I Remember You
O'Connell Helen Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Never thought I'd fall
But now I hear love call
I'm getting sentimental over you

Things you say and do
Just thrill me through and through
I'm getting sentimental over you

I thought I was happy
I could live without love
Now I must admit
Love is all I'm thinking of

Won't you please be kind
And just make up your mind
That you'll be sweet and gentle
Be gentle with me
Because I'm sentimental over you

I thought I was happy
I could live without love
Now I must admit
Love is all that I keep thinking of

Won't you please be kind
And just make up your mind
That you'll be sweet and gentle

Be gentle with me
Because I'm sentimental over you

Overall Meaning

The song "I Remember You" by O'Connell Helen is a ballad about falling in love unexpectedly and feeling sentimental about the person. The first two lines of the lyrics express the surprise of falling in love when it was not expected or planned. The singer admits to hearing the call of love and getting sentimental over the person. The next few lines elaborate on the emotions provoked by the person's actions and words, which thrill her. She further expresses how she was content without love, but it has become all she thinks about now.

The plea for kindness and gentleness from the person she loves shows the vulnerability of the singer. She wants to be treated with care because of how emotional she feels towards the person, thus emphasizing the sensitivity of the situation. The repetition of the lines shows the intensity of feelings and the desire for the person to reciprocate the emotions. Overall, the song beautifully captures the listeners' attention, who can relate and understand the sentimental feeling about love.

Line by Line Meaning

Never thought I'd fall
I never expected to fall in love

But now I hear love call
But now I realize that love is calling to me

I'm getting sentimental over you
I'm becoming emotional and nostalgic because of my feelings for you

Things you say and do
The things you say and do are making me feel deeply about you

Just thrill me through and through
You excite and exhilarate me completely

I thought I was happy
I believed I was content before I fell in love with you

I could live without love
I thought I could live a fulfilling life without romantic love

Now I must admit
However, I have come to realize

Love is all I'm thinking of
That love is the only thing occupying my thoughts

Won't you please be kind
Please act with kindness

And just make up your mind
And make a decision about your feelings for me

That you'll be sweet and gentle
That you'll treat me tenderly and thoughtfully

Be gentle with me
Handle my emotions with care

Because I'm sentimental over you
Because my feelings for you are causing me to be sentimental

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Integrity Music, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Reservoir Media Management, Inc., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: George Bassman, Ned Washington

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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01I Remember You3:00

PT3M

O'Connell Helen

02In The Still Of The Night

03Embraceable You

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Most interesting comments from YouTube:

@toryc.h.2268

2y↑1

Was it in Tahiti?
Were we on the Nile?
Long, long ago
Singing our, our song
I recall that I saw you smile
I remember you
You're the one who made my dreams come true
A few kisses ago
I remember you
You're the one who said
I love you too
Didn't you know
I remember too a distant bell
And stars that fell
Like rain out of the blue
When my life is through
And the angels ask me
To recall
The thrill of them all
Then I shall tell them
I remember You
I remember too a distant bell
And stars that fell
Like rain out of the blue
When my life is through
And the angels ask me
To recall
The thrill of them all
Then I shall tell them
I remember you
If they should ask
I'll gladly tell them
I remember you

@MauriatOttolink

7y↑7

They don't sound this good today. They can't sing like this and never will! And they certainly don't look like this.
In fact they can just stuff it...
We lived through the golden age of talent...we lived through the best.
Sinatra said, when introducing Eleanor Powell and Astaire dancing to Begin The Beguine,
" Hey! You can sit around and wait a hundred years but y'ain't gonna see or hear nothin' like this ever again."

We now live in the world of fudged performances from untalented impostors who are hoping to be famous just for being famous.
They won't like what I'm saying nor will many others but I fear not...they won't have a leg to stand on, nor the articulacy to present an argument to challenge me

WE LIVED THROUGH THE BEST.

