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My Way (song)

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This article is about the song made famous by Frank Sinatra. For other songs of the same name, see My Way.

"My Way" is a song with lyrics written by Paul Anka and popularized by Frank Sinatra. The melody is based on a French song "Comme d'habitude" composed by Claude François and Jacques Revaux. Anka's English lyrics are unrelated to the original French by Claude François and Gilles Thibaut and Anka is credited as a co-composer of "My Way" because he largely re-wrote the song.

Contents

[edit] Themes

The lyrics of "My Way" tell the story of a man who is nearing death. As he reflects on his life, he has no regrets for how he lived his life, saying that, until the end, he did things his way.

[edit] Origin

Paul Anka heard the original 1967 French pop song, Comme d'habitude performed by Claude Francois with music by Jacques Revaux and lyrics by Gilles Thibault, while on holiday in the south of France. He flew to Paris to negotiate the rights to the song.[1] In a 2007 interview, he said: "I thought it was a shitty record, but there was something in it."[2] He acquired publishing rights at no cost[3] and, two years later, had a dinner in Florida with Frank Sinatra and "a couple of Mob guys" at which Sinatra said he was "quitting the business. I'm sick of it, I'm getting the hell out". [2]

Back in New York, Anka re-wrote the original French song for Sinatra, subtly altering the melodic structure and changing the lyrics: "At one o'clock in the morning, I sat down at an old IBM electric typewriter and said, 'If Frank were writing this, what would he say?' And I started, metaphorically, 'And now the end is near.' I read a lot of periodicals, and I noticed everything was 'my this' and 'my that'. We were in the 'me generation' and Frank became the guy for me to use to say that. I used words I would never use: 'I ate it up and spit it out.' But that's the way he talked. I used to be around steam rooms with the Rat Pack guys - they liked to talk like Mob guys, even though they would have been scared of their own shadows." Anka finished the song at 5am. "I called Frank up in Nevada - he was at Caesar's Palace - and said, 'I've got something really special for you.'?"[2] Anka claimed: "When my record company caught wind of it, they were very pissed that I didn't keep it for myself. I said, 'Hey, I can write it, but I'm not the guy to sing it.' It was for Frank, no one else."[2]

[edit] Dorothy Squires version

In the midst of Sinatra's multiple runs on the UK Singles Chart, Welsh singer Dorothy Squires also released a rendition of "My Way", released in Summer 1970. Her recording reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart, and itself re-entered the chart twice more during that year.

[edit] Elvis Presley version

Elvis Presley began performing the song in concert during the mid-1970s, in spite of suggestions by Paul Anka, who told him it was not a song that would suit him. Nevertheless, on January 13 and 14 of 1973, Presley sang the song during his satellite show "Aloha from Hawaii", beamed live and on deferred basis ( for European audiences, who also saw it in prime time), to 43 countries via INTELSAT, the only time that a single entertainer faced such a worldwide audience. In the continental US, the show was carried by NBC, and shown in primetime on 14 April, thus achieving very high ratings and eventually helping the show reach a worldwide viewership of over 1 billion.

On October 3, 1977, several weeks after his death, his live recording of "My Way" (recorded for the "Elvis In Concert" CBS-TV special on June 21, 1977) was released as a single. In the U.S., it reached number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart, number 6 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, and the following year reached number 2 on the Billboard Country singles chart but went all the way to number 1 on the rival Cash Box Country Singles chart. In the UK, it reached number 9 on the UK Singles Chart.

[edit] Sid Vicious version

Sex Pistols' bassist Sid Vicious did a punk rock version of the song. This version, in which a large body of the words were changed and the arrangement was sped up, charted at #7 in the UK in 1978.

Interviewed in 2007, Paul Anka said he had been "somewhat destabilised by the Sex Pistols' version. It was kind of curious, but I felt he (Sid Vicious) was sincere about it." [2]

Vicious did not know all the lyrics to the song when it was recorded, so he improvised several lyrics. Vicious' reference to a "prat who wears hats" was an injoke directed towards Vicious' friend John Lydon, who was fond of wearing different kinds of hats he would pick up at rummage sales.

An edited version of the Sid Vicious cover is played during the closing credits of the movie Goodfellas.

