You're Just in Love


"You're Just in Love" is a popular song by Irving Berlin. It was published in 1950 and was first performed by Ethel Merman and Russell Nype in Call Me Madam, a musical comedy that made its debut at the Imperial Theatre in New York City on October 12 that year. The show ran for 644 performances. Ethel Merman also later starred in the 1953 film version, with Donald O'Connor.

Background

Musically, the song is one of Irving Berlin's three well-known songs that use true counterpoint—two equal and contrasting melodies running at the same time, both with independent lyrics - his two other best-known counterpoint songs being "Play a Simple Melody" and "An Old-Fashioned Wedding". Berlin also made use of counterpoint in "Pack Up Your Sins," a song composed for the Music Box Revue of 1922. Berlin's two-melody counterpoint songs are parodied in Rick Besoyan's 1959 musical Little Mary Sunshine. Besoyan has three harmonizing songs sung simultaneously: "Playing Croquet", "Swinging", and "How Do You Do".
Theatre lore has it that Berlin wrote the song one night after Call Me Madam was not doing well in tryouts. The second act of the show was lacking. "What I'd like to do is a song with the kid," Merman said. So, Berlin went to his room and later produced the counterpoint song. When Berlin played the song for Merman, she said, "We'll never get off the stage." Reportedly, Berlin played the song for Russell Nype first, but admonished him not to admit he did so because it would infuriate Merman.

1950-51 recordings

Several recorded versions made the charts in 1950-51: Perry Como and The Fontane Sisters with Mitchell Ayres' and His Orchestra, Rosemary Clooney and Guy Mitchell, and Ethel Merman and Dick Haymes.

Other recordings

This song was also covered by:

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