"Pick Yourself Up"
Song by Fred Astaire
B-side"The Way You Look Tonight"
Published1936 by Chappell & Co.
ReleasedAugust 1936
RecordedJuly 26, 1936[1]
StudioLos Angeles, California
GenreJazz, Pop Vocal
LabelBrunswick 7717[2]
Composer(s)Jerome Kern
Lyricist(s)Dorothy Fields
Fred Astaire singles chronology
"A Fine Romance"
(1936) 		"Pick Yourself Up"
(1936) 		"Never Gonna Dance"
(1936)

"Pick Yourself Up" is a popular song composed in 1936 by Jerome Kern, with lyrics by Dorothy Fields. It has a verse and chorus, as well as a third section, though the third section is often omitted in recordings. Like most popular songs of the era it features a 32 bar chorus, though with an extended coda.

Background

The song was written for the film Swing Time (1936), where it was introduced by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Rogers plays a dance instructor whom Astaire follows into her studio; he pretends to have "two left feet" in order to get her to dance with him. Astaire sings the verse to her and she responds with the chorus. After an interlude, they dance to the tune. (Author John Mueller has written their dance "is one of the very greatest of Astaire's playful duets: boundlessly joyous, endlessly re-seeable.")[3] In 1936, Astaire recorded the song on his own for the Brunswick label.

The song has been covered many times, including by:

Popular culture

References

  1. ^ "Cover versions of Pick Yourself Up by Fred Astaire with Johnny Green and His Orchestra | SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
  2. ^ Fred Astaire With Johnny Green And His Orchestra – The Way You Look Tonight / Pick Yourself Up (1936, Shellac), retrieved 2021-08-04
  3. ^ Mueller, John (1986). Astaire Dancing - The Musical Films. London: Hamish Hamilton. ISBN 0-241-11749-6.
  4. ^ Cordova, R. (2017, Nov 05). For sentimental reasons // gregory porter pays touching tribute to nat 'king' cole. Arizona Republic ProQuest 1960001909
  5. ^ Obama calls for American renewal, Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor, in "Political Intelligence" column, January 20, 2009, Boston Globe
  6. ^ "No Time for Poetry" by Frank Rich, The New York Times 1-25-09 p. WK10 of NY edition. Retrieved 1-25-09.
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