June | 2019 | Dame Shirley Bassey Blog

Today I will respond to a request by Andrew as he wrote:

Just wanted to say how much this site means to me. You constantly come up with rare or rarely seen clips which are an absolute joy. Your dedication to our favourite Dame is an outstanding achievement. Long may you continue!

I’ve just been watching a 1966 recording of the Dame and wondered if you would consider playing “You Can have Him” for the the DSB community? The sheer raw emotion of this song always sends shivers down my spine.

Hope your well and I expect I’ll be asking for more songs soon.

In admiration of all things DSB.

Andrew

So Andrew here is all the info about You Can Have Him that you could possibly want.

Also some photographs from the George Webb collection from around the same time and a small newspaper cutting from 1966 about the recording of ‘Who could love me’. (Special thanks to Audrey)

You Can Have Him
Written by Irving Berlin

Released 1966 on the album I’ve Got A Song For You. One year before recorded live on Shirley Bassey At The Pigalle. Another great live recording available on Live At The Talk Of The Town from 1970.

Available on CD on the collection Original Gold. The “Live At Talk Of The Town” version has been released on the CD’s Shirley Bassey – The Collection 1993 and on The Gold Collection 1995.

2002 a remix by Guy Gerber and “Whoop!” had been released (12″ maxi WHO68).

This song is from the musical “Miss Liberty”. Premiere was Friday, July 15, 1949 at the Imperial Theater, New York. This song has been sung also by other artists like for example Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone and Doris Day.

Irving Berlin was born in Russia 1888. He was the most successful songwriter of the 20th century. Though he spent the better part of his career writing songs to be used in Broadway musicals (usually both words and music), he is better remembered for the songs themselves than for the shows (and sometimes films) in which they were introduced. He did not read music and could play the piano in only one key and only on the black notes – he used a special piano with a lever that changed keys for him and employed a musical secretary to notate his compositions. He had his first major success 1911 and wrote more than a thousand songs until he retired 1962 (died 1989). Berlin has been his own song publisher and built and owned a Broadway theatre, the “Music Box”, to house his shows. One of the most famous musicals he wrote is “Annie Get Your Gun” from 1946.

Lyrics:

You can have him, I don’t want him
He’s not worth fighting for
Besides there’s plenty more where he came from
I don’t want him, you can have him

I’m givin’ him the sack
So he can go right back, where he came from
I’m afraid I never loved him
He’d be better off with you
I could never make him happy
All I ever wanted to do was

Run my fingers through his curly locks
Mend his clothing, darn his socks
(Live at The Pigalle: Mend his underwear and darn his socks)
Fetch his slippers and remove his shoes
Wipe his glasses when he read the news
Rub his forehead with a gentle touch
Mornings after when he had a little too much
Kiss him gently when he cuddled near
And give him babies one for every year

So you see
That you can have him, I don’t want him
I don’t want him, you can have him
Because he’s not the man for me

Then I close the windows while he soundly slept
Then I’d raid the icebox where the food is kept
I’d fix him breakfast that would please him most
(Live at Talk Of The Town: I’d fix him breakfast he prefers the most
Eggs and coffee and some buttered toast
(crying) Oh, oh, ooh.
Then I go out and buy the papers
And when they’ve been read
Spend the balance of the day in bed

So you see
That you can have him, I don’t want him
I don’t want him, you can have him
Because he’s not my man
I don’t want him, you can have him
You can have him, I don’t want him
I don’t want him, you can have him
Because he’s not the man for me

(Transcribed by Roman and David)