In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree

In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree is a popular song dating from 1905. It was written by Harry Williams and Egbert Van Alstyne (music). Popular recordings in 1905 were by Henry Burr; Albert Campbell; Haydn Quartet; and by Arthur Pryor's Band. Other recordings were by Duke Ellington (Brunswick 6646, recorded August 15, 1933), Louis Armstrong and The Mills Brothers (Decca 1495, recorded June 29, 1937) and Alma Cogan (1962). Bing Crosby included the song in a medley on his album On the Sentimental Side (1962).

The meter of its chorus is in the form of a Limerick.

It can safely be characterized as a highly sentimental tune. Although the verses (seldom heard nowadays) provide further explanation, it is clear that the writer is singing about a lost love:

In the shade of the old apple tree,

Where the love in your eyes I could see,

Where the voice that I heard,

Like the song of a bird,

Seemed to whisper sweet music to me,

I could hear the dull buzz of the bee

In the blossoms as you said to me,

"With a heart that is true,

"I'll be waiting for you,

In the shade of the old apple tree."