"If I Loved You" is a show tune from the

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

Carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...

''.

Background

In the show, the characters of Billy Bigelow and Julie Jordan sing this song as they hesitantly declare their love for one another, yet are too shy to express their true feelings. The song was in turn inspired by lines of dialogue from Ferenc Molnár's original '' Liliom'', the source material for the musical.

Carousel

The song was introduced by John Raitt as "Billy Bigelow" and Jan Clayton as "Julie" in the original Broadway production. The song was performed in the 1956 film version ''Carousel'' by Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones.

Other recordings

There were four hit versions of the song in 1945:

Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signing ...

(#3),

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

(#7),

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

(#8) and Harry James (#8). In 1954, Roy Hamilton's recording went to #4 on Billboard's, Best Sellers in Stores chart. Many artists have recorded the song over the years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:If I Loved You 1945 songs Songs with music by Richard Rodgers Songs with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II Shirley Jones songs Barbra Streisand songs Andy Williams songs Songs from Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals