The first recording of the song, in February 1952, was by Joni James. She had seen the sheet music in the Woods Building in Chicago, and the lyrics attracted her. She recorded the song in Chicago, and it was released in March on the local Sharp Records label. After she signed to MGM, it was reissued as her second single on that label on August 5, 1952, after Jo Stafford, Patti Page, Ella Fitzgerald and Dean Martin had covered it. James' version was also issued on MGM Records for national distribution. The best-known early 1952 version of the song was recorded after James, by Sue Thompson on Mercury's country label as catalog number 6407. It was soon covered by Patti Page, whose version was issued by Mercury (catalog number 5899), with "I Went to Your Wedding" (a bigger Page hit, reaching No. 1) on the flip side. It entered the Billboard chart on August 22, 1952, and lasted 12 weeks on the chart, peaking at No. 4.

A cover version by Jo Stafford became the most popular version. It was recorded on June 24, 1952, when she was several months pregnant. Issued by Columbia Records as catalog number 39811, it was Stafford's biggest hit, topping the charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom (the first song by a female singer to top the UK Singles Chart). It first entered the US chart on August 1, 1952, and remained there for 24 weeks. In the UK, it appeared in the first ever UK chart of 14 November 1952 (then a top 12) and reached number 1 for a single week on 16 January 1953, its tenth week on chart. It thus became only the second record to top the chart, and remained on it for a total of 19 weeks. Another cover version, by Dean Martin, released by Capitol Records as catalog number 2165, was also in play at that time. This version first entered the chart on August 29, 1952, and remained on the chart for 10 weeks, reaching No. 12. All the versions were combined in the rankings on the Cash Box charts, and the song reached No. 1 on those charts as well, lasting on the chart for more than half a year.

In the UK, the song also topped the sheet music sales chart. It first entered the chart on 1 November 1952, peaking at No. 1 on 27 December, where it stayed for 7 weeks. Stafford's recording was amongst the first batch to be issued in October 1952. British cover versions were also available by Larry Cross, Alma Cogan with Jimmy Watson (trumpet), Monty Norman, Dickie Valentine with Ted Heath and his Music, Victor Silvester and his Ballroom Orchestra, Jimmy Young, and Wally Fryer and his Perfect Tempo Dance Orchestra. American recordings by Patti Page, Grady Martin and his Slew Foot Five (vocal by Cecil Bayley), Dean Martin, Joni James, Ken Griffin (organ), Jan Garber and his Orchestra (vocal by Roy Cordell) and Mickey Katz (a Yiddish parody) and his Orchestra were available in the UK. In all, the song remained in the sheet music chart for 24 weeks. Despite the many recordings issued in the UK, only that by Stafford appeared in the singles sales chart.