An Old Fashioned Tune Is Always New

From the film “Second Fiddle”, 1939
Words and music by Irving Berlin


The sheet music:


Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:


Lyrics

Nothing’s as old as last year’s rhythm
Nothing’s forgotten so soon
Nothing’s as dated as last year’s syncopated tune
Ragtime is dead and so is jazz
And swing will leave us cold
There’s only one kind of music
That never grows old

Chorus
An old-fashioned tune always is new
It never seems to go out of style
For just when you start thinking it’s through
It comes down from the shelf with a smile
A simple melody will always linger
I mean the kind you pick out with one finger
If you have some thoughts rhyming with June
Express them in an old-fashioned tune


Sung here by Laurence Rubenstein: