Bing and Violet Loraine
as Emma.
In the context of the terribly deadly battles going on at the time, it seems representative of a need for escape from a nightmare of war.
recorded the song for her album By the Light of the Silvery Moon
and sang the song with Gordon MacRae
in the 1953 film By the Light of the Silvery Moon
.
recorded this song under the title "If You Were the Only Boy in the World", with a Peter Matz
arrangement for her album My Name Is Barbra in 1965.
and things look blue
I wish a boy I had... say one like you.
Someone within my heart to build a throne
Someone who'd never part, to call my own
If you were the only girl in the world
and I were the only boy
Nothing else would matter in the world today
We could go on loving in the same old way
A garden of Eden just made for two
With nothing to mar our joy
I would say such wonderful things to you
There would be such wonderful things to do
If you were the only girl in the world
and I were the only boy.
Though Robey definitely pronounces girl as girl-ie.
sang a version in the film The Vagabond Lover
, released in 1929. An unknown singer sang the song in an episode of the hit TV series, Charmed
.
One well-known version was recorded by Perry Como
on March 21, 1946 and released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-1857-B, the flip side of "They Say It's Wonderful
". This version reached #14 on the Billboard magazine charts. The recording was also released in the United Kingdom
by EMI
on the His Master's Voice label as catalog number BD-1165, the flip side of "I Dream of You (More than You Dream I Do)
".
Donald Peers
with two pianos recorded it at Royal Albert Hall
, London
, on June 13, 1949 as the first song of a medley along with "Blue Skies
" and "There's a Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder
". The medley was released by EMI
on the His Master's Voice label as catalog number B 9792.
Anton Szandor LaVey, founder and High Priest of The Church of Satan, also performed the song on his 1990 album "Satan Takes A Holiday
".
It is also performed in Episode 4 (series 2) of Downton Abbey
, first broadcast on Sunday the 9th of October, 2011.
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
written by Nat D. Ayer with lyrics by Clifford Grey
Clifford Grey
Clifford Grey was an English songwriter, actor, librettist and Olympic medalist. His birth name was Percival Davis, and he was also known as Clifford Gray, Tippi Gray, Tippi Grey, Tippy Gray and Tippy Grey.As a writer, Grey contributed prolifically to West End and Broadway shows, as librettist and...
. The song was published in 1916
1916 in music
-Events:* February 1 - Carl Nielsen conducts the premiere of his Symphony No. 4, the Inextinguishable, in Copenhagen.* February 11 - Baltimore Symphony Orchestra presents its first concert....
. It was republished in 1946
1946 in music
- Events :*January 6 – A somewhat revised and streamlined revival of Kern and Hammerstein's Show Boat opens on Broadway at the Ziegfeld Theatre, the same theatre at which the original production played back in 1927. This production features newly designed sets and costumes, new, more extended...
. The song has become a standard, recorded by many artists.
It was introduced on 19 April 1916 at the premiere of the musical/revue The Bing Boys Are Here
The Bing Boys Are Here
The Bing Boys Are Here, styled "A Picture of London Life, in a Prologue and Six Panels," is the first of a series of revues which played at the Alhambra Theatre, London during the last two years of World War I. The series included The Bing Boys on Broadway and The Bing Boys are There. The music...
at The Alhambra, Leicester Square
Alhambra Theatre
The Alhambra was a popular theatre and music hall located on the east side of Leicester Square, in the West End of London. It was built originally as The Royal Panopticon of Science and Arts opening on 18 March 1854. It was closed after two years and reopened as the Alhambra. The building was...
, sung as a duet between the original stars, George Robey
George Robey
Sir George Edward Wade , better known by his stage name, George Robey, was an English music hall comedian and star. He was marketed as the "Prime Minister of Mirth".-Early life:...
as Lucius Bing and Violet Loraine
Violet Loraine
Violet Loraine was an English musical theatre actress and singer.She was born Violet Mary Tipton in Kentish Town, London, in 1886 and went on the stage as a chorus girl at the age of sixteen....
as Emma.
In the context of the terribly deadly battles going on at the time, it seems representative of a need for escape from a nightmare of war.
Doris Day version
Doris DayDoris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
recorded the song for her album By the Light of the Silvery Moon
By the Light of the Silvery Moon (album)
By the Light of the Silvery Moon is a Doris Day album featuring songs from the movie of the same name. It was issued by Columbia Records as a 10" long-playing record, catalog number CL-6248....
and sang the song with Gordon MacRae
Gordon MacRae
Gordon MacRae was an American actor and singer, best known for his appearances in the film versions of two Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, Oklahoma! and Carousel and films with Doris Day like Starlift.-Early life:Born Albert Gordon MacRae in East Orange, New Jersey, MacRae graduated from...
in the 1953 film By the Light of the Silvery Moon
By the Light of the Silvery Moon (film)
By the Light of the Silvery Moon is a 1953 musical film. It is the sequel to On Moonlight Bay. Like its predecessor, the movie is based loosely on the Penrod stories by Booth Tarkington.-Plot:...
