I Love You Truly
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"I Love You Truly" is a parlor song written by Carrie Jacobs-Bond. Since its publication in 1901 it has been sung at weddings, recorded by numerous artists over many decades, and heard on film and television.
History
Carrie Jacobs-Bond began to write songs in 1894 to supplement the income of her husband, Frank Bond.[1] When he died in 1895, she returned briefly to her hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin, where "I Love You Truly" was written.[2] She then moved to Chicago where she painted china and rented out rooms to make ends meet.[1] There she continued to write songs and eventually sought to publish them herself. With the encouragement and assistance of friends, including a loan from contralto Jessie Bartlett Davis, in 1901 she published a sheet music collection of her compositions called Seven Songs as Unpretentious as the Wild Rose, one of which was "I Love You Truly".[1] She published it again as a separate song in 1906, at the same time correcting an oversight and filing for copyright. It sold over a million copies,[3] one of the earliest songs composed by a woman to achieve that distinction.[lower-alpha 1]
"I Love You Truly" was categorized as a "high-class ballad",[5] a genre of the period applied to serious ballads that were suitable for cultured venues as opposed to vaudeville.[6] It became a standard at wedding ceremonies.[3] It also became a mainstay of barbershop harmony arrangers and singers.[7]
Jacobs-Bond was invited to sing at the White House by three different presidents, and each time sang "I Love You Truly".[3]
Recordings
The song was a hit record for Elsie Baker in 1912 (Victor B-12069).[8] It has been recorded by numerous artists,[9] including Sophie Braslau (1916), Dusolina Giannini (1926), Al Bowlly (1934), Bing Crosby (1934), Erskine Hawkins (1942), Helen Traubel (1946), Jeanette MacDonald (1947), a 1951 duet by Jo Stafford and Nelson Eddy, and Pat Boone in a 1962 duet with his wife Shirley.
Other media
As early as 1929 the song was heard in the comedy movie Wise Girls[10] and has since been heard in numerous movies. The song was also sung by Bert (Ward Bond) and Ernie (Frank Faylen) as they serenaded George (James Stewart) and Mary Bailey (Donna Reed) on their wedding night in It's a Wonderful Life.[11]
It has also been heard on television, often for comic effect. It was sung by Elizabeth Patterson (pre-Mrs. Trumbull character) in the I Love Lucy episode "Marriage License" (1952), and by Jean Stapleton (as Edith Bunker) in All in the Family.[12] Betsy Randle (as Amy Matthews) sang it in the Boy Meets World episode "It's About Time".
Lyrics
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I love you truly, truly dear,
Life with its sorrow, life with its tear
Fades into dreams when I feel you are near
For I love you truly, truly dear.
Ah! Love, 'tis something to feel your kind hand
Ah! Yes, 'tis something by your side to stand;
Gone is the sorrow, gone doubt and fear,
For you love me truly, truly dear.
Note
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- Sheet music for I Love You Truly (Transcribed, in 3 keys, with MIDI files)
- I Love You Truly Scans of original sheet music from Wisconsin Sheet Music Database
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