You Belong To My Heart - Agustin Lara

"You Belong To My Heart" is the English-language version of the Mexican song "Solamente Una Vez" by Agustin Lara, featured in the 1941 film "Melodías de América." This sweet Mexican bolero was also presented in the 1943 Disney movie "The Three Caballeros" where Donald Duck goes wild over singer Dora Luz as she sings the song in English and Spanish. Lara was a famous Mexican composer; his most famous song is "Grenada," composed in 1932, and performed in many different styles.

The song has a simple ABAC 32-bar form in which each of the four sections has a similar harmonic structure. Its linear, diatonic melody lends itself to playing it in thirds and sixths on the piano.

There are many performances of the tune on Youtube including ones by Dora Luz and Jerry Vale. Do yourselves a favor and skip the ones by Bing Crosby and Connie Francis. Of interest is a clip from a 1951 film "Mr. Imperium" in which Ezio Pinza and Lana Turner sing the song together.

I learned this song many years ago but hadn't played it for a long time. I rediscovered it when doing research earlier this year on a chord chart for a song with a similar English title: "Siempre en Mi Corazón (Always in My Heart)". Although there is a chart of "Solamente Una Vez" in the Latin 50 thread, I wanted different chord changes so I produced my own chart which I submit below. A lead sheet for this song is found in The Ultimate Fake Book (4th ed) by Hal Leonard.

I use the Cuba Bolero style at 100 bpm for this song.

You Belong To My Heart (k ver) - Agustín Lara