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. 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. '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 A 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.