"You Belong to Me" is credited to Chilton Price, Pee Wee King, and Redd Stewart. Price, a songwriting librarian at WAVE Radio Louisville, had written the song in its virtual entirety as "Hurry Home to Me", envisioning the song as an American woman's plea to a sweetheart serving overseas in World War II. Afforded songwriting credit on the song mostly in exchange for their work in promoting it, King and Stewart did slightly adjust Price's composition musically and lyrically, shifting the focus from a wartime background "into a kind of universal song about separated lovers" and changing the title to "You Belong to Me". Price had previously had success with another hit which she had written, "Slow Poke", under a similar arrangement with the two men.
History
The first recording of the song, in February 1952, was by Joni James. She had seen the sheet music in the Woods Building in Chicago and the lyrics attracted her. She recorded the song in Chicago, and it was released in March on the local Sharp Records label. After she signed to MGM it was reissued as her second single on that label on August 5, 1952, after Jo Stafford, Patti Page and Dean Martin had covered it. James' version also was issued on M-G-M Records for national distribution. The best-known early 1952 version of the song was recorded after James' recording by Sue Thompson on Mercury's country label as catalog number 6407. It was soon covered by Patti Page, whose version was issued by Mercury as catalog number 5899, with "I Went to Your Wedding" on the flip side. It entered the Billboard chart on August 22, 1952, and lasted 12 weeks on the chart, peaking at No. 4. A cover version by Jo Stafford became the most popular version. Issued by Columbia Records as catalog number 39811, it was Stafford's biggest hit, topping the charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom. It first entered the US chart on August 1, 1952 and remained there for 24 weeks. In the UK, it appeared in the first ever UK chart of 14 November 1952 and reached number 1 on 16 January 1953, being only the second record to top such chart, remaining in the chart for a total of 19 weeks. Another cover version, by Dean Martin, released by Capitol Records as catalog number 2165, was also in play at that time. This version first entered the chart on August 29, 1952, and remained on the chart for 10 weeks, reaching No. 12. All the versions were combined in the rankings on the Cash Box charts, and the song reached No. 1 on those charts as well, lasting on the chart for more than half a year. The song figures prominently in the 1953 movie "Forbidden" starring Tony Curtis, Joanne Dru and Lyle Bettger. The melody is used for the opening credits. In a scene reminiscent of "Casablanca", Eddie asks Allan, the Lisbon Club pianist, why he plays a somber tune every time Eddie appears at the club. He answers that Christine never comes when he is there. But in that moment, seeing that Christine has just entered he plays the melody. It is followed by the club singer singing the first verse. In 1958, the song crossed over into rock for the first time on the Capitol album Gene Vincent Rocks and the Blue Caps Roll. A later version of the song, by the Duprees, also made the Billboard Top 10, reaching No. 7 in 1962. It was recorded by many other pop vocalists, including Patsy Cline and Bing Crosby. A solo acoustic version was recorded by Bob Dylan for the 1992 album Good as I Been to You but was eventually left off as an out-take; the recording surfaced two years later in the soundtrack for the 1994 filmNatural Born Killers. A loop of Jo Stafford's introduction was used by Caviar in "The Good Times Are Over" repeatedly throughout the song. The song has also appeared on many soundtracks. Vonda Shepard's cover was used frequently on the TV series Ally McBeal alongside romantic scenes of Ally McBeal and Billy Thomas. A version by Jason Wade was part of the soundtrack to the 2001 animated film Shrek. Singer Tori Amos also recorded the classic for the Julia Roberts film Mona Lisa Smile in 2003. Actress Rose McGowan sang it on the soundtrack for the Planet Terror segment of the 2007 film Grindhouse. In 1980 Matchbox recorded the song in part as a section of the medley single Over the Rainbow/You Belong to Me on the Magnet label. Mary Higgins Clark referenced the song throughout her novel of the same name, which was published by Pocket Books on April 1, 1999. In the British filmThe Deep Blue Sea, directed by Terence Davies, the drinkers in a London pub perform the song which later modulates into Jo Stafford's version. The song was also featured in the 2013 video game BioShock Infinite as part of its story add-on. In the game, the song is performed by the lead character Elizabeth and sung by her voice actress, Courtnee Draper ; footage of Draper performing the song in the recording studio is shown during the game's end credits. The Duprees version of the song is featured in the video game Mafia III, usually on the in-car radio stations but can also be heard as the musical accompaniment to several key cut-scenes. A hard rock cover version by Misfits also plays towards the end of the game. The song is featured in the 2018 gothic horror filmThe Nun, a spin-off of The Conjuring 2, when Fr. Burke and Sister Irene sit down to dinner, and again moments later when a demon uses the radio to wake up Fr. Burke.