All comments from YouTube:

@joeasmythe

11y↑7

I met Helen's daughter back in the 70's, sweet girl, and she got Helen to give me an autographed photo. Nothing like this great musoic around nowadays. We were so lucky to grow up in the big band era, the golden age of America.

@Thomas-kl5mo

She was one of my Favorite Big Ba b d Girl Singers, she was such A elegant lady all of her life, Helen O'Connell thank you for all of your Wonderful Recordings Hearts and Hugs.

@macaroon1

3y↑3

What a beautiful voice and woman. Born in '39 I grew up listening to and loving the Big Bands and the fantastic "Girl singers" like Miss Helen O'Connell.

@mrcobblepot5981

3y↑5

I am 16 years old and my favorite singer since I was 10 years old is her, besides my platonic love.

@tealeafsen

35w

Your not alone. My favorite singer since I was 13 years old . well that was 50 years ago. Hope you are doing well.

@katrinakitty52

10y↑27

Now this is a singer! Not just uttering a bunch words, but a lot of feeling and soulfulness....can't beat this,

@pamelaannfuller9410

7y↑4

Thank you for posting this song. My parents met and fell in love around 1946 at U. of Kansas...and would go dancing in Kansas City. (Dad fought in Battle of Bulge...and both went on to grad school...) Anyway, I recently lost them both...and this very sacred song reminds me of them--my precious, precious, unforgettable, irreplaceable parents...

@johnmartinez6092

4y↑4

I LOVE THIS ROMANCE LOVE SONG THAT HELEN SINGS BEAUTIFULLY............A HEARTFELT SING SHE GIVES.............SHE WAS AMONG THE GREATS IN THE 1930S .....AND THE 1940s!

@markrodriguez8271

10y↑59

Thank you for posting this lovely song. I was a little boy when my father use to play this song. He would be 90 now, he fought in WWII against the germans for 3 years, and his brother (AKA) my uncle fought againt the japanese for 4 years. They both made it back, I listen to this song and I remember my father and all the fun we use to have golfing and horse back riding together. DAD I REMEMBER YOU!!! I will see you AGAIN ONEDAY just not right now. TILL THEN I KNOW YOU LOOK OVER ME AND YOUR GRAND DAUGHTER AND WE MISS YOU SO MUCH. LOVE YOUR SON

@KibatsuMusic

8y↑14

+Mark Rodriguez What a beautiful message. Wow the internet is an incredible place so share stories and emotions.

@TheNightWatcherNightKiller

7y↑1

Mark Rodriguez hey um i wanna know about your father story please , i would be happy if you do tell me , i wonder how tough he is back then when ww2

@cynthiamarshall13

6y↑1

My father and uncle also we're in the wars, Europe & Korea.

@richardwalrath4783

SO HOW DO I GET RID OF IT????

@ellenrichardson8701

4y↑1

Well that certainly made me cry!!

1 More Replies...

@merlemanning3524

3y↑3

Only recently discovered her , so lucky, my parents era, beautiful, thank you for posting

@mahoney399

My folks played, and danced to here music. I fell in love with here when i was six, still love here and the beautiful music.

@donaldbruno3017

9y↑28

Beautiful woman......must have broken a few hearts....I was not around in that era but do remember her singing.....born in 36....great voice ...love it !

@tango3721

12y↑14

Thanks for posting this beautiful video - her glorious voice and gorgeous delivery can only be equal to her great looks and stage presence. It's a great things that she can live forever on Youtube. Have a great weekend and thanks again!!!

@robertovens9372

5y↑8

Helen was outstanding! todays music (if you can call it that!) has lost it,s way,just listen to this real singer!

@Baldgol4

6y↑6

She was beautiful and only became more so with age. Makes me wish I was born around 1920.

@inventor1937

8y↑3

beautiful girl with a great voice-you can understand every word-not like today-she was great. I remember you great job nice mellow jazz sound.

@donalmclellan2296

11y↑2

I wasn't around to enjoy this the first time around, but I fully appreciate this classy lady and her beautiful voice. Too bad there aren't any good videos. She is the Bestest.

