"You Belong to My Heart" is the name of an English-language version of the Mexican

Bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It h ...

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

"Solamente una vez" ("Only Once" in English). This song was composed by Mexican songwriter

Agustín Lara Ángel Agustín María Carlos Fausto Mariano Alfonso del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Lara y Aguirre del Pino (; ; October 30, 1897 – November 6, 1970), known as Agustín Lara, was a Mexican composer and performer of songs and boleros. He is rec ...

and originally performed by singer Ana María González and tenor

José Mojica Fray José de Guadalupe Mojica (14 September 1895 – 20 September 1974) was a Mexican Franciscan friar and former tenor and film actor. He was known in the music and film fields as José Mojica. (Spanish) Mojica joined the world of the Ameri ...

in the 1941 film ''Melodías de América''. After that, the original Spanish-language version was very popular in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

as well as being recorded by many of the greatest Bolero interpreters such as

Los Panchos Originally, Trio Los Panchos were a '' trío romántico'' formed in New York City in 1944 by Alfredo Gil, Chucho Navarro, and the Puerto Rican Hernando Avilés. The trio became one of the leading exporters of the bolero and the romantic balla ...

in 1951.

Covers of ''Solamente una vez''

"Solamente una vez" has been performed by many artists including

Anacani "Anacani" María Consuelo Castillo-López y Cantor-Montoya (born April 10, 1954) is a Mexican singer best known as a featured performer on ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' television program. Early life She was born in Sinaloa, Mexico, as the sixth o ...

Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to prominence in the mid-1970s, with the release of her debut ...

Sara Montiel María Antonia Abad Fernández Medal of Merit in Labour, MML (10 March 1928 – 8 April 2013), known professionally as Sara Montiel, also Sarita Montiel, was a Spanish actress and singer. She began her career in the 1940s and became the most int ...

, Daniel Rodríguez, Quartetto Gelato,

Arielle Dombasle Arielle Dombasle (born April 27, 1953)Dombasle's year of birth has been a subject of much debate, and various sources have given dates ranging from 1953 to 1958. is an American-born French singer, actress, director and model. Her breakthrough ro ...

Benny Moré Bartolomé Maximiliano Moré Gutiérrez (24 August 1919 – 19 February 1963), better known as Benny Moré (also spelled Beny Moré), was a Cuban singer, bandleader and songwriter. Due to his fluid tenor voice and his great expressivity, he was ...

Ignacio Piñeiro Ignacio Piñeiro Martínez (May 21, 1888 – March 12, 1969) was a Cuban musician, bandleader and composer whose career started in rumba and flowered in the rise of the son. He was one of the most important composers of son music; in total h ...

Pedro Vargas Pedro Vargas Mata (29 April 1906 – 30 October 1989) was a Mexican tenor and actor, from the golden age of Mexican cinema, participating in more than 70 films. He was known as the "Nightingale of the Americas", "Song Samurai" or "Continental ...

Julio Iglesias Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva (; born 23 September 1943) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. Iglesias is recognized as the most commercially successful Spanish singer in the world and one of the top List of best-selling music artists, reco ...

Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), often known as Roberto Carlos and sometimes ''RC3'', is a Brazilian former professional association football, footballer. He has been described as the "most offensive-minded left-back in the ...

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor. He rose to fame in 1994 after winning the newcomers' section of the 44th Sanremo Music Festival performing " Il mare calmo della sera". Since 1994, Bocelli has recorded 15 solo st ...

Chucho Valdés Dionisio Jesús Valdés Rodríguez, better known as Chucho (born October 9, 1941), is a Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger whose career spans over 50 years. An original member of the Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna, in 1973 he ...

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, alternatively billed as Nat "King" Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and Traditional pop, pop ...

Marty Robbins Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American country and western singer and songwriter. He was one of the most popular and successful singers of his genre for most o ...

Lucho Gatica Luis Enrique Gatica Silva (11 August 1928 – 13 November 2018),
''The New York Times''. Retriev ...

Guadalupe Pineda Guadalupe Pineda Aguilar (born February 23, 1955) is a Mexican singer considered one of Mexico's grassroots musical icons. She is a recipient of the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a multi-Latin Grammy nominee, she has released more t ...

