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This page is about the song. For the Upstairs, Downstairs episode, see If You Were the Only Girl in the World.

"If You Were the Only Girl (In the World)" is a popular song written by Nat D. Ayer with lyrics by Clifford Grey. It was published in London in 1916, and republished in 1946. It was introduced on April 19, 1916 at the premiere of the musical/revue The Bing Boys Are Here at The Alhambra, Leicester Square in London sung as a duet between the original stars George Robey as Lucius Bing and Violet Loraine as Emma. The song has become a standard, recorded by many artists since.

Lyrics

The following lyrics have been checked against the Stanley Kirkby and Jessie Broughton recording from c. 1916:

Verse 1:

Sometimes, when I feel bad and things look blue

I wish, a girl I had, say one like you...

Someone, within my heart to build her throne

Someone, who'd never part, to call my own

I'll try, a love to teach, dear, fond and true

I sigh, a world to reach, dear, just made for me and you

Refrain:

If you were the only girl in the world

And you were the only boy

Nothing else would matter in the world today

We could go on loving in the same old way

A Garden of Eden just made for two

With nothing to mar our joy

I would say such wonderful things to you

There would be such wonderful things to do

If you were the only girl in the world

And you were the only boy.

Verse 2:

No one, I'll ever care for, dear, but you

No one, I'll fancy, therefore love me do

Your eyes, have set me dreaming all night long

Your eyes, have set me scheming, right or wrong

All days, we'll be together, side by side

Always, in any weather, whatever else betide,

Recordings

The song was first recorded by the original stars George Robey and Violet Loraine in 1916 (on Columbia L-1037). Other early recordings were those by Ernest Pike (as Herbert Payne) with Louie Brooks in 1916 (Zonophone no. 1645), and Stanley Kirkby with Jessie Broughton in c. 1916 (Scala no. 862).

A well-known version was recorded by Perry Como on March 21, 1946 and released by RCA Victor Records as the flip side of "They Say It's Wonderful" (RCA 20-1857-B). This version reached no. 14 on the Billboard magazine charts. Doris Day recorded the song for her album By the Light of the Silvery Moon and also sang it with Gordon MacRae in the 1953 film By the Light of the Silvery Moon. Donald Peers recorded it accompanied by two pianos at the Royal Albert Hall, London, on June 13, 1949 as the first song of a medley along with "Blue Skies" and "There's a Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder" (HMV B9792).

Barbra Streisand recorded the song under the title "If You Were the Only Boy in the World", with a Peter Matz arrangement, for her album My Name Is Barbra in 1965. Anton Szandor LaVey, founder of The Church of Satan, performed the song on his 1990 album Satan Takes a Holiday.

Film and television performances

The song was performed in the following films and shows:

• In the 1929 film The Vagabond Lover by Actor-singer Rudy Vallee, with the beat changed from a foxtrot to a waltz.
• At the entertainment evening in the 1957 film The Bridge on the River Kwai set during World War II.
• In the 1999 episode "Pardon My Past" of the American television show Charmed.
• In Series 2, Episode 4 of the British period drama television series Downton Abbey (set in 1918) – sung (as a waltz) for wounded British soldiers by Lady Mary.
• In the BBC Scotland soap opera River City (broadcast July 3, 2012) – played as a solo piano instrumental by the character Malcolm Hamilton.

External links

• "If You Were the Only Girl (in the World)" sung by Loraine and Robey, 1916 (mp3)

Category:1916 songs Category:Doris Day songs Category:Vocal duets Category:Barbra Streisand songs Category:Songs with music by Nat Ayer