"You Belong to Me" is a pop music ballad from the 1950s. The
singer reminds his/her lover that, whatever exotic locales and
sights he/she experiences, "you belong to me". It is credited
to three writers: Pee Wee King, Chilton Price, and Redd
Stewart. Price wrote most of the song, and ceded equal credit
to the other two in exchange for their work in promoting it.
King and Stewart did rearrange the song because it was written
as a war song during World War II and changed the title to "You
Belong To Me" along with arranging the music. Price had
previously had success with another hit which she had written,
"Slow Poke", under a similar arrangement with the two men.
The original version of the song was recorded by Sue
Thompson on Mercury's country label. It was soon covered by
Patti Page, whose version was issued by Mercury as catalog
number 5899, with "I Went to Your Wedding" (a bigger Patti Page
hit, reaching #1) on the flip side. It entered the Billboard
chart on August 22, 1952, and lasted 12 weeks on the chart,
peaking at #4.
A cover version by Jo Stafford became the most popular
version. Issued by Columbia Records as catalog number 39811, it
was Stafford's greatest hit, topping the charts in both the
United States and the United Kingdom (the first song by a
female singer to top the UK chart). It first entered the US
chart on August 1, 1952 and remained there for 24 weeks. In the
UK, it appeared in the first ever UK chart of November 14, 1952
(then a top 12) and reached number 1 on January 16, 1953, being
only the second record to top such chart, remaining in the
chart for a total of 19 weeks. Another cover version, by Dean
Martin, released by Capitol Records as catalog number 2165, was
also in play at that time. This version first entered the chart
on August 29, 1952, and remained on the chart for 10 weeks,
reaching #12. All the versions were combined in the rankings on
the Cash Box charts, and the song reached #1 on those charts as
well, lasting on the chart for more than half a year.
In 1958 the song crossed over into rock for the first time
on the Capitol album "Gene Vincent Rocks and the Blue Caps
Roll." A later version of the song, by The Duprees, also made
the Billboard Top 10, reaching #7 in 1962. It was recorded by
many other pop vocalists, including Patsy Cline and Bing
Crosby. A solo acoustic version was recorded by Bob Dylan for
the 1992 album
Good as I Been to Youbut was eventually left off as an
outtake, the recording only surfacing two years later in the
soundtrack for the 1994 movie
Natural Born Killers.
The song has also appeared on many soundtracks. Vonda
Shepard's cover was used frequently on the TV series
Ally McBealalongside romantic scenes of Ally McBeal and
Billy Thomas. A version by Jason Wade was part of the
soundtrack to the 2001 animated film
Shrek. Rocker Tori Amos also sang the classic for the
Julia Roberts film
Mona Lisa Smilein 2003. Actress Rose McGowan sang it on
the soundtrack for the
Planet Terrorsegment of the 2007 movie
Grindhouse. While onscreen, Bette Midler sings a
fragment of the song (to Nick Nolte) in the 1986 comedy
Down and Out in Beverly Hills.
On February 1, 2007, a short rendition of the song was sung
by 64-year-old Sherman Pore as an audition piece for the
television show
American Idol, as a tribute to his wife who had died
from cancer two days before.
Mary Higgins Clark references the song throughout her novel
of the same name which was published by Pocket on April 1st
1999.