“The Way You Look Tonight” is a song from the film Swing Time, originally performed by Fred Astaire (We’ll get to his performance a little later!) It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1936. In 2004 the Astaire version finished at #43 in AFI’s 100 Years…100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.
The song was sung to Ginger Rogers as Penelope “Penny” Carroll by Astaire in character as John “Lucky” Garnett, while Penny was busy washing her hair in an adjacent room. The song was written by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Dorothy Fields, and has become a standard. Fields later remarked, “The first time Jerry played that melody for me I went out and started to cry. The release absolutely killed me. I couldn’t stop, it was so beautiful
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Lyrics to Sinatra’s “The Way You Look Tonight”
Some day, when I’m awfully low,
When the world is cold,
I will feel a glow just thinking of you…
And the way you look tonight.
Yes you’re lovely, with your smile so warm
And your cheeks so soft,
There is nothing for me but to love you,
And the way you look tonight.
With each word your tenderness grows,
Tearing my fear apart…
And that laugh that wrinkles your nose,
It touches my foolish heart.
Lovely … Never, ever change.
Keep that breathless charm.
Won’t you please arrange it ?
‘Cause I love you … Just the way you look tonight.
Mm, Mm, Mm, Mm,
Just the way you look to-night.
Matt Mauser’s Fantastic Cover
Tony Bennett lending his voice to an iconic tune…
And finally, here’s a Timeless scene from the 1936 movie Swing Time. Fred Astaire singing “The Way You Look Tonight”
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