I'm Gonna Lock My Heart (And Throw Away the Key)

{{short description|Songs}}

{{Infobox song

| name = I'm Gonna Lock My Heart (And Throw Away the Key)

| cover = I'm Gonna Lock My Heart.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Billie Holiday

| album =

| A-side = I Wish I Had You

| released = 1938

| recorded = June 23, 1938

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = Jazz

| length =

| label = Vocalion Records

| writer = Jimmy Eaton, Terry Shand

| producer =

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}}

"I'm Gonna Lock My Heart (And Throw Away the Key)" is a song written by Jimmy Eaton and Terry Shand.{{Cite web|url=http://www.45worlds.com/vinyl/album/kg32127|title=Vinyl Album: Billie Holiday - The Billie Holiday Story Volume III (1973)|access-date=May 31, 2021|website=45worlds.com}} It was first recorded in 1938 by Billie Holiday for Vocalion Records.

Holiday recorded the song in New York City on June 23, 1938, with musicians including Charlie Shavers (trumpet), Buster Bailey (clarinet), Babe Russin (tenor saxophone), Claude Thornhill (piano), John Kirby (bass), Cozy Cole (drums), and an unidentified guitarist.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=imfYS0V5aF4C&q=+%22lock+my+heart%22+1938&pg=PA456|author=Max Harrison, Charles Fox, Eric Thacker|title=Essential Jazz Records: Volume 1: Ragtime to Swing|publisher= Bloomsbury Publishing|year= 2000|page= 456|isbn=9780567269690 }} Her recording was commercially successful, reaching No.2 on the pop charts in 1938 according to Joel Whitburn.{{cite book| last1 = Whitburn| first1 = Joel| title = Pop Memories 1890-1954: The History of American Popular Music| location = Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin| publisher = Record Research, Inc.| year = 1986| pages = 216| isbn = 0-89820-083-0}} Another version, by Henry Busse on Decca Records, reached No.7 on the charts the same year.Whitburn p.71

Later recordings include those by Eddy Arnold (1953), Carmen McRae (1962), and Elkie Brooks with Humphrey Lyttelton (2002).