(I DON'T STAND) A GHOST OF A CHANCE WITH YOU

(Victor Young / Ned Washington / Bing Crosby (m & l) 1932)

As sung by Bing Crosby in the Paramount short film < Please> 1933
See also studio version below.


Also sung by:Frank Sinatra; Dianna Krall; Billie Holiday;
Gene Austin; Maurice Chevalier; Vaughn Monroe
Mel Tormé; Etta James; Mildred Bailey; Carmen McRae
Mildred Bailey; Chu Berry; David Bubba Brooks; Milt Buckner; 
Cab Calloway & His Orch.; Greg Clayton; Arnett Cobb; Wild Bill Davis; 
Helen Forrest; Slim Gaillard; Stan Getz; Dizzie Gillespie; Dexter Gordon; 
Frank Hewitt; Michael Kanan; Claus Koch; Doug MacDonald; Charles Mingus Quintet; 
Jack Reilly; Artie Shaw & His Orch.; George Shearing; Zoot Sims; Johnny Smith;
Louis Smith; Art Tatum; Lee Wiley.
And many many others...



Why did you let me love you
Why did you let me fall
Why should it be, when it's plain to see
That you don't love me at all.

I love you oh so madly, I need your love so badly
But I don't stand a ghost of a chance with you
I thought at last I'd found you but other loves surround you
And I don't stand a ghost of a chance with you.

If you'd surrender just for a tender kiss or two
You might discover that I'm the lover meant for you
And I'd be true.

But what's the use of scheming
I know I must be dreaming
And I don't stand a ghost of a chance with you.

Notes:

Bing Crosby, perhaps unbeknownst to some, wrote or co-wrote 
17 songs of which this, many feel, was the most notable of his 
creations. His contributions to music, film and stage were 
immeasurable by any standard.

Strange is that the fact that that first line of the second 
verse (above) in the 1933 short film, Crosby sung as 'I love 
you oh so madly, I need your love so badly'. However during the 
studio recording he reversed this (along with many other artists 
who recorded this song, Krall is one of the exceptions) to 
'I need your love so badly, I love you oh so madly'.

Studio Version (Crosby)

Why did you let me love you
Why did you let me fall
Why should it be, when it's plain to see
That you can't see me at all.

I need your love so badly, I love you oh so madly
But I don't stand a ghost of a chance with you
I thought at last I'd found you, but other loves surround you
And I don't stand a ghost of a chance with you.

If you'd surrender, just for a tender kiss or two
You might discover that I'm the lover meant for you
And I'd be true.

But what's the use of scheming
I know I must be dreaming
For I don't stand a ghost of a chance with you.

(bridge humming)

I don't stand a ghost of a chance with you.

(bridge humming)

And I don't stand a ghost of a chance with you.

If you'd surrender, just for a tender kiss or two
You might discover that I'm the lover meant for you
And I'd be true.

But what's the use of scheming
I know I must be dreaming
For I don't stand a ghost of a chance with you.




(Transcribed by David Story - March 2014)