, Roland Shaw & His Orchestra,

Luis Miguel Luis Miguel Gallego Basteri (; born 19 April 1970) is a Mexican singer and record producer. Born in Puerto Rico to an Italian mother and a Spanish father, he is often referred to as Honorific nicknames in popular music, ''El Sol de Mexico'' ...

, and

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...

and the

Shadows A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross-section of a shadow is a two-dimensiona ...

''The Three Caballeros''

"Solamente una vez", retitled "You Belong to My Heart", was featured in the

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

film ''

The Three Caballeros ''The Three Caballeros'' is a 1944 American live-action and animated musical propaganda anthology film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film premiered in Mexico City on December 21, 1944. It was released in the ...

'' with English lyrics written by

Ray Gilbert Ray Gilbert (September 5, 1912 – March 3, 1976) was an American lyricist. He grew up in Hartford, Connecticut. He married Janis Paige in 1962. Career Gilbert is best remembered for the lyrics to the Oscar-winning song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" from ...

and sung by

Dora Luz Dora Luz (27 May 1918 – 12 July 2018) was a Mexican singer and recording artist. She is known for her performance in Walt Disney's ''The Three Caballeros'' (1944), in which she sings Agustín Lara's "You Belong to My Heart" to Donald Duck. She a ...

. Gilbert's lyrics bear no similarity to Lara's original Spanish language lyrics. This song is on the orange disc of '' Classic Disney: 60 Years of Musical Magic''.

Covers of ''You Belong to My Heart''

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

and the

Xavier Cugat Xavier Cugat (; ; 1 January 1900 – 27 October 1990) was an American musician and bandleader who was a leading figure in the spread of Latin music. Originally from Girona, Spain, he spent his formative years in Havana, Cuba, before arriving i ...

orchestra recorded a version of the song on February 11, 1945 for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

as catalog number 23413. It first reached the ''Billboard'' magazine Best Seller chart on May 24, 1945, and lasted 9 weeks on the chart, peaking at #4. The

Charlie Spivak Charlie Spivak (c. February 17, 1904 – March 1, 1982) was an American trumpeter and bandleader, best known for his big band in the 1940s. Early life According to his immigration record, Sender Spivakovsky was born around 1904 in the village ...

orchestra released a version by

RCA Victor Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

as catalog number 20-1663. It first reached the ''Billboard'' magazine Best Seller chart on May 17, 1945 and lasted 2 weeks on the chart, peaking at #9. In 1949

Alfredo Antonini Alfredo Antonini (May 31, 1901 – November 3, 1983) was a leading Italian-American symphony conductor and composer who was active on the international concert stage as well as on the CBS radio and television networks from the 1930s through the e ...

and his orchestra collaborated with Victoria Cordova (vocalist) and

John Serry Sr. John Serry Sr. (born John Serrapica; January 29, 1915 – September 14, 2003) was an American concert accordionist, arranger, composer, organist, and educator. He performed on the CBS Radio and Television networks and contributed to Voice ...

to record the song for

Muzak Muzak is an American brand of background music played in retail stores and other public establishments owned by Mood Media. The name ''Muzak'', a blend of music and the popular camera brand name Kodak, has been in use since 1934 and has been ...

.Victoria Cordova & Alfredo Antonini Orchestra performing "You Belong to My Heart" for Muzak at The Library of Congress Online Catalog at catalog.loc.gov
/ref> In 1955, jazz pianist

Jack Pleis Jack K. Pleis (May 11, 1917 – December 5, 1990) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, conductor, composer and producer. He recorded on London and Decca Records in the 1950s, and Columbia Records in the 1960s. During the course of his career, ...

recorded it for his album, ''Music from Disneyland''.

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

, as part of the

Million Dollar Quartet "Million Dollar Quartet" is a recording of an impromptu jam session involving Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash made on December 4, 1956 at the Sun Studio, Sun Record Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. An article about th ...

, performed a shortened version of the song, mixing Agustín Lara's original Spanish lyrics and Ray Gilbert's English lyrics. Singers Andy Russell,

Jerry Vale Jerry Vale (born Gennaro Louis Vitaliano; July 8, 1930 – May 18, 2014) was an American traditional pop singer. During the 1950s and 1960s, he reached the top of the pop charts with his interpretations of romantic ballads, including a cover of E ...

