I'll Be Seeing You (song)

"I'll Be Seeing You"
Song
Published	1938 by Marlo Music Corporation
Composer(s)	Sammy Fain
Lyricist(s)	Irving Kahal

"I'll Be Seeing You" is a popular song about missing a loved one, with music by Sammy Fain and lyrics by Irving Kahal. ^[1] Published in 1938, it was inserted into the Broadway musical Right This Way , which closed after fifteen performances. ^[2] The title of the 1944 film I'll Be Seeing You was taken from this song at the suggestion of the film's producer, Dore Schary. The song is included in the film's soundtrack.

Background

A resemblance between the main tune's first four lines and a passage within the theme of the last movement of Gustav Mahler's Third Symphony (1896) was pointed out by Deryck Cooke in 1970. ^[3]

Discography

• The earliest recording of the song was by Dick Todd in 1940 on the Bluebird label. ^[4]
• J. Lawrence Cook recorded a piano roll of the song, QRS 7945.
• The recording by Bing Crosby became a nostalgic wartime hit in 1944, reaching number one for the week of July 1. ^[5]
• Frank Sinatra's version with Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra from 1940 charted in 1944 and peaked at No. 4. ^{[6] [7]} A new recording of the song by Frank Sinatra was included in 1961's I Remember Tommy. ^[8] This new version went to No. 12 on the Easy Listening chart and No. 58 on the Hot 100. ^[9]
• A recording by the Poni-Tails reached number 87 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending November 16, 1959. ^[10]
• Brenda Lee recorded the song as the final track of her 1962 album Sincerely, Brenda Lee , with the second verse spoken rather than sung. This version features as a significant recurring theme in the 2018 film Out of Blue . ^[11]

Other appearances

• Yvette (Elsa Harris Silver, NBC contract vocalist ^[12] ) was featured singing the song, with spoken words added relevant to wartime, in the Olsen and Johnson film See My Lawyer (1945). ^[13]
• Billie Holiday's 1944 recording of the song was the final transmission sent by NASA to the Opportunity rover on Mars when its mission ended in February 2019. ^[14]
• Norah Jones recorded a version in 2020 in support of the New York Restoration Project during the COVID-19 pandemic and released a video of the performance. ^[15]
• Liberace's version plays during the credits to the (then) final episode of Beavis and Butt-head in 1997's "Beavis and Butt-head Are Dead". Liberace's version also plays during the dinner scene and the end credits to the 1990 movie Misery with James Caan as Paul Sheldon, and Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes.
• Doc Severinsen and the Tonight Show Band played a somber big band version of the song during the final sign-off and credits for Johnny Carson's Tonight Show farewell episode on May 22, 1992.
• Ann Hampton Callaway performed the song on Broadway in the 1999 musical Swing!.

Notes

1. Leonard, Hal (January 1, 1995). I'll Be Seeing You: 51 Songs of World War II. Hal Leonard Corp. p. 47. ISBN   978-0793537617.
2. Leonard, Hal (January 1, 1995). I'll Be Seeing You: 51 Songs of World War II. Hal Leonard Corp. p. 12. ISBN   978-0793537617.
3. Cooke's radio broadcast is described in Hans Keller, 'Truth & Music', Music and Musicians Magazine, November 1970
4. "I'll Be Seeing You by Dick Todd". Internet Archive. 2018-08-21. Retrieved 2020-04-21. Digitized at 78 revolutions per minute. Four stylii were used to transfer this record.
5. Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954 . Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p.  109. ISBN   0-89820-083-0.
6. Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954 . Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p.  138. ISBN   0-89820-083-0.
7. Gilliland, John (January 15, 1972). "Pop Chronicles 1940s Program #10". UNT Digital Library.
8. "www.allmusic.com". www.allmusic.com. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
9. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 223.
10. "Poni-Tails I'll Be Seeing You Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
11. "I'll Be Seeing You: Falling Apart and Together in Out of Blue". Flip Screen. September 18, 2019. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
12. Grams Jr, Martin (2014). Duffy's Tavern: A History of Ed Gardner's Radio Program. Albany GA: Bear Manor Media.
13. "See My Lawyer". Catalog.afi.com. Retrieved 2022-07-30.
14. Berger, Eric (February 13, 2019). "Opportunity did not answer NASA's final call, and it's now lost to us". Ars Technica.
15. Todd, Nate (May 21, 2020). "Norah Jones Covers 'I'll Be Seeing You' For New York Restoration Project". Jambase. Retrieved February 11, 2021.