.
Barbra Streisand version
Barbra StreisandBarbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
recorded this song under the title "If You Were the Only Boy in the World", with a Peter Matz
Peter Matz
Peter Matz was an award winning American musician, composer, arranger and conductor. His musical career in film, theater, television and studio recording spanned fifty years, and he worked with a number of prominent artists, including Marlene Dietrich, Noël Coward and Barbra Streisand...
arrangement for her album My Name Is Barbra in 1965.
Lyrics
Sometimes when I feel lowand things look blue
I wish a boy I had... say one like you.
Someone within my heart to build a throne
Someone who'd never part, to call my own
If you were the only girl in the world
and I were the only boy
Nothing else would matter in the world today
We could go on loving in the same old way
A garden of Eden just made for two
With nothing to mar our joy
I would say such wonderful things to you
There would be such wonderful things to do
If you were the only girl in the world
and I were the only boy.
Though Robey definitely pronounces girl as girl-ie.
Later performances
Actor-singer Rudy ValleeRudy Vallée
Rudy Vallée was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer.-Early life:Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée...
sang a version in the film The Vagabond Lover
The Vagabond Lover
The Vagabond Lover is a 1929 American black-and-white, comedy-drama musical film about a small-town boy who finds fame and romance when he joins a dance band. The film is directed by Marshall Neilan, and is based on the novel of the same name, written by James Ashmore Creelman who also wrote the...
, released in 1929. An unknown singer sang the song in an episode of the hit TV series, Charmed
Charmed
Charmed is an American television series that originally aired from October 7, 1998, until May 21, 2006, on the now defunct The WB Television Network. The series was created in 1998 by writer Constance M...
.
One well-known version was recorded by Perry Como
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
on March 21, 1946 and released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-1857-B, the flip side of "They Say It's Wonderful
They Say It's Wonderful
"They Say It's Wonderful" is a popular song written by Irving Berlin for the musical Annie Get Your Gun , where it was introduced by Ethel Merman and Ray Middleton.It was sung by Kirsten Dunst in Spider-Man 3 .-Notable recordings:...
". This version reached #14 on the Billboard magazine charts. The recording was also released in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
by EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
on the His Master's Voice label as catalog number BD-1165, the flip side of "I Dream of You (More than You Dream I Do)
I Dream of You (More than You Dream I Do)
"I Dream of You " is a popular song.It was written by Marjorie Goetschius and Edna Osser and published in 1944.Charted versions were recorded by Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra, by Andy Russell, by Frank Sinatra, and by Perry Como....
".
Donald Peers
Donald Peers
Donald Peers was a popular Welsh singer. His best remembered rendition and signature song was "In a Shady Nook by a Babbling Brook".-Biography:...
with two pianos recorded it at Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, on June 13, 1949 as the first song of a medley along with "Blue Skies
Blue Skies (song)
-History:The song was composed in 1926 as a last minute addition to the Rodgers and Hart musical, Betsy. Although the show only ran for 39 performances, "Blue Skies" was an instant success, with audiences on opening night demanding 24 encores of the piece from star, Belle Baker. During the final...
" and "There's a Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder
There's a Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder
There's a Rainbow 'round My Shoulder is a 1928 song sung by Al Jolson in the early Warner Brothers talking picture The Singing Fool the same year. The song along with Sonny Boy and I'm Sitting on Top of the World, which was also in The Singing Fool became big hits...
". The medley was released by EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
on the His Master's Voice label as catalog number B 9792.
Anton Szandor LaVey, founder and High Priest of The Church of Satan, also performed the song on his 1990 album "Satan Takes A Holiday
Satan Takes A Holiday
Satan Takes a Holiday is the name of an album of evocative, "lost" songs by Anton Szandor LaVey, founder and former High Priest of the Church of Satan....
".
It is also performed in Episode 4 (series 2) of Downton Abbey
Downton Abbey
Downton Abbey is a British television period drama series, produced by NBC Universal-owned British media company Carnival Films for the ITV network. The series is set during the late Edwardian era and the First World War on the fictional estate of Downton Abbey in Yorkshire, and features an...
, first broadcast on Sunday the 9th of October, 2011.
External links
- "If You Were the Only Girl (in the World)" sung by Loraine and Robey, 1916 (mp3)