"People Will Say We're In Love" is a show tune from the Rodgers and Hammerstein

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 Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwo ...

, '' Oklahoma!'' (1943). In the original Broadway production, the song was introduced by Alfred Drake and

Joan Roberts Joan Roberts (July 15, 1917 – August 13, 2012) was an American actress, most famous for creating the role of Laurey in the original Broadway production of ''Oklahoma!'' in 1943. Early years Roberts was born Josephine Rose Seagrist in Man ...

Plot context

The other characters think, correctly, that Laurey (

) and Curly ( Alfred Drake) are in love. In this song they warn each other not to behave indiscreetly, lest people misinterpret their intentions. Neither wants to admit to the other his or her true feelings. Towards the end of the musical the characters reprise the number after becoming engaged, saying "Let people say we're in love."

Covers

This song has been covered by many people, including instrumental versions. Three versions made the Top 40 charts:

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 ...

& Trudy Erwin (#2),

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...

(#3), and The Ink Spots (#11). The list of covers includes: * 101 Strings Orchestra *The

Cannonball Adderley Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (September 15, 1928August 8, 1975) was an American jazz alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s. Adderley is perhaps best remembered for the 1966 soul jazz single " Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", w ...

Quintet * Thomas Allen &

Valerie Masterson Margaret Valerie Masterson (born 3 June 1937), is a retired English opera singer, a lecturer and Vice-President of British Youth Opera. After study in Italy, she began to sing opera in Europe. Returning to England, Masterson performed as prin ...

* Eric Alexander *

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

Gerry Mulligan Gerald Joseph Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996), also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing the instrum ...

* Chris Bennett * Emmett Berry * Les Brown and His Band of Renown * Kenny Burrell *

Donald Byrd Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few hard bop ...

& Doug Watkins *

Carmen Cavallaro Carmen Cavallaro (May 6, 1913 – October 12, 1989) was an American pianist. He established himself as one of the most accomplished and admired light music pianists of his generation. Music career Carmen Cavallaro was born in New York City, Un ...

* Eugene Chadbourne *

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

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" ...

* Nat King Cole * George Coleman * Dorothy Collins *

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 signin ...

Ray Conniff Joseph Raymond Conniff (November 6, 1916 – October 12, 2002) was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s. Biography Conniff was born November 6, 1916 in Attleboro, Massachusetts, United St ...

& Trudy Erwin - recorded August 23, 1943. *

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 ...

* Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis * Sammy Davis Jr. & Carmen McRae *

Trudy Desmond Trudy Desmond (October 11, 1945 – 19 February 1999) was a Canadian jazz singer. Career After moving from New York to Toronto, she worked as an actress, interior designer, club manager, and theatrical producer. She was one of the 16 original me ...

* Lou Donaldson *

Herb Ellis Mitchell Herbert Ellis (August 4, 1921 – March 28, 2010), known professionally as Herb Ellis, was an American jazz guitarist. During the 1950s, he was in a trio with pianist Oscar Peterson. Biography Born in Farmersville, Texas, and raised ...

& Jimmy Giuffre *

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

* Helen Forrest * Sergio Franchi - ''The Songs of Richard Rodgers'' (1965) *

Erroll Garner Erroll Louis Garner (June 15, 1921 – January 2, 1977) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His instrumental ballad " Misty", his best-known composition, has become a jazz standard. It was first re ...

* Tom Grant * Bennie Green *

Dick Haymes Richard Benjamin Haymes (September 13, 1918 – March 28, 1980) was an Argentinian singer and actor. He was one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, an actor, television host, ...

Ted Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...

Fred Hersch Fred Hersch (born October 21, 1955) is an American jazz pianist, educator and HIV/AIDS activist. He was the first person to play weeklong engagements as a solo pianist at the Village Vanguard in New York City. He has recorded more than 70 of his ...

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years, appearing in film, television, and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of th ...

Lennie Hayton Leonard George Hayton (February 14, 1908 – April 24, 1971) was an American musician, composer, conductor and arranger. Hayton's trademark was a captain's hat, which he always wore at a rakish angle. Early life Hayton was born in New Yo ...

* Leslie Hutchinson * The Ink Spots * Joni James *

Jack Jones Jack Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *Jack Jones (American singer) (born 1938), American jazz and pop singer *Jack Jones, stage name of Australian singer Irwin Thomas (born 1971) *Jack Jones (Welsh musician) (born 1992), Welsh mu ...