@Nutriloc1

8y↑40

Absolutely the greatest era; I really miss hearing this kind of music; it's beautiful and so are the people.

@paulie4m

12y↑7

Thanks for the posting. It is wonderful to hear some classy music by Johnny Mercer and a great entertainer, Helen O'Connell.

@donnyrichard4644

9y↑15

What a great voice. She recreates my youth and my forever love for swing music and the big bands. Saw most of them on Broadway at the NY Paramount, Strand and Capitol. Those were wonderful days.

@davefuller3311

8y↑27

What a marvelous singer! Love Tangerine.

@potdog1000

5y↑6

a timeless beauty with a beautiful voice

@charlesbarnett4240

8y↑4

I have loved this song from the first time I heard it in the 1960s. I have never heard Helen O'Connell sing it she great.

@joehallen6831

8y↑15

SUPERB!! VOICE AND SHE WAS STUNNING!!

@potdog1000

5y↑3

beautiful singer with impeccable timing & bang tidy as well

@Robert4770

10y↑32

The sound of the greatest generation LOVE it

@jkcoyle1030

10y↑20

When you can sing like this with just a piano accompaniment . You really can sing.

@Corrie121

12y↑7

Wonderful !! Helen really was something else. Thank you for sharing these two examples of her artistry.

@josephreddy5084

1y↑2

She has a such a lilting voice sweet expressive and always I think the singer that lead the band. She knew how to lead the band vocals topped the orchestra

@whatisanethicalwill

9y↑10

"Tangerine" is another song my mother sang (Starts at 3:03). I hear her voice in these performers. It's nice to reminisce. It's been 36 years since she passed away. So good to have memories.

@franklinbaker3182

10y↑24

so clear like a starry night on fri the 13th full moon, and empty arms, so near but a lifetime away and yet wonderful and iam very thankful for the great band era.

@bigbandrenaissance

9y↑4

Thanks Franklin, just added "Someone To Watch Over Me". She's wonderful both with big bands and the intimacy of a piano trio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKh9H9C-Rdw

@Nita1931

Me too, absolutely. Great memories.

@annahlinda

3y↑6

Como que pode uma mulher assim..perfeita..além da voz maravilhosa ela tbm lindaa

@ronaldciccone260

3y↑1

My Mother Loved The Way Helen Performed Green Eyes, And Her Vocal Rendition With Harry James.

@janiceriley1390

6y↑5

They just don't write songs like this anymore! Rhythm and great lyrics!

@jfmax2000

11y↑3

Oh I Love this !!!! Great Voice !!! And Sooo Pretty !!!! And a Very Talented Woman !!! Thanx a Mil !!!!

@barbbaker305

8y↑1

I really miss this type of music. Before my time but thank you youtube for getting the chance to enjoy it.

@carolekohlschmidt6899

2y↑2

Beautiful voice and song.

@TheNightWatcherNightKiller

7y↑1

yeah , thanks for given this beautiful music from the 30s , 40s and 50s

@TheRAFfc

8y↑9

THANKS FOR THE MEMORY FROM SO LONG, LONG, OH SO LONG AGO. :):):)

@BrickPa

8y↑1

RA pfc? Gotta be a Viet Nam era soldier or maybe earlier!

@TheRAFfc

8y↑2

BRICK: MUCH EARLIER! R.A.F 1940s :):):)

@BrickPa

8y↑2

HA HA ! The joke's on me! I misread the "F". Doesn't really matter though, always glad to acknowledge a brother in arms!

@orchardist6559

3y↑4

An era when the opening lyrics would lead into the song, sadly missed today.

@j.brucefox4037

7y↑7

Oh yes, Helen singing well!

@joanmulhall5616

5y↑4

I loved her voice.

@sirandrew7457

8y↑3

crystal clear and beautifully sung

@SEPTEMBERANCH

5y↑2

One of the most beautiful songs ever written.

