I Have But One Heart - Johnny Farrow

"I Have But One Heart" was composed by Johnny Farrow with lyrics by Marty Symes and published in 1945. Its main theme is a copy of the final section of a 1893 lovely Neopolitan song "O Marenariello," composed by Salvatore Gambardella with lyrics by Gennaro Ottaviano. The form of this section is the familiar 32-bar ABAC. Farrow changed the meter from the original 3/4 to 4/4 and by doing so, he transformed the 32-bar section to 16 bars. Farrow then wrote an 8-bar bridge and reprised the original AC material as a final 8-bar section. Thus, "I Have But One Heart" became a 32-bar song in AABA form (better expressed as AA'BA') with the AA sections retaining the original ABAC form.

A wonderful performance of "O Marenariello" by Sergio Bruni (look for an older man playing a guitar) can be found on Youtube.

"I Have But One Heart" was featured in the 1972 film "The Godfather" where "Frankie Fontaine" sings to "Connie Corleone" at her wedding. That performance, by Al Martino, which uses both the modern English lyrics and Neopolitan lyrics from "O Marenariello," can be found on Youtube. Also on Youtube is a performance by a young Frank Sinatra (look for Sinatra with a hat on his tilted head and a cigarette). A sheet music cover (in red tint) with a photo of the young Sinatra can be found by searching for "I Have But One Love" on Google images. There are many other performances by Italian-American singers on Youtube, as well.

I play this tune using the Jazz - Ballad Swing style at 110 bpm.

I Have But One Heart - Johnny Farrow