"Young at Heart" is a

pop standard Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

with music by

Johnny Richards Johnny Richards (born Juan Manuel Cascales, November 2, 1911 – October 7, 1968) was an American jazz arranger and composer. He was a pivotal arranger for some of the more adventurous performances by Stan Kenton's big band in the 1950s and e ...

and lyrics by

Carolyn Leigh Carolyn Leigh (August 21, 1926 – November 19, 1983) was an American lyricist for Broadway, film, and popular songs. She is best known as the writer with partner Cy Coleman of the pop standards "Witchcraft" and "The Best Is Yet to Come". With ...

Development and first release

The song was written and published in 1953, with

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

contributing the lyrics to what was originally a

Richards Richards may refer to: *Richards (surname) In places: * Richards, New South Wales, Australia * Richards, Missouri, United States * Richards, Texas, United States In other uses: * Richards (lunar crater) Richards is a small lunar impact crate ...

instrumental called "Moonbeam".

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 ...

was the first performer to record the song, which became a million-selling hit in 1953 (and spilling over with popularity into 1954) where it reached the No. 2 spot in the ''Billboard'' chart. The song was such a hit that a movie Sinatra was filming at the same time with

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...

was renamed to match the song title, and the song was included in the opening and

closing credits Closing credits or end credits are a list of the Cast member, cast and Film crew, crew of a particular Film, motion picture, television program, or video game. Where opening credits appear at the beginning of a work, closing credits appear clos ...

of the movie.

Recordings

Although

was the first performer to record the song, many other performers who have recorded versions of "Young at Heart" include *

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 ...

(charting briefly in 1954 at the number 24 spot), *

Rosemary Clooney Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as " Botch-a-Me", " Mambo Italiano", ...

(on her album ''While We're Young''), *

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 ...

(on his 1960 album '' For the Young at Heart'') *

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (born December 12, 1937), known professionally as Connie Francis, is an American pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Called the “First Lady of Rock & Roll” ...

(1961) *

Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, vaudevillian, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced song ...

(1963) *

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birth ...

Shawn Colvin Shawn Colvin (born Shawna Lee Colvin, January 10, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. While Colvin has been a solo recording artist for decades, she is best known for her 1998 Grammy Award-winning song "Sunny Came Home". Early ...

Val Doonican Michael Valentine Doonican (3 February 1927 – 1 July 2015) was an Irish singer of traditional pop, easy listening, and novelty songs, who was noted for his warm and relaxed style. A crooner, he found popular success, especially in the Un ...

Bobby Vinton Stanley Robert "Bobby" Vinton (born April 16, 1935) is a American former singer and occasional actor, who also hosted his own self-titled TV show in the late 1970s. As a teen idol, he became known as "The Polish Prince", as his music paid trib ...

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

Barry Manilow Barry Manilow (born Barry Alan Pincus; June 17, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter with a career that spans seven decades. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", " Somewhere Down the Road", " Mandy", "I Write the Songs", " Can ...

(on his album ''

The Greatest Songs of the Fifties ''The Greatest Songs of the Fifties'' is an album by American singer Barry Manilow, released in the United States on January 31, 2006. A significant album for Manilow, it finds the Brooklyn-born crooner taking on songs that were popular in his yo ...

'') *

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

Gloria Estefan Gloria Estefan (; born Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García; born 1 September 1957) is a Cuban-American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is a seven-time Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has been ...

Landon Pigg Landon Pigg (born August 6, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Early life, education and childhood career Pigg was born in Nashville, Tennessee. When he was a child, his family moved to Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago ...

Mark Vincent Mark Vincent (born 4 September 1993) is an Australian tenor. Vincent won the third season of ''Australia's Got Talent'' in 2009 and signed with Sony Music Australia immediately after. As of 2018, Vincent has released seven studio albums and one ...

and

Vonda Shepard Vonda Shepard (born July 7, 1963) is an American singer, songwriter, music director and actress. She appeared as a regular in the television show '' Ally McBeal'', as a resident performer in the bar where the show's characters drank, danced and c ...

James Darren James William Ercolani (born June 8, 1936) known by his stage name James Darren, is an American television and film actor, television director, and singer. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had notable starring and supporting roles in fi ...

