The Way You Look Tonight

"The Way You Look To-night[1]"
Single by Fred Astaire
B-side"Pick Yourself Up"
PublishedJuly 24, 1936[1] by Chappell & Co.[2][3]
ReleasedAugust 1936
RecordedJuly 26, 1936[4]
StudioLos Angeles, California
GenreJazz, Popular Music
LabelBrunswick 7717[5]
Composer(s)Jerome Kern
Lyricist(s)Dorothy Fields
Fred Astaire singles chronology
"A Fine Romance"
(1936)
"The Way You Look To-night[1]"
(1936)
"Never Gonna Dance"
(1936)
"The Way You Look Tonight"
Single by The Lettermen
from the album A Song for Young Love
B-side"That's My Desire"
ReleasedJune 13, 1961
Recorded1961
StudioCapitol (Hollywood)
GenrePop, Easy listening
Length2:21
LabelCapitol 4586
The Lettermen singles chronology
"The Way You Look Tonight"
(1961)
"When I Fall in Love"
(1961)

"The Way You Look To-night" is a song from the film Swing Time that was performed by Fred Astaire and composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics written by Dorothy Fields. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1936.[6][7] Fields remarked, "The first time Jerry played that melody for me I went out and started to cry. The release absolutely killed me. I couldn't stop, it was so beautiful."[8]

In the movie, Astaire sang "The Way You Look To-night" to Ginger Rogers while she was washing her hair in an adjacent room.[6] Astaire's recording was a top seller in 1936. Other versions that year were by Guy Lombardo and Teddy Wilson with Billie Holiday.[5]

  1. ^ "The way you look to-night / words by Dorothy Fields ; music by Jerome Kern". The Morgan Library & Museum. 2021-07-09. Retrieved 2021-09-13.
  2. ^ Limited, Alamy. "Stock Photo - Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers 1930's Cover Sheet music 'SWING TIME' for the song "The Way You Look Tonight," with music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Dorothy Fields. It was". Alamy. Retrieved 2021-09-14.
  3. ^ "BRUNSWICK 78rpm numerical listing discography: 7500 - 8000". www.78discography.com. Retrieved 2021-09-14.
  4. ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories, 1890–1954. Wisconsin: Record Research. p. 604. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
  5. ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19 ed.). London: Guinness World Records. p. 134. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  6. ^ Gioia, Ted (2012). The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire. New York City: Oxford University Press. pp. 449–451. ISBN 978-0-19-993739-4.
  7. ^ Wilk, Max (1997). They're Playing Our Song: Conversations with America's Classic Songwriters (1st Da Capo Press ed.). Da Capo Press. p. 56. ISBN 0-306-80746-7.

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