The song of the day for Saturday, July 22, 2023, is “Fly Me To The Moon.”

About This Song

“Fly Me To The Moon” was written in 1954 by Bart Howard. The song was originally titled “In Other Words,” but the song was not doing that well, in spite of several recordings. In 1962, Howard renamed the song “Fly Me To The Moon,” and it began to catch on. Tony Bennett’s 1965 recording for If I Ruled The World was a big hit for Bennett. There have been many recordings of the song, including those by Frank Sinatra, Kaye Ballard, and many more. However, Bart Howard told Bennett that his 1965 recording was “the definitive performance of this song.”

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Fly Me To The Moon” on February 18, 1965, for his album If I Ruled The World: Songs For the Jet Set. The wonderful arrangement was by Don Costa.

“Fly Me To The Moon,” as well as If I Ruled The World: Songs For the Jet Set is available on Apple Music.

I found this lovely video of Tony singing today’s song from the television program, Live By Request, originally aired in 1998. The violinist is Joel Smirnoff, who was featured on Bennett’s 1999 album Bennett Sings Ellington: Hot & Cool.