Let Me Call You Sweetheart
| "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" | |
|---|---|
| (I'm In Love With You) | |
 Sheet music cover (1910) | |
| Song | |
| Written | 1910 |
| Composer | Leo Friedman |
| Lyricist | Beth Slater Whitson |
| Language | English |
"Let Me Call You Sweetheart" is a popular song, with music by Leo Friedman and lyrics by Beth Slater Whitson. The song was published in 1910 and first recorded by The Peerless Quartet. A 1924 recording identifies a Spanish title, "Déjame llamarte mía".
Lyrics
The complete lyrics:
- I am dreaming Dear of you, day by day
- Dreaming when the skies are blue, When they're gray;
- When the silv'ry moonlight gleams, Still I wander on in dreams,
- In a land of love, it seems, Just with you.
- Let me call you "Sweetheart," I'm in love with you.
- Let me hear you whisper that you love me too.
- Keep the love-light glowing in your eyes so true.
- Let me call you "Sweetheart," I'm in love with you.
- Longing for you all the while, More and more;
- Longing for the sunny smile, I adore;
- Birds are singing far and near, Roses blooming ev'rywhere
- You, alone, my heart can cheer; You, just you.
- Let me call you "Sweetheart," I'm in love with you.
- Let me hear you whisper that you love me too.
- Keep the love-light glowing in your eyes so true.
- Let me call you "Sweetheart," I'm in love with you.
Trivia
The girl who modeled for the original sheet music is alleged [1] to have been Virginia Rappe, the subject of the 1921 Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle scandal.
Among the thousands of mainstream appearances of this pop standard are a British advert for mobile phone operator and internet service provider Orange SA, involving a wind-up toy of two figures hugging. The version used in this advert was sung by Oliver Hardy from the 1938 film Swiss Miss, made with his comic partner Stan Laurel. This song was also sung in an episode of Our Gang (the Little Rascals) by Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer. Victor Moore sings the song to Beulah Bondi in Make Way for Tomorrow (1937).
It was performed by George Hearn in Barney's Great Adventure, instrumentally by a band in The Greatest Game Ever Played and by Megan Follows in Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story.
It was also sung by a group of Boy Scouts in the film Follow Me Boys.
It was also performed by Dorothy Custer (born May 30, 1911) an American comedian, harmonicist, and centenarian, who sang the song on Valentine’s Day 2012 to Jay Leno on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
The song was recorded by Bette Midler for the film The Rose and the accompanying "The Rose Soundtrack".
The song was sung in an episode of Downton Abbey.[2]
In the Arrow episode "Broken Hearts", Cupid sings the song while holding a couple hostage.
In 2016, the Peerless Quartet recording was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry due to its "cultural, historic, or artistic significance."[3]
It was used over the end credits in the Australian film '52 Tuesdays' about a transgender father and his daughter Billie.
References
- ↑ Oderman, Stuart. Roscoe" Fatty" Arbuckle: A biography of the silent film comedian, 1887-1933. p. 152.
- ↑ broadcast on ITV1, 23 September 2012
- ↑ https://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2016/16-056.html
External links
- Heritage of Harmony barbershop version
- Sheet Music for "Let Me Call You Sweetheart", Harold Rossiter Music Co., 1910.
- 1924 recording by tenor Lewis James and the International Novelty Orchestra, in the National Jukebox (uses Flash)
- 1924 recording at the Internet Archive
- 1930 Cartoon Ethel Mermen sings in a Betty Boop cartoon