Young at Heart (Frank Sinatra song)

"Young at Heart" is a pop standard, a ballad with music by Johnny Richards and lyrics by Carolyn Leigh. The song was written and published in 1953, with Leigh contributing the lyrics to what was originally a Richards instrumental called "Moonbeam". Frank Sinatra was the first performer to record the song, which became a million-selling hit in 1953 (and spilling over with popularity into 1954) where it reached the No. 2 spot in the Billboard charts. The song was such a hit that a movie that Sinatra was filming at the same time with Doris Day was renamed to the song title, and the song was included in the opening and closing credits of the movie, which was released as Young at Heart. The song has also been used on the soundtracks of other films, including It Could Happen to You, The Front, Sweet Dreams, Space Cowboys (in a rendition by Willie Nelson), and a Rio Olympics featurette from Gatorade.

Other performers who have recorded versions of "Young at Heart" include Jimmy Durante (1963), Connie Francis (1961), Perry Como (on his 1960 album For the Young at Heart), Gloria Estefan, Tony Bennett, Shawn Colvin, Rosemary Clooney (on her album "While we're Young"), Bobby Vinton, Tom Waits, Bing Crosby (charting briefly in 1954 at the #24 spot), Barry Manilow (on his album The Greatest Songs of the Fifties), Bob Dylan, Landon Pigg, Mark Vincent and Vonda Shepard, James Darren, Monty Alexander, and Michael Bublé (on his album To Be Loved). The Cure incorporated verses from "Young At Heart" during concert performances of "Why Can't I Be You?" (widely available on bootlegs). Wild Man Fischer recorded an eccentric version that was included on The Rhino Brothers Present the World's Worst Records.