Swanee

By George Gershwin & Irving Caesar
1919

Despite all his later accomplishments, this career-making hit for Gershwin would remain the biggest hit of his entire life. Written on a train ride with Caesar one New York afternoon as a parody of Stephen Foster's "Old Folks at Home", it was introduced in the Broadway revue Demi-Tasse. But it wasn't until the legendary Al Jolson heard it played by Gershwin at a party and incorporated it into his show Sinbad that it really took off. The song wound up selling over a million copies of sheet music, and Jolson's recording was number one for nine weeks. The money Gershwin made from it allowed him to leave Tin Pan Alley and focus on an illustrious Broadway career.

Lyrics:

I've been away from you a long time
I never thought I'd miss 'ya so
Somehow I feel, your love is real
Near you I wanna be.

The Birds are singing it is songtime
The banjos strumming soft and low
I know that you yearn for me too, Swanee you're calling me

Swanee - how I love ya, how I love ya 
My dear old Swanee. 
I'd give the world to be 
Among the folks in D-I-X-I-E-ven though my mammy's waiting for me,
Praying for me down by the Swanee. 
The folks up north will see me no more, when I get to that Swanee shore!

Recorded By:

Al Jolson
Judy Garland
Rufus Wainwright
The Muppets
The Temptations

Tea for Two

By Vincent Youmans & Irving Caesar
1925

This well-remembered tune was written for the infamous musical No, No, Nanette, the non-musical version of which had been financed six years earlier by Red Sox owner Harry Frazee with money he got from selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees. It became a common selection among tap dancers (who could forget Daffy Duck's soft shoe?), and was later revived by Doris Day in the 1950 movie of the same name. Lyricist Caesar would later claim the words were originally intended only as filler.

Lyrics:

I'm discontented with homes that I've rented,
So I have invented my own.
Darling, this place is a lovely oasis,
Where life's weary taste is unknown.
Far from the crowded city,
Where flowers pretty caress the stream.
Cozy to hide in, to live side by side in,
Don't let it apart in my dream--

Picture you upon my knee,
Just tea for two,
And two for tea.
Just me for you,
And you for me alone.

Nobody near us, to see us or hear us,
No friends or relations,
On weekend vacations.
We won't have it known, dear,
That we own a telephone, dear...

Day will break and I'll awake,
And start to bake a sugar cake,
For you to take for all the boys to see.

We will raise a family,
A boy for you,
And a girl for me.
Can't you see how happy we would be?

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Tony Bennett
Neil Diamond
Duke Ellington
Blossom Dearie