Keepin' Myself for You is a fox-trot show tune written by Vincent Youmans with lyrics by Sidney Clare for the 1929 film Hit the Deck. In the movie it is sung by the characters Looloo and Bilge, and the theatrical release featured Jack Oakie and Polly Walker on December 25, 1929. The first recording was made by The High Hatters conducted by Leonard Joy on January 17, 1930, with Belle Mann providing the vocal refrain. Since then it has been covered by many artists, including Paul Specht Orchestra with Johnny Morris in 1930, Artie Shaw in 1940 as an instrumental, and Mel Tormé with the Marty Paich Dek-Tette in 1956. The tune appears on the Hit the Deck soundtrack and is published as popular motion picture music by Vincent Youmans Inc. It is primarily categorized as a jazz/popular song of its era.
