It Don’t Mean a Thing

(If It Ain’t Got That Swing), a song from 1932.
Words by Irving Mills.
Music by Duke Ellington.


The sheet music:


Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:


Lyrics

What good is melody, what good is music
If it ain’t possessin’ something sweet?
It ain’t the melody, it ain’t the music
There’s something else that makes the tune complete

Chorus
It don’t mean a thing, if it ain’t got that swing
(Doo wah, doo wah, doo wah, doo wah)
(Doo wah, doo wah, doo wah, doo wah)
It don’t mean a thing, all you got to do is sing
(Doo wah, doo wah, doo wah, doo wah)
(Doo wah, doo wah, doo wah, doo wah)
It makes no diff’rence if it’s sweet or hot
Just give that rhythm ev’rything you got
Oh, it don’t mean a thing, if it ain’t got that swing
(Doo wah, doo wah, doo wah, doo wah)
(Doo wah, doo wah, doo wah, doo wah)


Sung here by Laurence Rubenstein: