Song of the Day: By Myself

The song of the day for Saturday, April 10, 2021, is “By Myself.”

About This Song

“By Myself” was written by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dieta for the 1937 musical Between the Devil, where it was introduced by Jack Buchanan. Another great Schwartz-Dietz song from Between the Devil was “I See Your Face Before Me.” “By Myself” was used in the 1953 Fred Astaire film, The Band Wagon.

About These Versions

Earlier in the week, I fell down the YouTube rabbit hole watching Judy Garland videos and came across one I not seen before: “By Myself.” I then remembered that Tony Bennett had also recorded the song and thought that a Bennett recording with the Garland video would make for a nice post.

When it came time to write this post, I couldn’t decide between which of the two versions Bennett had recorded and so decided to use them both. The first was recorded in 1950 and the second in 1993.

The 1959 version is from Hometown, My Town and was arranged by Ralph Burns.

The 1993 version from Steppin’ Out was arranged by Bennett and Ralph Sharon.

And finally, Judy Garland, from her television show in 1964. Her exit at the end of the song is legendary.