"I Thought About You" is a 1939 popular song composed by Jimmy Van Heusen with lyrics by Johnny Mercer.

Background

It was one of three collaborations Van Heusen and Mercer wrote for the Mercer-Morris publishing company started by Mercer and former Warner Bros. publisher Buddy Morris.[1] The other two were called "Blue Rain" and "Make with the Kisses". "I Thought About You" was by far the most popular of the songs.

The lyrics were inspired by Mercer's train trip to Chicago.[2] The first line is literally: "I took a trip on a train." Mercer said about the song:

"I can remember the afternoon that we wrote it. He [Van Heusen] played me the melody. I didn't have any idea, but I had to go to Chicago that night. I think I was on the Benny Goodman program. And I got to thinking about it on the train. I was awake, I couldn't sleep. The tune was running through my mind, and that's when I wrote the song. On the train, really going to Chicago."[1]

Mercer wrote other songs about trains, including "Blues in the Night" (1940) and "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe" (1946).[3]

Recordings

References

  1. ^ a b Lees, Gene (2006). Portrait of Johnny: The Life of John Herndon Mercer. Hal Leonard. pp. 112–113. ISBN 0-634-09929-9.
  2. ^ "Music USA #7881-A, Interview with Johnny Mercer". 28 July 1976.
  3. ^ Furia, Philip; Lasser, Michael L. (2006). America's songs: The Stories Behind the Songs of Broadway, Hollywood, and Tin Pan Alley. CRC Press. p. 159. ISBN 0-415-97246-9.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Gioia, Ted (2012). The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire. New York City: Oxford University Press. p. 158. ISBN 978-0-19-993739-4.
  5. ^ Yanow, Scott. "And I Thought About You". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  6. ^ Yanow, Scott. "I Thought About You". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  7. ^ Yanow, Scott. "The Great American Songbook, Vol. 1". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  8. ^ "I Thought About You" at jazzstandards.com - retrieved on 24 May 2009

See also

Categories