In the album released in conjunction with the second NANA (anime) movie, singer and actress Mika Nakashima did a cover of Sid Vicious' version of the song with what sounds like an audience singing background vocals.

[edit] Other versions

Nina Simone had success with her re-arranged version of the song, released on 1971's Here Comes the Sun, which was more upbeat and melodic, and included a syncopated rhythm highlighted by the addition of conga drums. It became a staple of her live concerts.

Brook Benton hit the pop, R&B, and easy listening charts with a recording of the song in 1970.

Greta Keller always included the song during her last decade performing and did a duet with Rod McKuen singing the song at Lincoln Center in New York City and in Vienna.

U2 regularly performed a snippet of "My Way" at the end of their song "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)" during their 1992-1993 Zoo TV Tour.

Broadway luminary Patti LuPone performs this song as part of her one-woman show Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda.

"My Way" is a favorite of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Minuteman Marching Band, which often concludes its performances with the song.

Runner up Raymond Quinn from the UK TV series X Factor covered 'My Way' for his album 'Ray Quinn'

Bobby Solo does a recording of the song in Italian called "La Mia Strada".

Popular Ukrainian rock band Okean Elzy performed the song (the only one of the set in English) during their symphony-accompanied renaissance tour.

A black metal version of the song has been performed by the French band Mütiilation on the album 'From the Entrails to the Dirt'.

Robbie Williams sang My Way in his concert at the Royal Albert Hall in October 10, 2001. This version of the song was recorded and released in the DVD Live At The Albert

[edit] Alternate versions

When David Bowie was asked to write English lyrics to "Comme d'habitude" in 1968, the song he came up with was "Even a Fool Learns to Love." However, Paul Anka bought the rights to the original French version, and Bowie's version was never released. "Life on Mars?" was Bowie's riposte to losing out on a fortune; it has similar chords to "My Way."[4]

Rapper Jay-z covered the song on his 2002 release the The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse.

In 1969 Richie Ray & Bobby Cruz were the first to release a Spanish version, "A Mi Manera", which later won them a Gold record.

In 1972 the Spanish singer Raphael recorded a close translation to Spanish "A mi manera" from the lyrics of Paul Anka that got to number one in sales in Spain and Latin America.

Beatrice Arthur sang a version of the song in an episode of Maude

Paul Potts recorded "A Mi Manera" for his album One Chance.

It was also sung by Maria Martha Serra Lima

Anka also duetted with Julio Iglesias in a unique half-English, half-Spanish version of "My Way" on Anka's duets album Amigos.

The song "A Mi Manera", on the Gipsy Kings' eponymous 1988 album Gipsy Kings, is a loose translation of Anka's lyrics into Spanish.

Robin Williams, voicing the penguin character Ramón, sings A Mi Manera in the CGI animated movie Happy Feet.

In a segment for Sesame Street, Oscar the Grouch sang an anti-littering song called "Just Throw It My Way", a parody of the song.

Songwriter Bob Blue wrote a satire about life as a college student called "Their Way" (Lyrics).

Bollywood Music director Pritam include a version of this song Is This Love in his film Pyaar Ke Side Effects, in 2006.

Russian singer Iosif Kobzon, during the concert dedicated to his 70th anniversary (in 2007), performed the Russian version of the song "Moy put'" (Russian text written by Ilia Reznik).

Professional Snooker player Dominic Dale sang a bit of the song in an interview after winning the 2007 Shanghai Masters Cup, with the audience cheering him on.

Gary Chaw, a Malaysian-Chinese singer, sang a cover of "My Way" in the form of a duet in 2007. He demonstrated his versatile vocal range by singing a lower voice as the man, and a much higher voice as the woman.

[edit] Cultural references

 This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please improve this article if you can. (May 2007)

[edit] Popularity as a tribute

"My Way" was found to be the song the most frequently played at British funeral services.[5]

It was played at the 1992 Winston Cup Awards Banquet in honor of Alan Kulwicki.[6] The tribute was also played on ESPN following Kulwicki's death in April 1993.

William Shatner opened the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award tribute to George Lucas by performing a spoken word version of the song.

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder requested the song for his final military send-off (Zapfenstreich (in German)) prior to the inauguration of Angela Merkel.

