"Dearie" is a popular song. The music was written by David Mann; the lyrics, by Bob Hilliard. The song was published in 1950. The song is about reminiscences, and often sung as a duet. When done as a duet, each one of the singers asks the other whether he or she remembers a number of long-ago events, and then says "if you remember, you're much older than I." When sung as a solo, the same questions are directed at the audience. It makes a string of pseudo-nostalgic references to: Orville Wright's first powered flight near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina; Waltzing to the John Philip Sousa band; "Picking up Pittsburgh on a crystal set" refers to KDKA, the first commercial broadcast radio station in the United States; the "running board on a Chandler Six" refers to a six-cylinder automobile of the same era as Henry Ford's famous Tin Lizzy; "Movie stars of the silent era" included Charlie Chaplin and Jackie Coogan are mentioned as making you laugh and then cry; "Watching John L. win every fight, 'cause nobody ducked from Sullivan's right" refers to John L. Sullivan, the heavyweight boxing champion. In 1950, some of the best-known versions were by Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadians, by Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae, by Ray Bolger and Ethel Merman, and by Lisa Kirk and Fran Warren. The Guy Lombardo record was recorded on January 26, 1950 and released by Decca Records as catalog number 24899. It first reached the Billboard magazine charts on March 31, 1950 and lasted 9 weeks on the chart, peaking at #5. The Jo Stafford/Gordon MacRae record was recorded on January 14, 1950 and released by Capitol Records as catalog number 858. It first reached the Billboard magazine charts on March 3, 1950 and lasted 11 weeks on the chart, peaking at #12. The Ray Bolger/Ethel Merman record was recorded on January 4, 1950 and released by Decca as catalog number 24873. It first reached the Billboard magazine charts on March 3, 1950 and lasted 11 weeks on the chart, peaking at #13. The flip side of this recording, "I Said My Pajamas," also charted. The Lisa Kirk/Fran Warren record was released by RCA Victor Records as a 78rpm single and a 45rpm single. It first reached the Billboard magazine charts on April 7, 1950 and lasted 2 weeks on the chart, peaking at #29. The various versions of the song reached #4 on the Cash Box Best-Selling Records chart.
This song was featured on the Lawrence Welk show, later available on PBS entitled : "Do You Remember?". Dennis Day performed a version on The Jack Benny Program on April 9, 1950, with the final verse directed at "Jackie" instead of "dearie", reminiscing on the life of Jack Benny, who chimes in with a very off-key "I'm thirty-nine" as the penultimate line.
