Squeeze Me Lyrics — Ain't Misbehavin'

Song Overview

Review and Highlights

Quick summary

1. What it is: A 1925 jazz standard tied to Thomas "Fats" Waller, adapted into the 1978 Broadway revue as a featured vocal turn for Armelia McQueen.
2. Where it appears: Listed as its own track on the Original Broadway Cast Recording, running about 3:36.
3. How it plays in the room: Flirtation as stagecraft - a slow burn that stays playful, never sticky.
4. Why it matters in the revue: It shifts the evening from party chatter to close-range charm, like the club suddenly finds a better lamp.

Ain't Misbehavin (1978) - stage revue - non-diegetic (presented as nightclub performance). In practice, the number behaves like a table-side feature: the band keeps a soft swing, the singer lets the lyric do the smiling, and the audience gets the pleasure of feeling personally addressed.

This is the kind of song that tells you whether a performer understands control. Too coy and it becomes cute. Too bold and it becomes a sales pitch. McQueen's cast-recording placement is instructive: it follows "Honeysuckle Rose," and that matters. The show has already proved it can charm a crowd. Now it narrows the beam. The best stagings treat it as a private joke spoken loudly enough for the balcony. That balancing act is why the tune lasts: it is a stage situation as much as a melody.

Key takeaways:

1. Play the invitation, not the punchline: the lyric is already suggestive.
2. Let the band answer: a well-timed fill can flirt back better than another ad-lib.
3. Keep the tempo alive: slow does not mean sleepy.

Creation History

The standard is commonly dated to 1925 and is attributed to Waller, with a complicated lyric credit story: published credits point to Clarence Williams, while Andy Razaf later claimed he wrote the words. Wikipedia summarizes that dispute, and a public-radio essay from Indiana Public Media gives a compact version of the same credit tangle. In Ain't Misbehavin, the tune is not treated like a history lecture. It is treated like nightlife currency: a song built to be sold across a room, one phrase at a time.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Plot

No plot mechanics, just a scene you can stage in your sleep: singer steps forward, the room quiets a notch, and the lyric becomes a direct address. In a revue, that is enough narrative: the audience watches a performer choose a target and keep choosing it.

Song Meaning

The meaning is physical, but the best performances keep it social. It is less about grabbing someone than about getting permission to get closer. The singer offers a bargain: you give me attention, I give you warmth and a little trouble. In the revue setting, the number can also read as a comment on performance itself: the "squeeze" is the squeeze of a club act, tightening time so the room stays with you.

Annotations

The song is widely dated to 1925, credited to Waller, and tied to an earlier blues source sometimes identified as "The Boy in the Boat."

That ancestry matters because it explains the tone: direct, cheeky, and grounded in the language of adult entertainment, long before Broadway dressed it up.

Published lyric credit is often given to Clarence Williams, while Razaf later claimed authorship.

Onstage, you do not need to announce the paperwork. You just need to know the lyric has a street-smart voice - it speaks like someone used to working a room.

On cast-recording discography lists, the track is timed around 3:36 and is led by Armelia McQueen with the band and Luther Henderson at the piano.

That timing tells directors what the number is for: a compact feature that changes the air, then hands the night back to the ensemble.

Rhythm and the emotional arc

Metadata services that tag the cast-recording track estimate a medium-slow pulse (mid 80s BPM) and a concert key around A flat major. Treat those numbers as rehearsal handles, not law. What matters is the arc: start friendly, get bolder, then exit before the audience can get used to the trick.

Technical Information (Quick Facts)

1. Song: Squeeze Me
2. Artist: Original Broadway Cast of Ain't Misbehavin
3. Featured: Armelia McQueen
4. Composer: Thomas "Fats" Waller
5. Lyricist: Clarence Williams (published credit; other claims exist)
6. Producer: Thomas Z. Shepard (cast-album producer credit listed in common discography)
7. Release Date: 1978
8. Genre: Jazz; swing; musical theatre revue
9. Instruments: Voice; piano; reeds; brass; bass; drums
10. Label: Cast-recording releases appear under RCA Victor and later reissue imprints depending on edition
11. Mood: Flirtatious; sly; relaxed
12. Length: 3:36 (common listing)
13. Track #: Side A, track 3 on a common LP listing
14. Language: English
15. Album: Ain't Misbehavin (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
16. Music style: Swing ballad framing with nightclub delivery
17. Poetic meter: Accentual, speech-led stresses aligned to swing phrasing

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this number presented as a solo in the revue?

On the Original Broadway Cast Recording it is a featured vocal track led by Armelia McQueen, with the band in close support.

When was the song first published?

Reference sources commonly date the standard to 1925.

Who is credited for the words?

Published credits often list Clarence Williams, though later accounts report that Andy Razaf claimed authorship.

How long is the cast-recording track?

Discography listings commonly put it at about 3:36.

Where does it sit on the LP track order?

On a common LP listing, it appears as Side A, track 3.

What is the central acting objective?

Make the audience feel chosen. The lyric works when it lands like a private invitation delivered in public.

Is it comic or romantic?

It is both, but it leans on control: romance with a grin, comedy that stays adult.

What tempo should I practice at?

Metadata tags for the cast track estimate a pulse in the mid 80s BPM; use that as a starting point, then match your production chart.

Does the revue treat it as plot?

No. It functions as a nightclub vignette: a character moment and a texture shift inside a song-driven evening.

Awards and Chart Positions

This tune is best measured by theatre history, not pop charts. Ain't Misbehavin won the 1978 Tony Award for Best Musical, and IBDB also lists wins for Nell Carter (Featured Actress) and Richard Maltby Jr. (Direction), plus a Drama Desk win for Outstanding Musical. MTI notes the Best Musical win as the first time a revue took that top Tony.

How to Sing Squeeze Me

Published range data for the exact cast track is not consistently listed in reliable public sources, so treat this as a performance method rather than a rigid spec sheet. A metadata estimate places the track near A flat major and about 86 BPM, which is a friendly rehearsal starting point for many voices.

1. Tempo: Start around 86 BPM, then adjust to your music director. Keep it moving - the flirtation needs oxygen.
2. Diction: Keep consonants crisp but light. This is nightclub speech on pitch, not operatic chewing.
3. Breathing: Take quiet breaths before invitations and held looks. Loud breaths break the illusion of ease.
4. Flow and rhythm: Sit in the pocket. Place key words slightly behind the beat if it helps the line sound conversational.
5. Accents: Pick a few words to lean on, then let the rest float. Too many accents turns charm into effort.
6. Band partnership: Leave space for instrumental replies. Treat fills like dialogue, not background.
7. Mic: If amplified, stay intimate and avoid pushing volume. Let the mic carry the room while you keep tone warm.
8. Pitfalls: Do not wink at every phrase. A single well-timed pause can do the job of ten jokes.

Additional Info

The tune has a long afterlife far beyond this revue: Wikipedia lists a wide spread of jazz artists who recorded it, which helps explain why audiences feel they already know it even when they cannot place it. That familiarity is theatrical gold. It lets a performer skip the introduction and go straight to rapport. And the disputed lyric credit history is not just gossip - it is a reminder that these songs were made in a hard industry. Indiana Public Media frames the credit question as part of the era's songwriting business, where the name on the page was not always the hand that wrote the line.

Key Contributors

Sources

Sources: IBDB production record for Ain't Misbehavin, Tony Awards winners archive (1978), Music Theatre International show page, Wikipedia entry for the 1925 standard, Indiana Public Media Afterglow episode on Razaf and Waller, Discogs cast recording listing, Presto Music cast recording credits, YouTube (Masterworks Broadway topic upload)