, Engelbert Humperdinck and

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American actor, musician, singer, composer, rodeo performer, and baseball team owner, who largely gained fame by singing in a Crooner ...

also recorded versions mixing Lara's and Gilbert's lyrics. Other artists to have recorded this version of the song include Paula Kelly and

The Modernaires The Modernaires were an American vocal group, best known for performing in the 1940s with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Career The Modernaires began in 1934 as "Don Juan, Two and Three," a trio of schoolmates from Lafayette High School in Buffa ...

José Carreras Josep Maria Carreras Coll (; born 5 December 1946), better known as José Carreras (, ), is a Catalan operatic tenor from Spain who is particularly known for his performances in the operas of Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini. Born in Barcelona, ...

The Three Tenors The Three Tenors were an operatic singing trio, active between 1990 and 2003, and termed a supergroup (a title normally reserved for rock and pop groups) consisting of Italian Luciano Pavarotti and Spaniards Plácido Domingo and José Carreras ...

, the

Old 97's Old 97's is an American Rock music, rock band from Dallas, Texas, Dallas, Texas. Formed in 1992, they have released thirteen studio albums, two full extended plays, shared split duty on another, and they have one live album. Their most recent r ...

, and

. Los Índios Tabajaras performed an instrumental version of the song under this title. The 101 Strings Orchestra,

Enrique García Asensio Enrique García Asensio (born 22 August 1937 in Valencia (city in Spain), Valencia, Spain) is a Spanish violinist, composer and conducting, conductor. In 1970, He was made as Professor of Orchestral Conducting at the Madrid Royal Conservatory. As ...

, and

Charlie Haden Charles Edward Haden (August 6, 1937 – July 11, 2014) was an American jazz double bass player, bandleader, composer and educator whose career spanned more than fifty years. Haden helped to revolutionize the harmonic concept of bass playin ...

released instrumental versions of the song crediting both titles.

Film

Disney would use this song again in their short film ''

Pluto's Blue Note ''Pluto’s Blue Note'' is a 1947 animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions that stars Pluto. The film was nominated for the 1948 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film but lost to Warner Bros.' ''Tweetie Pie ''Tweetie Pie' ...

'' (1947). Tito Guizar sang the song in the

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998), nicknamed the King of the Cowboys, was an American singer, actor, television host, and Rodeo, rodeo performer. Following early work under his given name, first as a c ...

film '' The Gay Ranchero'' (1948), while

Ezio Pinza Ezio Fortunato Pinza (May 18, 1892May 9, 1957) was an Italian opera singer. Pinza possessed a rich, smooth and sonorous voice, with a flexibility unusual for a bass. He spent 22 seasons at New York's Metropolitan Opera, appearing in more than 75 ...

performed a version mixing Lara's and Gilbert's lyrics in ''

Mr. Imperium ''Mr. Imperium'' (UK title: ''You Belong to My Heart'') is a 1951 romantic musical drama film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and starring Lana Turner and singer Ezio Pinza. Filmed in Technicolor, it was directed by Don Hartman, who cowrote the s ...

'' (1951), with Lana Turner and the Guadalajara Trio.

sang the song in the film '' The Big Sombrero'' (1949). The song is used in

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

of the 2004 film ''

Napoleon Dynamite ''Napoleon Dynamite'' is a 2004 American Independent film, independent Coming-of-age story, coming-of-age comedy film produced by Jeremy Coon, Chris Wyatt (producer), Chris Wyatt and Sean C. Covel (producer), Sean Covel, written by Jared and J ...

''. The song was also cut from a Yvonne de Carlo and Vittorio Gasman scene in the 1953 movie ''Sombrero''.

''Only Once in My Life''

Another

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

version, titled "Only Once in My Life" was written by Janis and Rick Carnes and was released in 1998. These lyrics are not a translation of the original Spanish lyrics.

References

{{Authority control 1941 songs Bing Crosby songs Luis Miguel songs Mexican songs Songs with music by Agustín Lara Songs with lyrics by Ray Gilbert Songs written for films Songs in Spanish Boleros English-language Mexican songs