If I Didn't Care

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"If I Didn't Care" is a song written by Jack Lawrence that was originally sung and recorded by The Ink Spots in 1939. According to Lawrence he mailed the song before showing it to some of his friends. His friends' reaction to the song was almost universally negative, but he remained positive on it and later it became one of his biggest successes.^[1]

In the 1950s both The Hilltoppers and Connie Francis charted with the song and in 1974 a version was recorded by David Cassidy. Another notable cover came from The Platters. The Ink Spots' recording was used on the soundtracks of the films Radio Days, The Shawshank Redemption and the television series The Wonder Years. It is also sung by Amy Adams and Lee Pace in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.

It was named to the GRAMMY Hall of Fame Award and was 271 on Songs of the Century.

On the sitcom Sanford and Son, Fred Sanford's favorite song was 'If I Didn't Care.' The actor that played Fred, Redd Foxx, also paid the royalties for use of the song, and others by them, because he loved the group so much and because NBC wouldn't pay for it themselves, claiming the cost was too high. Fred sang the song (to growing audience enthusiasm) through the show's run, especially whenever he got in front of a television camera.

The song was covered by Madness for their 1999 album Wonderful.

In the game BioShock, The Ink Spots' version of the song can be heard in various places throughout the game.

The song was used in the early "workprint" version of Blade Runner, and was replaced in later versions with a similar-sounding tune performed by Don Percival called "One More Kiss, Dear".

In 2008, the song was used in a Trailer (film), of horror film The Strangers, opening May 30.