Mean to Me is a 1929 popular song written by Fred E. Ahlert and Roy Turk, published in 1929. It became a jazz standard after early hit versions in 1929 by Ruth Etting and Helen Morgan, with the first recording likely by Ben Bernie and His Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra featuring Scrappy Lambert; Annette Hanshaw also recorded it in 1929 under the name Gay Ellis. The tune has been covered by many artists over the years, including Billie Holiday (1937), Doris Day in the 1955 film Love Me or Leave Me, Ella Fitzgerald with Nelson Riddle (1962), Dean Martin (1960), and Linda Ronstadt (1984), and remains a staple on pop and jazz albums. An instrumental version appeared in early cartoons such as Krazy Kat Ratskin (1929) and Betty Boop Minnie the Moocher (1932).
