"I Surrender Dear" (sometimes written as "I Surrender, Dear") is a song composed byHarry Barris with lyrics byGordon Clifford, first performed byGus Arnheim and His Cocoanut Grove Orchestra withBing Crosby in 1931, which became his first solo hit.[4] This is the song that caught the attention of William Paley, president of CBS, who signed him for $600 a week in the fall of 1931.[5]
In 1931, it was performed bySam Lanin,[6] as well asBen Selvin, under the pseudonym "Mickie Alpert".[7] It has been covered by many artists, making it ajazz andpop standard. The first jazz vocalist to record the song wasLouis Armstrong in 1931.[4]
"I Surrender Dear" inspired two motion pictures bearing that title: a 1931 Bing Crosby musical shortI Surrender Dear[8] produced byMack Sennett, and a 1948 feature film[9] starring one of Crosby's co-stars, singerGloria Jean. An instrumental 1930s-esque Jazz cover of this song was recorded for the 1996 movieKansas City as part of the soundtrack. This song was also the comical introduction to the pre-code film,The Tip Off 1931, in which actor Eddie Quillan is a window singer at a radio repair shop. He mouths the song while it is being played over a new "Human Voice Amplifier".
The song is referenced in the 1949 war filmBattleground, which depicts the hardships of American troops attempting to hold the town ofBastogne in late December 1944, during theBattle of the Bulge. German radio is heard broadcasting the song to the entrenched American troops to demoralize them. This psychological warfare is shown to have the opposite effect on the GIs, who hum along (to the old chestnut), but prefer to hear real American radio.
