Are You Lonesome Tonight?

By Lou Handman & Roy Turk
1926

It's a common misconception that Elvis Presley's famous 1960 recording was the introduction of this song, but it was actually a standard decades before the King took a crack at it. Handman and his sister Edith were the first to record the tune in 1927. Blue Barron had the first charted hit with it in 1950, and it's believed that it was Jaye P. Morgan's 1959 rendition, heard by Presley in the army, that inspired him to make the record. His spoken-word portion was taken from Al Jolson's 1950 version. The Presley record spent six weeks at the number-one spot.

Lyrics:

Are you lonesome tonight?
Do you miss me tonight?
Are you sorry we drifted apart?

Does your memory stray
To a bright summer day
When I kissed you and called you sweetheart?

Do the chairs in your parlor seem empty and bare?
Do you gaze at your doorstep, and picture me there?

Is your heart filled with pain?
Shall I come back again?
Tell me, dear,
Are you lonesome tonight?

Recorded By:

The Lettermen
Doris Day
Merle Haggard
Al Martino
Frank Sinatra