# Need a song from the early 40's **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 3, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-song-from-the-early-40s/854987 "2020-06-03T15:55:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-song-from-the-early-40s/854987/1 "2020-06-03T15:55:53Z")
So, I’m not looking for a specific song, just a song appropriate for a situation (in the novel I’m working on). The situation: Teenage boy and blues musician wants to serenade a girl he’s recently met. 1944 New Orleans. Looking for something he could play and sing outside her window. Bonus points if it’s sweet but a little sad. Anyone have any thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-song-from-the-early-40s/854987/2 "2020-06-03T16:00:12Z")
You’re in New Orleans…“House of the Rising Sun” has been around in various forms for a long time…at least back to 1905, maybe longer… ---
**Author:** ![flaming\_yawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/cab0a1/32.png) [@flaming\_yawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flaming_yawn)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-song-from-the-early-40s/854987/3 "2020-06-03T16:02:43Z")
Paper moon…1943 ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-song-from-the-early-40s/854987/4 "2020-06-03T16:28:00Z")
No, no, no… here’s your chance to write your own song. And you won’t have to worry about the music, just write a verse and a chorus, put them in italics, and bingo! If your character’s capable of creativity, you can have it be a song he wrote. Either he’d been working on for years and dedicated it to her, or she gave him the inspiration to compose it, ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-song-from-the-early-40s/854987/5 "2020-06-03T19:24:44Z")
My four top picks: **Someone to Watch over Me** (1926) \*\*Embraceable You\*\* (1928) \*\*Moonlight Serenade\*\* (1939) \*\*Sentimental Journey\*\* (1944) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/h8EYBWoFAoE/hqdefault.jpg "Frank Sinatra - Sentimental journey") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8EYBWoFAoE) ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-song-from-the-early-40s/854987/6 "2020-06-03T19:39:46Z")
Nevermind. My suggestion doesn’t fit the story. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-song-from-the-early-40s/854987/7 "2020-06-03T19:47:58Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > You’re in New Orleans…“House of the Rising Sun” has been around in various forms for a long time…at least back to 1905, maybe longer… Whatever version you choose, a song about a brothel and gambling joint that ruins people’s lives seems to me like a poor choice for a teenage boy to romantically serenade a girl he’s just met. 😉 > [@](#): > > There is a house in New Orleans, it’s called the Rising Sun > It’s been the ruin of many poor girl > Great God, and I for one. > [@](#): > > There is a house in New Orleans > They call the Rising Sun > Where many poor boys to destruction has gone > And me, oh God, are one. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-song-from-the-early-40s/854987/8 "2020-06-03T19:50:11Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > You’re in New Orleans…“House of the Rising Sun” has been around in various forms for a long time…at least back to 1905, maybe longer… Whatever version you choose, a song about a brothel and gambling joint that ruins people’s lives seems to me like a poor choice for a teenage boy to romantically serenade a girl he’s just met. 😉 > [@](#): > > There is a house in New Orleans, it’s called the Rising Sun > It’s been the ruin of many poor girl > Great God, and I for one. > [@](#): > > There is a house in New Orleans > They call the Rising Sun > Where many poor boys to destruction has gone > And me, oh God, are one. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like a bit of a buzzkill. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-song-from-the-early-40s/854987/9 "2020-06-03T20:04:55Z")
If you want to go with the obvious, use “As Time Goes By.” ---
**Author:** ![journeyman\_southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@journeyman\_southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/journeyman_southpaw)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-song-from-the-early-40s/854987/10 "2020-06-03T23:09:00Z")
How about [“The Way You Look Tonight”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsALgi5yM_A), a big hit for Fred Astaire in 1936. [Here’s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLGZspoyXvc) what an acoustic cover can sound like. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-song-from-the-early-40s/854987/11 "2020-06-03T23:20:33Z")
[Skylark](https://genius.com/Hoagy-carmichael-skylark-lyrics). Written 1941, one of my faves. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-song-from-the-early-40s/854987/12 "2020-06-04T00:30:35Z")
OP specifies a “blues musician.” Songs like Skylark and some others mentioned are not so easy to play. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-song-from-the-early-40s/854987/13 "2020-06-04T00:37:58Z")
Jerry Garcia wrote a very beautiful song called “Reuben and Cherise” in 1978, which first appeared on the album **Cats Under the Stars.** No idea why it’s never became more popular. It’s not from the 1940s, but it’s about a handsome young New Orleans man who plays on his “painted mandolin” at the Carnival, and his true love and her rival. Chords are available on the internets. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/INk1IswODfE/maxresdefault.jpg "Grateful Dead - Reuben And Cherise (Buckeye Lake 6/9/91) (Official Live Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INk1IswODfE) ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-song-from-the-early-40s/854987/14 "2020-06-04T01:13:24Z")
How about Black Betty? (j/k) ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-song-from-the-early-40s/854987/15 "2020-06-04T02:56:39Z")
Here you can listen to the top popular songs in 1943 and 1944 (and other years): > **[Top 80 Pop Song Chart for 1943](https://playback.fm/charts/top-100-songs/1943)** > > Find the top 80 Pop songs for the year of 1943 and listen to them all! Can you guess the number one Pop song in 1943? Find out now! > **[Top 80 Pop Song Chart for 1944](https://playback.fm/charts/top-100-songs/1944)** > > Find the top 80 Pop songs for the year of 1944 and listen to them all! Can you guess the number one Pop song in 1944? Find out now! ---
**Author:** ![LynnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@LynnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LynnM)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-song-from-the-early-40s/854987/16 "2020-06-04T14:32:19Z")
Consider “Soft Winds,” written in 1940. Easy chords, slow/medium tempo– You’ll find a number of versions on youtube–I like Dinah Washington’s. You might have to modify the lyrics slightly–change he/him to she/her– Soft winds whisper Sweet words to my love Soft winds, tell him The dreams I’m dreaming of He’s gone too long I’m on the blue sea Find him, soft winds And bring him back home to me ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-song-from-the-early-40s/854987/17 "2020-06-04T15:47:56Z")
He could re-enact [Bing Crosby’s seranade](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUmkz95E7mw)from Road To Morocco (1942). ---
**Author:** ![Hermione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cdc98d/32.png) [@Hermione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermione)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-song-from-the-early-40s/854987/18 "2020-06-04T19:29:30Z")
[This song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYkJ0M1bUIU) was first recorded in 1943, and if it’s good enough for Tom to sing outside HIS girl’s window… ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-song-from-the-early-40s/854987/19 "2020-06-09T20:58:04Z")
“ **But Not For Me** ” Simple chords, published in 1930, about unrequited love. [Ella Fitzgerald](https://youtu.be/FnfUN6bBAg4) (ballad) [Chet Baker](https://youtu.be/KBR8-2OrtT4) (swing) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-song-from-the-early-40s/854987/20 "2020-06-09T23:33:08Z")
[Dream A Little Dream Of Me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7j8wa9sWOE), 1931. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-song-from-the-early-40s/854987.md?page=2)