Jerome Kern’s “The Way You Look Tonight”

“The Way You Look Tonight” – written Jerome Kern with lyrics from Dorothy Fields – was originally performed by Fred Astaire in the 1936 film Swing Time. 

Astaire as John “Lucky” Garnett sung the composition to Ginger Rogers as Penelope “Penny” Carroll as she washed her hair feeling far from attractive.

Fields later said, “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.”

The tune won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1936 and in 2004, Astaire’s version ranked #43 in AFI’s 100 Years…100 Songs survey of top songs in American cinema.

This jazz standard has been covered by numerous musicians, including a duet between Bing Crosby and his then-wife Dixie Lee as well as Billie Holiday, The Jaguars, Ella Fitsgerald and Frank Sinatra.

Tune in to First Take with Chavis and Lando — weekdays from 6-9 am MST – for Stories of Standards to hear our favorite versions of this song all week long!

Photo credit: movies.film-cine.com