Tea for Two (song)

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Tea for Two is a 1924 song written by Vincent Youmans (music) and Irving Caesar (lyrics). It was first heard in May 1924 during the Chicago pre-Broadway run of the musical No, No, Nanette, sung by Phyllis Cleveland and John Barker. When Nanette reached Broadway in 1925, Louise Groody played Nanette, and her duet with Barker of Tea for Two became a big hit. The song became Youmans’s greatest success. He came up with the basic melody while in the navy during World War I and later developed it for Nanette. Caesar quickly wrote a mock-up lyric on the spot, which Youmans liked enough to keep.

There’s a popular story that the phrase “Tea for Two” comes from 18th‑century English hawkers offering tea for a lower price, but this isn’t well documented. The tune is simple and memorable, originally in the key of A-flat major. It features a verse followed by a refrain in an A1-A2-A3-B form, with a range of just over an octave. The A sections share similar material with small changes, and the B section leads back to the main key.

Many famous artists have covered the song, helping it become a standard. Notable versions include:
- Benny Goodman (1937)
- Fats Waller (circa 1938–39)
- Gene Krupa with Anita O’Day (circa 1942)
- Art Tatum
- Stan Kenton with Anita O’Day (1944–45)
- Frank Sinatra and Dinah Shore (1947)
- Doris Day (1955)
- Duke Ellington (1956, Ellington at Newport; expanded in 1999)
- Bud Powell (1956)
- Teddy Wilson (1956)
- Anita O’Day (1959)
- Blossom Dearie (1959, Once Upon a Summertime)