Advice Songs From 1890s to the 1950s
When I was just a little girl
I asked my mother
What will I be?
Will I be pretty?
Will I be rich?
Here’s what she said to me…
– Doris Day, Que Sera Sera
Advice may be given… advice may be taken.
Your advice can be someone else’s experience.
Advice may even be pointing a little blame.
The problem with advice is that we often don’t take it, especially
if it means doing or admitting something that we’d rather
not. Sometimes advice brings up an option you didn’t think
of before or gives you another question without an answer.
ADVICE
Definition: an opinion or recommendation offered as a guide
to action, conduct. Advice, reflective thought and a pause
in instinctive reactions can help people make the right decisions.
Giving and accepting advice is one part of life that helps
us through the trials and tribulations we are faced with.
Many a tear has to fall but it’s all in the game
-Tommy Edwards, It’s All In The Game
-Tommy Edwards, It’s All In The Game
1950s (and Older) Advice Songs Chart
1. Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be Will Be) – Doris Day
2. Who’s Sorry Now – Connie Francis
3. Too Young – Nat ‘King’ Cole
4. Wear My Ring Around Your Neck – Elvis Presley
5. Whistle While You Work – the Seven Dwarfs
6. Makin Whoopie – Eddie Cantor
7. Blues In The Night – Dinah Shore or Frank Sinatra
8. Sixteen Tons – Ernie “Tennessee” Ford
9. Ain’t That A Shame – Fats Domino
10. Don’t Take Your Guns To Town – Johnny Cash
11. Sit Down (You’re Rocking The Boast) – Billy Murray
12. It’s Just A Matter Of Time – Brook Benton
13. Soliloquy – Billy Bigelow, a character in the musical Carousel
15. All I Have To Do Is Dream – The Everly Brothers
16. It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing) – Duke Ellington
17. Save The Last Dance For Me – The Drifters
18. Lady Sings The Blues – Billie Holiday
19. Put Your Head On My Shoulder – Paul Anka
20. It’s Not For Me To Say – Johnny Mathis
21. Get A Job – The Silhouettes
22. It’s All In The Game – Tommy Edwards
23. I’ll Forgive You, But I Can’t Forget – Roy Acuff
24. Don’t Fence Me In – Cole Porter
25. Let’s Misbehave – Ben Bernie
26. Chances Are – Johnny Mathis
27. A Lover’s Question – Clyde Mcphatter
28. Eenie Meenie Miney Mo – Benny Goodman
29. My Heart Is A Broken Book – Carl Dobkins, Jr
30. Time Waits For Noone – Helen Forrest
31. If I Only Had A Brain – Scarecrow (Wizard of Oz)
32. I Walk The Line – Johnny Cash
33. Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear To Tread) – Glenn Miller
34. A Worried Man – The Kingston Trio
35. Cigarettes, Whiskey, And Wild, Wild Women – Red Engle
36. Learnin’ The Blues – Frank Sinatra
37. You Always Hurt The One You Love – Mills Brothers
38. It Ain’t Necessarily So – Bing Crosby or Leo Reisman
39. When You’re Smiling – Louis Armstrong or Seger Ellis
40. Little Things Mean a Lot – Kitty Kallen
41. Ramblin On My Mind – Robert Johnson
42. How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Loved You When You Know I’ve Been A Liar My Whole Life? – Fred Astaire
43. Show Me The Way To Go Home – Vincent Lopez
44. If You Were In My Place (What Would You Do?) – Duke Ellington
45. Undecided – Ella Fitzgerald with Chick Webb
46. Wake The Town and Tell The People – Les Baxter
47. Come On-A My House – Rosemary Clooney
48. After You Get What You Want, You Don’t Want It Back – Van & Schenck
49. I’m Wasting My Tears On You – Tex Ritter
50. They Can’t Take That Away From Me – Fred Astaire or Ozzie Nelson
51. Back in the Saddle Again – Gene Autry
52. Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder – George J. Gaskin
53. I Love My Wife, But Oh You Kid! – Arthur Collins or Bob Roberts or Edward M. Favor
54. They’re Either Too Young Or Too Old – Jimmy Dorsey
55. Am I Blue? – Ethel Waters
56. What Do I Have to Do (To Make You Love Me) – Vaughn Monroe
57. Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off – Fred Astaire
58. Don’t Sit Under The Apple Tree (With Anyone Else But Me) – Glenn Miller or The Andrews Sisters
59. I Ain’t Gonna Play No Second Fiddle – Bessie Smith
60. Take The ‘A’ Train – Duke Ellington
61. Don’t Telephone, Don’t Telegraph, Tell A Woman – Tex Williams
62. Best Things In Life Are Free – George Olson
63. Keep On The Sunny Side – Billy Murray or Byron G. Harlan
64. ‘Tain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do – Bessie Smith
65. Alcoholic Blues – Billy Murray
66. Faith Can Move Mountains – Nat ‘King’ Cole
67. Smile and the World Smiles With You – Lewis James & The Peerless Quartet
68. It’s The Little Things That Count – Bunny Berigan
69. Laughing On The Outside (Crying on the Inside) – Dinah Shore or Sammy Kaye (or Teddy Walters or Andy Russell)
70. Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette) – Tex Williams
71. I’m Putting All My Eggs In One Basket – Fred Astaire
72. Easy Come, Easy Go – Eddy Duchin
73. Tell Me Why – Four Aces or Eddie Fisher
74. It’s Easier Said Than Done – Guy Lombardo
75. Just Another Day Wasted Away (Waiting For You) – Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians
76. For Every Boy Who’s Lonely, There’s a Lonely Girl – Lyric Quartet
77. If You Knew Susie (Like I Know Susie) – Eddie Cantor or Cliff Edwards
78. Can Anyone Explain? (No! No! No!) – Ames Brothers
79. Ain’t Nobody’s Business But My Own – Kay Starr
80. Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep) – Bing Crosby or Rosemary Clooney (or Eddie Fisher)
81. You’re Driving Mr. Crazy (What Did I Do?) – Guy Lombardo
82. Good Man Is Hard To Find – Marion Harris
83. Dreams Are A Dime a Dozen – Vaughn Monroe
84. Oh Dear! What Can The Matter Be? – Ella Logan
85. Everything’s Been Done Before – Freddy Martin or Guy Lombardo
86. Nice Work If You Can Get It – Fred Astaire
87. If We Can’t Be The Same Old Sweethearts, We’ll Just Be The Same Old Friends – Irving Kaufman
88. Forever Is A Long, Long Time – Charles Hart
89. There’s a Lot Of Things You Never Learn In School – Dan Quinn
90. Life Begins When You’re In Love – Isham Jones
91. Enjoy Yourself (It’s Later Than You Think) – Guy Lombardo or Doris Day
92. I Don’t Know Where I’m Going, But I’m On My Way – Peerless Quartet
93. Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag (And Smile, Smile, Smile) – Knickerbocker Quartet
94. Blame It On My Youth – Jan Garber
95. It’s Always June When You’re In Love – Reed Miller
96. Regretful Blues – Nora Bayes
97. Fancy You Fancying Me – Lewis James
98. Ev’ry Little Bit Helps – Len Spencer & Ada Jones
99. Feather Your Nest – Henry Burr & Albert Campbell
100. Every Day’s A Holiday – Cab Calloway or Glenn Miller