This sentimental ballad was originally written for the 1938 Broadway musical comedy Right This Way by Sammy Fain (music) and Irving Kahal (lyrics). It was performed in the musical by the singer Tamara Drasin during the third act, while seated downstage at a little café table. Right This Way closed after 15 performances, but this tune became a jazz standard, which has been covered by many musicians.
The song became a huge emotional hit during World War II, in a country where many loved ones were serving far away overseas. A recording by Bing Crosby became a hit in 1944, reaching #1 for the week of July 1. However, for many, it's Billie Holiday's version recorded with Eddie Heywood and his Orchestra the same year that is the best known, though some believe that a live version recorded live in the Carnegie Hall in November 1956, was Lady Day's best rendering of this song.
The song has long been associated with Liberace, who embraced it as the theme music to his 1950s television show.
Frank Sinatra recorded multiple versions of the song initially with Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra in 1940 and later two slower interpretations in 1961 and 1962.
This was the song Johnny Carson asked Stevie Wonder to sing to him to close out his 30-year run on The Tonight Show.
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The song was featured in the 1944 drama film I'll Be Seeing You made by Selznick International Pictures, Dore Schary Productions and Vanguard Pictures. The movie's title was taken from the song, at the suggestion of Schary.
Other movies where the song featured include John Schlesinger's 1979 wartime romance Yanks, where it was sung on the soundtrack by Anne Shelton, and the 2004 film The Notebook, where it was Noah and Allie's tune.
Eric Clapton closed his 2016 I Still Do album with an interpretation of the tune. He told the Chicago Tribune that he included a version of the jazz standard on the album in case it's his final release. "It's one of those things that's been haunting me," he said. "I love the song and I love the sentiment. Just in case I don't cut another record, this is how I feel. I kind of might be saying goodbye. But I've been doing that for a while."
Opportunity was the second of the two rovers launched in 2003 to land on Mars and begin traversing the Red Planet in search of signs of past life. It landed on Mars the following year to begin missions planned to last three months, but far exceeded expectations and kept going until 2018.
The last message Opportunity sent was, "My battery is low and it's getting dark." NASA sent recovery commands along with a song: Billie Holiday's "I'll Be Seeing You."