At the 2006 Boston Celtics season opener, a video tribute set to Sinatra's version of "My Way" was shown to honor Red Auerbach, who had died days earlier. It was also used during a video tribute for Boom-Boom Geoffrion's jersey retirement.

The former Serbian president charged with war crimes Slobodan Milošević was said to be a huge fan of the song, which he would play repeatedly in his prison cell in the Hague during his trial for crimes against humanity.

The song was used in parting to Plantsbrook Leavers from the class of 2008 where J-Farr-Superstar lip-synched to the final chorus.

[edit] References in songs

The chorus of Bon Jovi's "It's My Life" (subsequently covered by Paul Anka on Rock Swings) references the song, in the line "My heart is like an open highway/Like Frankie said, I did it my way."

The eclectic pop duo Sparks released a song titled "When Do I Get to Sing 'My Way'" on their 1994 album Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins.

Rapper Jay-Z has made reference to the song several times over his career, and on The Blueprint 2 he samples the tune for his own song, entitled "I Did It My Way."

On his 2005 live DVD Who Put the M in Manchester?, Morrissey kicks off the set list by singing an a cappella snippet of "My Way", prior to launching into "First of the Gang to Die".

[edit] Other popular culture references

The identification of the song with Sinatra became so strong, and the song so iconic, that the Soviet government of Mikhail Gorbachev jokingly referred to its policy of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other Warsaw Pact countries as the Sinatra Doctrine.

It was briefly sung in Russian in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace by an astronaut. His crew are irritated by the song and shout "Sing at home!", while the singer replies, with a giggle, "At home, they tell me to sing in space."

"My Way" is one of the most popular songs sung in karaoke bars around the world, to the point that it has been reported to cause numerous incidents of violence and homicides among drunkards in bars in The Philippines.[citation needed]

"My Way" was in the Buffy season 3 episode "Lover's Walk" twice, first sung by the character Spike in a drunken moment of self-pity, then again at the very end Gary Oldman's version from the film 'Sid And Nancy' was played (as the producers were unable to get permission from the Sex Pistols to use Sid's version).

"My Way" was sung at the end of the film George of the Jungle.

"My Way" was translated into a made-up language called Dogg by Tom Stoppard in his play Dogg's Hamlet, where it is entitled "Satisfied Egg".

It was played during an episode of Season 6a of The Sopranos while Vito drives back to New Jersey to face Tony regarding his homosexuality.

"My Way" is occasionally used by political writer George Wiegel to represent the opposite of the Christian world view. "My Way" was played at the 880th victory of Bobby Knight. He passed Dean Smith as the coach with the most wins in NCAA Division I basketball with this win.

"My Way" has been referenced several times in the comic strip Dilbert, primarily by Bob the Dinosaur.

A version of "My Way" appears and is sung by Anthony Michael Hall (as Bill Gates) in the movie Pirates of Silicon Valley.

During an interview with J. K. Rowling she mentioned that My Way was the song that she would have played at Professor Dumbledore's funeral.

In a holiday episode of General Hospital, the character of Luke Spencer sang the song in a sequence in which he was about to enter heaven while he was having heart surgery.

In the 1978 dark comedy "The End" the song plays during the scene where Burt Reynolds' character (who is terminally ill) attempts suicide by swimming out into the Pacific Ocean.

The title of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode His Way which introduces Vic Fontaine, a fictional Rat Pack-era crooner, was clearly based on the title of the song.

[edit] Recorded by

This list of songs or music-related items is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://music.guardian.co.uk/vinylword/story/0,,2129407,00.html How Sinatra did it My Way - via a French pop star and a Canadian lounge act
  2. ^ a b c d e "Daily Telegraph interview, 8 November, 2007".
  3. ^ Paul Anka, "With Paul Anka, 'Rock Swings'", interviewed on Fresh Air, WHYY, 8 August, 2005
  4. ^ Life On Mars from BBC2 Radio's song library
  5. ^ My Way tops funeral charts – An article in The Guardian
  6. ^ Gary D'Amato (July 25, 1999). "Honor stirs up fond memories of Kulwicki". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved on 2007-07-25.
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