Strolling Down Lovers Lane 1940s

Love is a wondrous thing. There are many songs written about true love, wishing for love, unrequited love, and even heartbreak when breaking up. I want to take you through the years along Lovers Lane with popular love songs from the 1940s, '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, and '90s.

A wonderful musical, holiday film came out in 1942. It was the American musical film “Holiday Inn” starring Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Marjorie Reynolds, Virginia Dale, and Walter Able. It was directed by Mark Sandrich and the music was by Irving Berlin. The film included the best-known Christmas song “White Christmas”. There was also a beautiful love song sung by Bing Crosby “Be Careful It’s My Heart”.

“Bewitched (Bothered and Bewildered)” is a show tune and a popular song that came from the Rogers and Hart musical “Pal Joey” in 1940. The song is part of the Great American Songbook. It was introduced by Vivienne Segal during the Broadway production.

“(I Love You) for Sentimental Reasons” is a popular song that was written by Ivory “Deek” Watson, the founding member of The Ink Spots and of The Brown Dots, and William “Pat” Best, founding member of The Four Tunes. The song was released in 1945 by Watson’s quartet with Joe King as lead vocalist.

“Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?” is a popular song that was written by Scotty Wiseman for the musical film “Sing, Neighbor, Sing in 1944. It became a great hit and one of the first country songs to get attention from the pop music field. It was released by Lulu Belle and Scotty in 1947. The first released version of the song was by Gene Autry in 1945.

“Long Ago (and Far Away)” is a popular song with music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Ira Gershwin from the musical film “Cover Girl” in 1944. The film starred Gene Kelly and Rita Hayworth. The song sold over 600,000 copies in sheet music. A popular version was released by Perry Como and charted on the Billboard Magazine charts.

“Some Enchanted Evening” is a show tune from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “South Pacific” in 1949. It became the single biggest popular hit to come out of any Rodgers and Hammerstein show. Italian opera singer Ezio Pinza recorded the song. His recording from the original Broadway cast recording of the film made it on the Billboard charts.

“You Belong to My Heart” is the English-language version of the Mexican Bolero song “Solamente una vex”. The song was composed by Mexican songwriter Agustin Lara and originally performed by singer Ana Maria Gonzalez and tenor Jose Mojica in the film “Melodia de America” in 1941. In 1945 Bing Crosby and the Xavier Cugat orchestra recorded a version of the song and it charted on the Billboard charts.

“As Time Goes By’ is a jazz song that was written by Herman Hupfield in 1931. It became famous when it was featured in the classic film “Casablanca” in 1942 and performed by Dooley Wilson as Sam. Through the years the song has been covered by many different singers. It was also the title and theme song of the British romantic comedy series “As Time Goes by” in the 1990s.

“Till the End of Time” is a popular song that was written by lyricist Buddy Kaye and composer Ted Mossman. Its melody is based on Frederic Chopin’s Polonaise in A Flat Major, Op. 53, the “Polonaise heroique”. It was released in 1945 with the biggest hit version recorded by Perry Como which charted on the Billboard charts.