* Spike Jones and his City Slickers * Roger Kellaway *

Stacey Kent Stacey Kent (born March 27, 1965) is an American jazz singer from South Orange, New Jersey. Kent was nominated for a Grammy Award and was awarded the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) by the French Mini ...

- '' The Boy Next Door'' (2008) *

Lee Konitz Leon Konitz (October 13, 1927 – April 15, 2020) was an American composer and alto saxophonist. He performed successfully in a wide range of jazz styles, including bebop, cool jazz, and avant-garde jazz. Konitz's association with the cool j ...

* James Last *

Peggy Lee Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress, over a career spanning seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalis ...

Marcia Lewis Marcia Lewis (August 18, 1938 – December 21, 2010) was an American character actress and singer. She was nominated twice for the Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Musical (''Chicago'' and '' Grease'') and twice for the Drama Desk Award ...

*Monica Lewis * Joe Loss Orchestra. Recorded in London on August 19, 1947. Released by EMI on the His Master's Voice label as catalogue number BD 5974 *

Gordon Macrae Albert Gordon MacRae (March 12, 1921 – January 24, 1986) was an American actor, singer and radio/television host who appeared in the film versions of two Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals '' Oklahoma!'' (1955) and ''Carousel'' (1956) and who p ...

and Shirley Jones (film version) * Helen Merrill *

Glenn Miller Alton Glen Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band founder, owner, conductor, composer, arranger, trombone player and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the US Army Air Forc ...

& The Army Air Force Band * Sophie Milman - '' Make Someone Happy'' (2007) * Marion Montgomery *

* Nigel Ogden *

Johnny Otis Johnny Otis (born Ioannis Alexandres Veliotes; December 28, 1921 – January 17, 2012) was an American singer, musician, composer, bandleader, record producer, and talent scout. He was a seminal influence on American R&B and rock and roll. He ...

* Robert Palmer * Ken Peplowski * The Platters * Paul Quinichette * Rita Reys *

Nelson Riddle Nelson Smock Riddle Jr. (June 1, 1921 – October 6, 1985) was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. He worked with many world-famous vocalists at Capitol Recor ...

Spike Robinson Henry Bertholf "Spike" Robinson (January 16, 1930 – October 29, 2001) was a jazz tenor saxophonist. He began playing at age twelve, recording on several labels, including Discovery, Hep and Concord. However, he sought an engineering degree and ...

Mathilde Santing Mathilde Santing (born Mathilde Eleveld, 24 October 1958) is a Dutch singer. Santing was born in Amstelveen, Netherlands. She started receiving national attention in 1981 after she appeared in a Dutch television program called ''Sonja Op Maandag ...

& Rita Reys *

- ''The Best Of The Columbia Years 1943 - 1952'' *

Johnny Smith Johnny Henry Smith II (June 25, 1922 – June 11, 2013) was an American cool jazz and mainstream jazz guitarist. He wrote "Walk, Don't Run" in 1954. In 1984, Smith was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. Early life During the Great D ...

Kate Smith Kathryn Elizabeth Smith (May 1, 1907 – June 17, 1986) was an American contralto. Referred to as The First Lady of Radio, Smith is well known for her renditions of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" & "When The Moon Comes Over The Mountain". ...

* David Soul & Claire Moore * The Spaniels *

Sonny Stitt Edward Hammond Boatner Jr. (February 2, 1924 – July 22, 1982), known professionally as Sonny Stitt, was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/ hard bop idiom. Known for his warm tone, he was one of the best-documented saxophonists of h ...

Hank Jones Henry Jones Jr. (July 31, 1918 – May 16, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. Critics and musicians described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable. In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts honored ...

* Dick Sudhalter *

Tierney Sutton Tierney Sutton (born June 28, 1963) is an American jazz singer. Career Sutton was born in Omaha, Nebraska, but grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She received a bachelor's degree from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, and attended t ...

The Treniers The Treniers (pronounced /trəˈniərz/) were an American R&B and jump blues musical group led by identical twins Cliff and Claude Trenier. They were originally billed as the Trenier Twins, who performed alongside the Gene Gilbeaux Quartet, ...

* Lawrence Welk *

Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...

* Mary Lou Williams * Nancy Wilson * Norma Winstone

Adaptation

In 1959 the British composer Peter Dickinson used part of the music in his ''Monologue for String Orchestra'', principally the melodic line under the lyric "People will say we're in...".

References

1943 songs Songs with music by Richard Rodgers Songs with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II Nancy Wilson (jazz singer) songs Frank Sinatra songs Andy Williams songs Songs from Oklahoma! Shirley Jones songs {{Show-tune-stub