In Praise of a 90-Year-Old Song That Simply Never Ages
Categoria: Musica
“The Way You Look Tonight” has made people swoon for nine decades.
Por Billboard | 24/07/2026
Ninety years ago today, a song was copyrighted that would appear in a movie the following month. You might think a song from 1936 would be about as relevant today as an Alf Landon campaign button (he was that year’s Republican nominee for President). But the song isn’t a musty, flowery ballad, but a song you probably know and love – “The Way You Look Tonight,” which Fred Astaire performed in the 1936 film Swing Time . Related Tony Bennett, Legendary Interpreter of Great American Songbook, Dies at 96 Before ‘Golden,’ Here Are 25 Other Songs That Set Oscar Records 60 Years Ago, Frank Sinatra Came Up Short at the First Grammys The song ranks with “Over the Rainbow” from the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz as one of the most famous and beloved songs from that decade. It was composed by Jerome Kern, with lyrics by Dorothy Fields. In Max Wilk’s 1997 book They’re Playing Our Song: Conversations with America’s Classic Songwriters , Fields was quoted as saying: “The first time Jerry [Kern] 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.” In Swing Time , Astaire sang “The Way You Look Tonight” to his co-star Ginger Rogers while she washed her hair in an adjacent room. Astaire recorded “The Way You Look Tonight” in Los Angeles on July 26, 1936. His version was a big hit that year, as were cover versions by bandleader Guy Lombardo and jazz pianist Teddy Wilson (featuring a lead vocal by a 21-year old Billie Holiday ). On March 11, 1937, “The Way You Look Tonight” (originally stylized “The Way You Look To-night”) won the Academy Award for best original song. Fields was the first woman to win in that category, which was then in its third year. Moreover, she was the only woman to win in that category until 1969, when Marilyn Bergman was honored for co-writing “The Windmills of Your Mind” from The Thomas Crown Affair with her husband and lyric-writing partner Alan Bergman and composer Michel Legrand. Astaire’s recording of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2004, the song was ranked No. 43 on the AFI’s “ 100 Years…100 Songs ” list. (Too low, but that’s OK.) Benny Goodman & His Orchestra revived the song in 1942, with a lead vocal by a 22-year old Peggy Lee . The Lettermen took the song to No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1961, the song’s highest placement in the Hot 100 era (which began in 1958). The vocal trio’s version received a Grammy nod for best pop performance by a duo or group with vocal. It was featured on their album A Song for Young Love , which reached No. 6 on the Billboard 200 in April 1962. The song had a major revival around the turn of the century. In 1997, Tony Bennett ’s version was featured prominently in the hit film My Best Friend’s Wedding . In 1998, Neil Diamond included it on his album The Movie Album: As Time Goes By . In 1999, Bryan Ferry included it