This is one of my all-time favourites. Charlie Chaplin wrote the music as the theme for his 1936 film Modern Times.
John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons added the lyrics and title in 1954.
The first recording as Smile was by Nat King Cole in 1954, reaching No 10 in America and No 2 in Britain.
It’s lovely but even better is the Sammy Davis Jr version from his 1965 tribute album The Nat King Cole Songbook.
Here’s a strange one by Betty Everett and Jerry Butler from 1964, with a backing that sounds like it’s come from another record.
Judy Garland sang it on the Ed Sullivan Show on April 14, 1963. It can be downloaded from Spotify but I am not sure if that makes it a released single. It’s wonderful, anyway.
Here’s another performance from the same year.
Beautiful piece of music, I much prefer the instrumental.