You Belong to Me (1952 song)

"You Belong to Me" is a romantic pop music ballad from the 1950s. The singer reminds his or her beloved love interest, soulmate, or sweetheart that whatever exotic locales and sights he/she experiences, "you belong to me" no matter what happens.

Conception and composition
"You Belong to Me" is credited to three writers: Pee Wee King, Chilton Price and Redd Stewart.

Price, a songwriting librarian at WAVE Radio Louisville, had written the song in its virtual entirety as "Hurry Home to Me" envisioning the song as an American woman's plea to a sweetheart serving overseas in World War II. Afforded songwriting credit on the song mostly in exchange for their work in promoting it, King and Stewart did slightly adjust Price's composition musically and lyrically, shifting the focus from a wartime background "into a kind of universal song about separated lovers" and changing the title to "You Belong to Me." Price had previously had success with another hit which she had written, "Slow Poke," under a similar arrangement with the two men.

History
The first 1952 recording of the song was by Joni James. She had seen the sheet music in the Woods Building in Chicago and the lyrics attracted her. She recorded the song in February, 1952, in Chicago and it was released in March on the local Sharp Records label as her second single on August 5, 1952, after Jo Stafford, Patti Page and Dean Martin had covered it. James' version also was issued on M-G-M Records for national distribution. The best-known early 1952 version of the song was recorded after James' recording by Sue Thompson on Mercury's country label as catalog number 6407. It was soon covered by Patti Page, whose version was issued by Mercury as catalog number 5899, with "I Went to Your Wedding" (a bigger Patti Page hit, reaching No 1) on the flip side. It entered the Billboard chart on August 22, 1952, and lasted 12 weeks on the chart, peaking at No. 4.

A cover version by Jo Stafford became the most popular version. Issued by Columbia Records as catalog number 39811, it was Stafford's biggest hit, topping the charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom (the first song by a female singer to top the UK Singles Chart). It first entered the US chart on August 1, 1952 and remained there for 24 weeks. In the UK, it appeared in the first ever UK chart of 14 November 1952 (then a top 12) and reached number 1 on 16 January 1953, being only the second record to top such chart, remaining in the chart for a total of 19 weeks. Another cover version, by Dean Martin, released by Capitol Records as catalog number 2165, was also in play at that time. This version first entered the chart on August 29, 1952, and remained on the chart for 10 weeks, reaching No. 12. All the versions were combined in the rankings on the Cash Box charts, and the song reached No. 1 on those charts as well, lasting on the chart for more than half a year.

In 1958, the song crossed over into rock for the first time on the Capitol album Gene Vincent Rocks and the Blue Caps Roll. A later version of the song, by the Duprees, also made the Billboard Top 10, reaching No. 7 in 1962. It was recorded by many other pop vocalists, including Patsy Cline and Bing Crosby. A solo acoustic version was recorded by Bob Dylan for the 1992 album Good as I Been to You but was eventually left off as an out-take; the recording surfaced two years later in the soundtrack for the 1994 film Natural Born Killers.

A loop of Jo Stafford's introduction was used by Caviar in "The Good Times Are Over" repeatedly throughout the song.

The song has also appeared on many soundtracks. Vonda Shepard's cover was used frequently on the TV series Ally McBeal alongside romantic scenes of Ally McBeal and Billy Thomas. A version by Jason Wade was part of the soundtrack to the 2001 animated film Shrek. Singer Tori Amos also recorded the classic for the Julia Roberts film Mona Lisa Smile in 2003. Actress Rose McGowan sang it on the soundtrack for the Planet Terror segment of the 2007 film Grindhouse. While onscreen, Bette Midler sings a fragment of the song (to Nick Nolte) in the 1986 comedy Down and Out in Beverly Hills.

On February 1, 2007, a short rendition of the song was sung by 64-year-old Sherman Pore as an audition piece for the television show American Idol, as a tribute to his wife who had died from cancer two days before.

Mary Higgins Clark referenced the song throughout her novel of the same name, which was published by Pocket Books on April 1, 1999.

In the British film The Deep Blue Sea (released 2011), directed by Terence Davies, the drinkers in a London pub perform the song which later modulates into Jo Stafford's version.

The song was also featured in the 2013 video game BioShock Infinite as part of its Burial at Sea story add-on. In the game the song is performed by the lead character Elizabeth and sung by her voice actress, Courtnee Draper; footage of Draper performing the song in the recording studio is shown during the game's end credits.

Annie Lennox recorded a slow, piano-driven version of the song for her 2014 release, Nostalgia.

Recorded versions

 * The Earls
 * Danny Aiello
 * Mose Allison
 * Tori Amos
 * Paul Anka
 * Fiona Apple
 * Gene Austin
 * Atlas Sound
 * Pat Boone
 * Bonnie Bramlett
 * Michael Bublé
 * The Alley Cats
 * Rick Astley
 * Carla Bruni
 * Ann Hampton Callaway
 * Benny Carter & his Orch.
 * Petula Clark
 * Patsy Cline
 * Rosemary Clooney
 * Alma Cogan
 * Amie Comeaux
 * Marshall Crenshaw
 * Bing Crosby
 * Mike Curb
 * Deer Tick
 * The Duprees
 * Bob Dylan
 * Firebirds
 * Ella Fitzgerald
 * Flat Duo Jets
 * Tennessee Ernie Ford
 * Connie Francis
 * Stephen Fretwell
 * Judy Garland
 * Crystal Gayle
 * Boris Grebenshchikov
 * Dan Hicks
 * Homer and Jethro
 * Joni James
 * Eilen Jewell
 * Pee Wee King
 * The Lennon Sisters
 * Peggy Lee
 * Annie Lennox
 * Jerry Lee Lewis
 * Dean Martin
 * Freddy Martin and His Orchestra Vocal
 * Johnny Mathis
 * Gene McDaniels
 * Maureen McGovern
 * Rose McGowan
 * Misfits
 * Jane Morgan
 * Anne Murray
 * OC Times
 * One AM Radio
 * The Orioles
 * Patti Page
 * Jim Reeves
 * Kate Rusby
 * Santo & Johnny
 * Vonda Shepard
 * Hank Snow
 * Jo Stafford
 * Ringo Starr
 * Rod Stewart (from the Japanese version of Stardust: The Great American Songbook, Volume III 2004)
 * Ben Taylor
 * Sue Thompson
 * Tommy Tune
 * Gene Vincent
 * Jason Wade
 * Wintergreen
 * Steve Tran
 * Courtnee Draper