Monty Alexander Montgomery Bernard "Monty" Alexander (born 6 June 1944) is a Jamaican jazz pianist. His playing has a Caribbean influence and bright swinging feeling, with a strong vocabulary of bebop jazz and blues rooted melodies. He was influenced by Louis ...

Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer. A four-time Grammy Award winner, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American Songboo ...

(on his album ''

To Be Loved ''To Be Loved'' is the eighth studio album by Canadian singer, Michael Bublé. The album was released on April 15, 2013, by 143 Records and Reprise Records. The album was preceded by the release of the lead single, " It's a Beautiful Day", rel ...

'') *

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

(on his 2018 album ''My Way'') *

Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor shirt and cap with a bow tie. Donald is known fo ...

(

Tony Anselmo Tony Anselmo (born February 18, 1960) is an American voice actor and animator. He has been the official character voice of Donald Duck since 1985 following the death of the original voice actor, Clarence Nash. He has also provided voices for Do ...

) On the 1988 TV Special, ''Magic in the Magic Kingdom'',

George Burns George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum; January 20, 1896March 9, 1996) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer, and one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film and television. His arched eyebr ...

sang "Young at Heart" during a musical break. In 2016, at age 90,

Dick Van Dyke Richard Wayne Van Dyke (born December 13, 1925) is an American actor, entertainer and comedian. His award-winning career has spanned seven decades in film, television, and stage. Van Dyke began his career as an entertainer on radio and telev ...

recorded a duet with his wife, Arlene, at Capitol Records Studio in Los Angeles, filmed for the HBO special on aging ''

If You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast ''If You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast'' is a 2017 American documentary film directed by Danny Gold that premiered on May 19, 2017 on HBO. Premise ''If You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast'' follows Carl Reiner as he poses the question, "'W ...

'', starring Carl Reiner and featuring Mel Brooks, Norman Lear, Stan Lee, Betty White and others over 90 years old. Van Dyke was recorded using Frank Sinatra's microphone.

Wild Man Fischer Lawrence Wayne "Wild Man" Fischer (November 6, 1944 – June 16, 2011) was an American street performer known for offering erratic, a cappella performances of "new kinds of songs" for a dime on the beaches and the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. ...

recorded an eccentric version that was included on ''

The Rhino Brothers Present the World's Worst Records ''The Rhino Brothers Present the World's Worst Records'' is a compilation album released by Rhino Records in 1983. It purports to compile the worst music ever recorded and features mostly novelty songs, parodies and cover versions of popular son ...

''. The song has also been used on the soundtracks of other films, including * ''

The Front ''The Front'' is a 1976 drama film set against the Hollywood blacklist in the 1950s, when artists, writers, directors, and others were rendered unemployable, having been accused of subversive political activities in support of Communism or of b ...

'' (1976), * '' Sweet Dreams'' (1985), * ''

City Slickers ''City Slickers'' is a 1991 American comedy film, directed by Ron Underwood and starring Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern, Bruno Kirby, and Jack Palance, with supporting roles by Patricia Wettig, Helen Slater, and Noble Willingham with Jake Gyllen ...

'' (1991) (Jimmy Durante version), * '' It Could Happen to You'' (1994), * ''

Space Cowboys ''Space Cowboys'' is a 2000 American adventure drama film directed and produced by Clint Eastwood. It stars Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, and James Garner as four older "ex-test pilots" who are sent into space to repair an old So ...

'' (2000) (in a rendition by

) * ''

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

'' featurette from

Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was first develop ...

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith has re ...

incorporated verses from "Young at Heart" during concert performances of "

Why Can't I Be You? "Why Can't I Be You?" is a song by the English rock band The Cure, released as the lead single from their 1987 album '' Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me''. History "Why Can't I Be You?" was the first single released from the album ''Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kis ...

" (widely available on bootlegs).

References

{{Authority control 1953 singles Frank Sinatra songs Perry Como songs Tony Bennett songs Bing Crosby songs Rosemary Clooney songs Connie Francis songs Tom Waits songs Songs with lyrics by Carolyn Leigh 1953 songs Songs about old age Pop standards Jazz standards