As with all of our virtual singalong shows, our “Love Songs Singalong” was carefully crafted for sharing with people who have Alzheimer’s. We selected 12 familiar love songs, recorded them in singable keys, and added easy-to-read lyrics and an on-screen singalong leader.

The 12 love songs in this show were selected to help bring back memories of falling in love and staying in love. Music taps into emotions and long-term memories, so we hope this show will help people who have Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia better connect with their family and friends and their own joy-filled memories. Of course, this particular singalong also might help caregivers find a few minutes of respite with their own special someone.

All 12 of the love songs in this show are in the public domain. We created custom backing tracks for seven of the songs, and we licensed backing tracks from Tency Music (indicated after song titles below) for the other five songs:

• Carolina in the Morning (Tency) – Listeners might remember this song being sung by Bing Crosby, Jimmy Durante, or Dean Martin.
• Daisy Bell – The catchy refrain of this song pictures a honeymoon “on a bicycle built for two.”
• For Me and My Gal – This was the first song performed together by Judy Garland and Gene Kelly. They sang it together in a movie of he same name.
• Has Anybody Seen My Gal? – Lucille ball sang this song, often called “Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue,” on “I Love Lucy” while playing the ukulele.
• I Love You Truly – This beautiful little song was written by a woman named Carrie Jacobs-Bond back in the early 1900s. It was so popular during the first part of the 20th century that the songwriter was invited to the White House to sing her song by presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Warren G. Harding, and Calvin Coolidge.
• It Had to Be You (Tency) – Listeners might remember hearing this song being sung by Bing Crosby, Barbra Streisand, Ray Charles, or Frank Sinatra.
• Let Me Call You Sweetheart – This song, written in 1910, was sung by actress Shirley MacLaine on an episode of Downton Abbey in 2012.
• Shine On, Harvest Moon – The words to this song were written by Jack Norworth, the same man who wrote “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”
• Somebody Loves Me (Tency) – The music to this song was written by George Gershwin, and it has been sung by all sorts of wonderful singers such as Nat King Cole and Doris Day and Perry Como.
• Tea for Two – This song was introduced in the Broadway musical “No, No, Nanette.”
• Yes Sir, That’s My Baby (Tency) – This song was a hit for Ricky Nelson, who got his start on “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” radio and TV show.
• You Made Me Love You (Tency) – This song was a hit for Bing Crosby back in 1940, and Doris Day sang it in a movie in 1955.