@markclider3775

Hello dear

How are you doing

@dorisindrag1555

4y↑5

She is such a gem a perfect representation of the kind of women style i love

@markclider3775

Hello dear

How are you doing

@johnmartinez6092

4y↑2

TANGERINE AND AMAPOLA WERE SOME OF HER GREATEST HITS..........SHE WAS A STYLIST AND THE BEST OF THE BIG BAND SINGERS!!

@jameswirth3117

7y↑3

My father, a WWII vet, was a big fan of Helen O'Connell for Tewa reasons, she could sing and she was a knockout! I think my dad was on the money!

@windstorm1000

My dad also a ww vet. Was nuts about helen. Along w ten million other gi s

@jameswirth3117

@windstorm1000 Your dad and mine! She was good looking!

@pamelaannfuller9410

7y↑8

I think this is one of Helen's best... (but I haven't heard them all...) Thank you for posting such a good quality recording. LOVE it!!!

@Kinseydsp

12y↑1

Thanks for sharing bigbaand renaissance, I saw Helen sing at Sunny Brook Ballroom Pottstown Pa, many years ago she was dyamite. Thanks again wlll save to favorites.

@2gfm

8y↑1

A beautiful voice and dimples to match

@foxvienna1

5y↑1

Lovely gal belting out I Remember You and more.

@mgconlan

3y↑3

I think I like this Helen O'Connell better than the one from the early 1940's. She's the same person, of course, but her voice had grown deeper, richer and more soulful as she aged, and like a lot of people who started out as band singers (including Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra) she sounds liberated now that she can phrase freely and isn't stuck with having to sing in strict dance tempo.

@marianomoreno7719

10y↑3

Just the BEST!

@billstrom2578

3y↑1

I remember too. Life was so nice then.

@Nataiarii3

8y↑1

Woaw je le trouve MAGNIFIQUE une vrai dame de beauté !!!!

@Vercingetorix2006

12y↑3

Tangerine rocks!

@ramonrodriguez3274

4y↑2

Helen oconnel fue la mejor intérprete de la era del bin bam

@BrickPa

8y↑2

Somewhere in the back of my head I recall reading that Helen was only 19 when she joined Dorsey's band.

@marianomoreno7719

10y↑38

I AM SO PROUD TO CALL THE BEAUTIFUL, ELEGANT ,CLASSIC, SWEET LADY MOM! I MISS YOU SO MUCH! I REMEMBER YOU WAS MY 2NED FAVORITE SONG OF YOURS! ALL THE TRAVELING WE DID WERE THE BEST TIMES EVER! I MISS YOUSO MUCH SOMEDAYS IT HURTS! NO ONE WILL EVER FILL YOUR SHOES!

@marvinboggs

7y↑5

Mariano Moreno
Ms. Moreno, my wife and I met your mom - and shared dinner with her - many years ago. You are so right to be proud of her, and to be her daughter. She was an amazing, talented, and beautiful woman. I am so happy to hear that she was a loving Mom as well.

@robinluich6626

4y↑1

SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL,CLASSY ,AND SAMG LIKE AN ANGEL.

@rosairedubrule60

4y↑1

She was uber belle and talented
Thanks for sharing

@stephaniejohnson5029

4y↑1

Wow I would be proud can proudly say Bobby Sherwood was my grandfather and that is why I’ve always loved big band and jazz my entire life my father was also a musician and worked with Bobby and was a conductor composer he did everything he passed away 2019 and I can proudly say that he’s the reason I stumbled upon this version of this song which means so much to me because this song is how I feel about my ex-husband and I know what my funeral when it’s coming to an end and at the end of all of the photos that go by that everyone looks at a funeral these days of me throughout my life that song will be playing and it will be your mother singing it for sure as a photo of him and because that’s what he was the greatest thrill of all he’s quite alive but I know I will most likely pass first so beautiful no one will ever fill her shoes you’re right even Ella Fitzgerald can’t hold a candle to her not on that song beautiful

@jeffaustin226

Your mom’s version of TANGERINE with Bob Eberly in The Fleets In still practically brings tears to my eyes. There will never be another. Love you.

