They Can't Take That Away from Me

By George & Ira Gershwin
1937

For my 100th post here at SOTD, I'm spotlighting one of the most famous, and rightly beloved standards of all time. It's a song for which George Gershwin was posthumously nominated for the Academy Award. He and his brother had composed it for the Astaire-Rogers film Shall We Dance, but George passed away mere months after the movie's release. A poignant mixture of quiet sadness and confident joy, it perfectly expresses the feelings of two lovers parting--in a subtle and sublime manner that is rare to find, indeed.

Lyrics:

Our romance won't end on a sorrowful note,
Though by tomorrow, you're gone.
The song is ended, but as the songwriter wrote,
The melody lingers on.
They may take you from me--
I'll miss your fond caress,
But, though they take you from me,
I'll still possess...

The way you wear your hat,
The way you sip your tea,
The memory of all that--
No, no, they can't take that away from me.

The way your smile just beams,
The way you sing off-key,
The way you haunt my dreams--
No, no, they can't take that away from me.

We may never, never meet again
On the bumpy road to love,
Still, I'll always, always keep the memory of...

The way you hold your knife,
The way we dance till three,
The way you changed my life--
No, no, they can't take that away from me,
No--they can't take that away from me.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Ella Fitzgerald
Billie Holiday
Charlie Parker
Anita O'Day