Tea for Two (song)
"Tea for Two" is a song composed by Vincent Youmans with lyrics by Irving Caesar and written in 1924. It was introduced by Louise Groody and John Barker in the Broadway musical No, No, Nanette. "Tea for Two" was Youmans' biggest hit.

Background
Youmans had written the basic melody idea of "Tea for Two" while he was in the navy during World War I, and he used it later on as an introductory passage for a song called "Who's Who With You?" While in Chicago, Youmans developed the idea into "a song that the hero could sing to the heroine" for the musical No, No, Nanette. He soon after played his composition for Irving Caesar and insisted he write the lyrics then and there. Caesar quickly jotted down a mock-up lyric, fully intending to revise it later on. Youmans, though, loved the mock-up and convinced Caesar it was just right for the melody.

The phrase 'Tea for Two' was originally shouted by hawkers on the streets of 18th century England who wanted to attract business by lowering the price of a pot of tea from thruppence to tuppence.

Musical characteristics
'Tea for Two' has an A1-A2-A3-B form, a range of just over an octave, and a major tonality throughout. The song's original key was Ab major with a false key change to C major during the second "A" section. It is melodically repetitive (as the entire song consists of eighth and quarter notes, except for a pattern of eighth, quarter, and eight notes which briefly emerge in the second section) and has a relatively simple harmonic progression.

Notable recordings
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The Offspring included the song on their 1997 album Ixnay on the Hombre. It includes spoken word dialogue by John Mayer, and the track was titled "Intermission."
 Nick DeCaro solo album recorded in 1974 and produced by Tommy Lipuma with engineer Al Schmitt. Featured at Rock Roll Hall of Fame Library & Archives Nick DeCaro tribute event September 2018.

Adaptations
 In 1926, Boris Fomin arranged it for inclusion in his operetta "The Career of Pierpont Blake" (Карьера Пирпойнта Блэка), with Russian lyrics by Konstantin Podrevsky, under the title "Tahiti Trot".
 In 1927, Dmitri Shostakovich re-orchestrated Tahiti Trot from memory after conductor Nikolai Malko bet him 100 roubles that he could not do it in under an hour. He won after  completing the orchestration in around 45 minutes. It became his Op. 16.

In popular culture
 Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck tap dance to “Tea for Two” in the Looney Tunes short Show Biz Bugs.