"By Myself" is a jazz standard and English-language ballad with music by Arthur Schwartz and lyrics by Howard Dietz. It was written for the 1937 Broadway musical Between the Devil, where Jack Buchanan introduced it. The song remained relatively unknown until Fred Astaire sang it in the 1953 film The Band Wagon. His performance made it popular, and it debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard chart on August 29, 1953.
Later singers include Judy Garland, who recorded it for the 1963 film I Could Go On Singing, Vivian Reed in the 1972 Broadway revue That's Entertainment, Johnny Mathis, Tony Bennett, Carmen McRae, Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass, Cher and Lou Levy.
Musically, the song uses an unusual AABC form for a popular song, an incomplete repetition structure. It moves between G minor and F major, which makes the harmony more complex.
