"As Time Goes By" (Binnie Hale, 1932)

This song is so indelibly stamped by Dooley Wilson's fine interpretation in Bogart's "Casablanca" that earlier renditions have been mostly forgotten.

AS TIME GOES BY

You must remember this
A kiss is still a kiss
A sigh is just a sigh
The fundamental things apply as time goes by

And when two lovers woo
They still say "i love you"
On that you can rely
No matter what the future brings, as time goes by

Moonlight and love songs never out of date
Hearts full of passion, jealousy, and hate
Woman needs man, and man must have his mate
That no one can deny

It's still the same old story
A fight for love and glory
A case of do or die
The world will always welcome lovers as time goes by...


Here's a performance by Liverpool music hall star Binnie Hale worth hauling out of the mothballs--she's joined here by the Savoy Orpheans and Carroll Gibbons, piano. More on the tune from Wiki:

"As Time Goes By" is a song written by Herman Hupfeld for the 1931 Broadway musical Everybody's Welcome. Frances Williams sang the song in the original show.

It was recorded by several artists in 1931 including Rudy Vallee. The song was re-introduced in 1942 in the film Casablanca in which it was sung by Dooley Wilson. Wilson never released a single of the song because of a musicians' strike at the time of the film's release. A re-issue of Rudy Vallee's 1931 recording became a major seller in that year.

The lyrics of the verse that contain the title phrase are: You must remember this: A kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh. The fundamental things apply As time goes by. And when two lovers woo, they still say "I love you," On that you can rely, no matter what the future brings, As time goes by . . . Moonlight an' love songs never out of date, Hearts full of passion, jealousy an' hate, Woman needs man and man must have his mate, That no one can deny . . . It's still the same old story, a fight for love an' glory, A case of do or die, the world will always welcome lovers, As time goes by . . .

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Binnie Hale
• As Time Goes By
• Carroll Gibbons
• Casablanca
• 1932
• Hupfeld

[onlyanirishboy]

Interesting that she, unlike Vallee, holds off on the generally-forgotten lyrics (the "Einstein's theory" part) until she does the refrain (the "you must remember this" part). Because of Casablanca, most people today think that the refrain is the whole song. (This is a general phenomenon -- who remembers the opening lyrics to Take Me Out To the Ball Game, or even White Christmas?)

[RReady555]

True enough, Irish. I wonder how the song unfolded in the original show..has Hupfeld's "Everybody's Welcome" ever been revived?

The line "Things like Third Dimension" always struck me as a miswritten lyric--in connection with relativity shouldn't it have been **Fourth**? ;)

Vintage refrains are often feature more crowd-pleasing, sing-along melodies than the expository intros...I reckon that's key.

Regards,

-RR

[genia106]

Yes, those Brits are great! I love this rendition sung by the marvelous Binnie Hale.

She has made it special with her sophisticated style and her glorious voice!

[RReady555]

(: You're *everywhere*, genia! Didn't get a notice about this comment.

Those singers, musicians and comedians who came out of the Music Halls, Vaudeville and the Night Clubs had an incredible sense of what "worked" with audiences.

[agogoloft]

Lol, growing up in the 90's and 2000's I have to go back 80 years more or less to listen to decent Music ^_^ this is awesome.

[aldiboronti]

What a revelation. Great song, beautifully sung. Thank you for this.

[good2000ful]

Too much vibrato, siounds like a saw and violin bow.

[KawhackitaRag]

@onlyanirishboy Finally, verses are important in that they usually EXPLAIN the lyrics to the chorus, and provide a smoother transition into it. "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is a perfect example. It is somewhat nonsensical if you don't hear the verse telling about Katie Casey who is unlike most girls of her day in that she doesn't want to go to the theatre to see a show (for a date with her boyfriend), but would much rather see a baseball game!

[KawhackitaRag]

@RReady555 I agree that verses to old songs are often forgotten... how often do you hear the verse to, for example, "My Gal Sal" (which is in 4/4) compared with that famous song's chorus (in 3/4) for example? However, I think most songs sound incomplete to me without the verse... also, there is less musical "meat" for the creative musician to work with.

Also, contemporary pop songs are usually performed complete (with verses and everything); the old ones deserve at least as much!

[chicka321]

@agogoloft 90s were fucking great. what you talking about? 2000's, that's a different story for sure

[wollestoncraft]

Love it! Thanks 4 posting this rare gem. Also love the Rudy Vallee,

[impCaesarAvg]

So 'As Time Goes By' was already an oldy when Casablanca was made. Who knew?

[nhannguyen9190]

I've been listening to more than 10 versions of this song and this is the best 1 i can find. Thank you for the vid.

[Paulodafigaro1]

Thank you for share this wonderful record.

[Greenhornet270]

Beautiful song; great singer....

[faniymx]

@agogoloft you´re totally  and completely right