I'll Be Seeing You (song)

"I'll Be Seeing You"
Written by	Irving Kahal, Sammy Fain
Music by	Sammy Fain
Lyrics by	Irving Kahal
Published	1938
Language	English
Form	Showtune
Recorded by	Bing Crosby, Martha Wainwright, Liza Minnelli, Billie Holiday, Cass Elliott, Mandy Patinkin, Jimmy Durante, Rickie Lee Jones, Neil Sedaka
Performed by	Queen Latifah

"I'll Be Seeing You" is a popular song, with music by Sammy Fain and lyrics by Irving Kahal. Published in 1938, the song was inserted into the Broadway musical Right This Way, which closed after fifteen performances. The song is a jazz standard, and has been covered by countless musicians.

The musical theme has emotional power, and was much loved during World War II. It became an anthem for those serving overseas (both British and American soldiers). The lyrics begin, in Ambrose's recorded version, with a preamble:

Cathedral bells were tolling and our hearts sang on;
Was it the spell of Paris or the April dawn?
Who knows if we shall meet again?
But when the morning chimes ring sweet again...
I'll be seeing you in all the old familiar places [etc.]

As the song develops, the words take a jaunty commonplace of casual farewell and transform it by degrees, to climax with

...and when the night is new,
I'll be looking at the moon,
But I'll be seeing you.

The 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.

Notable Movie and Television Performances

Featured throughout the 1944 movie also titled I'll be Seeing You, starring Ginger Rogers and Joseph Cotten, the recording by Bing Crosby became a hit that year, being number one for the week of July 8. In 1956, Jackie Gleason's character, Ralph Kramden, referenced the song on a episode of The Honeymooners in which Kramden experienced an early exit on the game show, The $99,000 Answer, and refused to leave the stage. Later, the song became notably associated with Liberace, as the theme music to his television show of the 1950s. The song was heard on an episode of the 1960s spy spoof Get Smart, when the main character had a high-tech trumpet that could play any tune, just by speaking the title into the mouthpiece. It has also been played in the 1989 Woody Allen film Crimes and Misdemeanors; in the end credits of the 1990 film Misery; in the 1992 movie Shining Through; in the closing episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'; in the 2004 film The Aviator, and in the 2004 film The Notebook as the song for Noah and Allie. It was also played in the closing credits for the final episode of Beavis and Butthead. During the 2009 Academy Awards presentation, Queen Latifah sang the song during the "In Memoriam" tribute to members of the motion picture industry who had died during the previous year, which was controversial because the In Memoriam tribute was previously traditionally unaccompanied. In 2010, the song was performed by actress Marie West during the first, second, and ninth episodes of the fourth season of the television series Eureka.

Covers

The song has been covered by well known artists.

• Frank Sinatra recorded multiple versions of the song, including one version that was more upbeat and "swinging" than later slower versions of the song.
• Rosemary Clooney recorded it in the early 1990s in her homage to the "War Years" on an album entitled For the Duration.
• Ray Conniff recorded it in 1959 with his orchestra and singers in a very upbeat and swinging version on his album Young At Heart.
• Cass Elliott released the song on her live album Don't Call Me Mama Anymore.
• Sarah Vaughan, on her 1960 album Dreamy and her 1963 live album Sassy Swings the Tivoli.
• Billie Holiday sang a rendition of the song.
• Peggy Lee recorded it on her 1972 album Norma Deloris Egstrom from Jamestown, North Dakota.
• Linda Ronstadt on her Hummin' To Myself CD 2004.
• Liza Minnelli, on her 2002 live album Liza's Back.
• Judy Collins, on her 1975 album Judith
• Rod Stewart, on his 2002 album It Had to Be You: The Great American Songbook
• Jimmy Durante, a trademark song from his 60's TV show was used in the motion picture The Notebook.
• Queen Latifah sang the song during the 'In Memoriam' tribute during the 81st Academy Awards.
• Brenda Lee on her 1962 album Sincerely, Brenda Lee.
• Jo Stafford recorded the song on her 1958 album G.I. Jo - Songs of World War II with arrangements by Paul Weston (her husband) as the band leader.
• The Ink Spots recorded a fairly unknown version at some point in their line-up.
• Michael Bublé recorded it on his EP First Dance.
• Anne Murray recorded a version for her Greatest Hits compilation, All of Me.
• Neil Sedaka recorded it in 1964, but it was not released until 2005, when it was issued on his Love Songs album.
• Mel Torme recorded several studio versions of the song as well as a live performance with pianist George Shearing on the Concord Records album An Elegant Evening.
• Willie Nelson recorded the song on Healing Hands of Time.

Notes

Preceded by "I'll Get By (As Long as I Have You)" by Harry James and Dick Haymes	U.S. Billboard Best Sellers in Stores number-one single July 1, 1944	Succeeded by "I'll Get By (As Long as I Have You)" by Harry James and Dick Haymes
Preceded by "I'll Get By (As Long as I Have You)" by Harry James and Dick Haymes	U.S. Billboard Best Sellers in Stores number-one single July 15, 1944–July 29, 1944	Succeeded by "Swinging on a Star" by Bing Crosby