"Love and Marriage" is a song with lyrics by Sammy Cahn and music by Jimmy Van Heusen. It is published by Barton Music Corporation (ASCAP).
"Love and Marriage" was introduced by Frank Sinatra in the 1955 television production of Thornton Wilder's Our Town that aired on Producers' Showcase. Sinatra went on to record two versions of the song. The first was recorded for Capitol Records on August 15, 1955, released on the 1956 album This Is Sinatra!, and became a major chart hit. (A competing version by Dinah Shore also achieved popularity.) The second version was recorded for the Reprise Records album A Man and His Music on October 11, 1965. The Capitol version was later used as the theme song for the long-running 1987–97 Fox TV sitcom Married... with Children.
Although both versions were arranged by Nelson Riddle, there are many slight but noticeable differences. For instance:
In the Capitol version, the opening lyrics are "Love and marriage. Love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage." In the Reprise version, the opening lyrics are "Love and marriage. Love and marriage. They go together like a horse and carriage."
The Capitol version includes a crescendoing instrumental bridge which was later played over the closing credits of Married... with Children. This bridge is missing from the Reprise version.
In the Reprise version, Sinatra ends the song by saying (not singing) "No, sir." The ending of the Capitol version is an instrumental version of "Shave and a Haircut" with a bassoon playing the final two notes solo – a C flat and a B flat. (Traditionally, when played in B♭ major, the last two notes of "Shave and a Haircut" are an A natural and a B flat.)
In 1956, "Love and Marriage" won the Emmy for Best Musical Contribution from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Included in Peggy Lee 1961 Capitol T-1475 LP album Olé ala Lee.
Dinah Shore sang it in 1955 when it reached No.20 on the U.S. Song charts.
The tune was used in broadcast advertisements for Campbell Soup ("soup and sandwich, soup and sandwich, have your favorite Campbell's soup and sandwich...")
Used in a broadcast ad for Kellogg's Fruit 'n Fibre breakfast cereal.
American ska punk group Less Than Jake covered the song in 2010 for their EP of television theme song covers, TV/EP.
It was used as the theme song for the sitcom Married... with Children.
The tune with modified lyrics was used in the 1970s to advertise Ban brand roll-on antiperspirant.
The tune was also used for a series of commercials for Duncan Hines Chocolate Chip cookies in 1984 and 1985.
