As Time Goes By

Words and Music by: Herman Hupfeld

Made famous: by Dooley Wilson

First Performed by: Frances Williams

As Time Goes By was originally written for the musical, Everbody’s Welcome in 1931 where it was performed by Frances Williams. It was popular at the time, but it became a long term part of American Culture when it was used in the 1942 movie Casablanca.

Here’s Frank Sinatra’s recording with on screen lyrics. Lyrics for learning this song are below the first video.

Title: As time goes by

Lyrics:
You must remember this,
A kiss is still a kiss,
A sigh is just a sigh,
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by

And when two lovers woo,
They still say I love you,
On that you can rely,
No matter what the future brings,
As time goes by

Moonlight and love songs,
Never out of date,
Hearts full of passion,
Jealousy and hate,
Woman needs man,
And man must have his mate,
That no one can deny

It’s still the same old story,
A fight for love and glory,
A case of do and die,
The world will always welcome lovers,
As time goes by

It’s still the same old story,
A fight for love and glory,
A case of do or die,
The world will always welcome lovers,
As time goes by

English Vocabulary and Idioms That May Be New to You

Woo means to try to get someone to love you, especially if you want to get married.

Mate means a husband, wife or sexual partner.

Do or die means to keep doing something difficult even if the result was something bad like death.

When something is “the same old story” it means that there is nothing new about it and it has probably happened millions of times before.

Here’s is the movie clip that made it famous:

Here is a cover of the song by Andy Williams that is great.

This songs has been covered by many different artists. If you have a favorite recording or version on YouTube, please link to it below.

Also if you have any questions or comments about learning English with this song, please add them below.