I Wanna Be Loved By You

By Herbert Stothart, Harry Ruby and Bert Kalmar
1928

An iconic number for the original "Boop-Boop-a-Doop" girl Helen Kane, who first performed it in the Broadway musical Good Boy, this infectiously cute number was the product of the legendary Ruby/Kalmar team (pictured) that had written for the Marx Brothers, among many others. Kane's rendition propelled her to superstardom, and was copied many times since, including by Betty Boop, the cartoon character she inspired, and by Marilyn Monroe, who memorably performed it in Billy Wilder's classic comedy Some Like It Hot. A young Debbie Reynolds, portraying Helen Kane in the 1950 Ruby/Kalmar biopic Three Little Words, also took a crack at this late Roaring '20s anthem.

Lyrics:

I wanna be loved by you,
just you and nobody else but you
I wanna be loved by you
alone--Boop Boop a Doop!
I wanna be kissed by you
just you, nobody else but you
I wanna be loved by you
alone

I couldn't aspire
To anything higher
Then to fill a desire
to make you my own

I wanna be loved by you,
just you and nobody else but you
I wanna be loved by you
alone

I couldn't aspire
To anything higher
Then to fill a desire
to make you my own
tada tada ta tada

I wanna be loved by you
just you, nobody else but you
I wanna be loved by you
Alone
Boop Boop a Doop!

Recorded By:

Annette Hanshaw
Sinead O'Connor
Frank Sinatra
Barry Manilow
Tina Louise