@stephaniejohnson5029

4y↑1

Wow I’ve listened to so many artists do this I had been searching for the perfect Arrangement and singer that could possibly sing it That gave me chills that I wanted to give him chills my ex-husband and this is the one this is the one Bravo Even blows Ella Fitzgerald version away and that’s a pretty tough thing to do bravo

@joanmulhall5616

5y↑1

So sweet.

@potdog1000

8y↑2

never heard of her before, but will from from now on

@johnopone

9y↑3

yes...she has a beautiful voice. I found her too late !

@howardhigh9316

clay you said it perfect

@TheHamarjg

6y↑1

Helen still the greatist

@ThePiratemachine

Yes....I found myself choking up

@ramonrodriguez3274

1y↑1

estas canciones fueron éxitos en la década de los cuarentas y aquí helen oconnell con unos arreglos nuevos al final de los zincuenta o comienzos de los sesenta

@jeffaustin226

3y↑1

Phenomenal singer! Not hard to look at, either.

@user-ec1el9ch2n

Τελειο

@francoaragosta4285

5y↑1

I've been in ove with her since I was a little boy back in the forties. I had the joy of her hearing her sing Tangerine –– one last time, as it turned out, on TV –– at a New Years' Eve Party in 1992-93. This may have been that very performance. She was as beautiful as ever –– more so, if that was possible –– and her voice never aged at all. If anything her singing got better, and then –– not long after that –– I was distressed to learn that she had died. I'll never get over it, even after twenty-five years of having to live without her. The most beautiful, the most spirited, the most charming woman I've ever seen.

@danielarick2105

I Remember You, was also a hit by Frank Ifeld in the 60's

@toryc.h.2268

2y↑1

@gordonfalconer9108

4y↑1

What a class act this lady is! I miss those sophisticated songs. Tons of junk these days.

@tadsomato1940

8y↑2

Hot!

@thomasnorman951

Helen is adorable Frank Ifields version of this song is the best 1963

@ramonrodriguez3274

la canción más Cook que yo es escuchsdo*"tangerine*

@dustindeissner296

5y↑1

Whatever is wrong with them, I hope the 18 ;people who clicked the thumbs down recover from it. donrjr

@mariosaldana4006

The song Marie

@rosmarielefebvre2332

roland that music wo man so romantic sein kann,sie war eine von den besten singer zu dieser zeit.ich liebe diese music nicht wi das bloede singer wo man gibt.lasse mich wissen wie du diese music gerne hastrosmarie

@jourwalis-8875

What year? What orchestra? Is it Johnny Mercer?

@bigbandrenaissance

I Remember You is a radio transcription from the 50s. Tangerine is from her 1957 album ‘Green Eyes’ on RCA. Tangerine and I Remember You were both written by Johnny Mercer for the 1941 film The Fleet’s In. Both songs were newly introduced in that film by Helen O’Connell and Bob Eberly with the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra. They would then record Tangerine for Decca in late 41. It became their third multi-million selling record in just a matter of months. In about 9 months time the band sold nearly 10 million records.

@watchbywatch

@bigbandrenaissance thanx for answering anything but the question posed...
Who was the pianist on I remember you?
Who was on the vibes??
Thanks

@MauriatOttolink

7y↑7

@duffyoconnell6966

4y↑1

MauriatOttolink This is my mom and I adored her! She used to say if I had known it was going to be an era I would have paid more attention. LOL

@angusbrownfield8901

28w

The inspiration for I Remember You was Judy Garland.

@jamnpeppa3742

34w↑1

You´re here because of Fallout, don´t fool yourself.

@mr.commnad1144

25w↑2

Believe me or not, I'm just a classy song enthusiast 😅 good to hear its in a game too

@user-rb3pk2bx7f

Great music by skilled, classy performers. Todays music is trash.

@watchbywatch

Who are the accompanying artists on both I remember you and Tangerine.

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