Frank Sinatra – My Way

“My Way” – Single by Frank Sinatra from the album My Way.
Released: March 1969
Composer: Jacques Revaux
Lyricists: Gilles Thibaut,Claude François,Paul Anka

In 1967, Jacques Revaux wrote a ballad named “For Me”, with English lyrics about a couple falling out of love. According to Revaux, the demo was then sent to Petula Clark, Dalida, and Claude François, to no avail. Revaux rejected a version by Hervé Villard, the singer of the international hit Capri c’est fini and reworked the track into Comme d’habitude (“As usual”) with the help of Claude François. It was released in November 1967 and was at the top of the French pop chart for one week in February 1968.

Paul Anka heard the French original, while on holiday in the south of France. He flew to Paris to negotiate the rights to the song. He acquired adaptation, recording, and publishing rights for the nominal but formal consideration of one dollar, subject to the provision that the melody’s composers would retain their original share of royalty rights with respect to whatever versions Anka or his designates created or produced. Some time later, Anka had a dinner in Florida with Frank Sinatra and “a couple of Mob guys” during which Sinatra said: “I’m quitting the business. I’m sick of it; I’m getting the hell out.

The song was a success for a variety of performers including Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and Sid Vicious. Sinatra’s version of “My Way” spent 75 weeks in the UK Top 40, which is 3rd place all-time.

Frank Sinatra – My Way (Live At The Royal Festival Hall, London / 1970

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Frank Sinatra - My Way (1970)

Frank Sinatra - My Way (Live At The Royal Festival Hall, London / 1970 / 2019 Edit)03:56

On December 30, 1968, Frank Sinatra recorded his version of the song in one take, featuring session drummer Buddy Saltzman among the band. “My Way” was released in early 1969 on the My Way LP and as a single.

In America, this was merely a modest hit on the charts, as it didn’t jibe with the spirit of 1969. In the UK, however, it was a runaway hit, re-entering the charts six times between 1970-1971. It holds the record for the longest stay on the chart.

It reached No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 2 on the Easy Listening chart in the US. In the UK, the single achieved a still unmatched record, becoming the recording with the most weeks inside the Top 40, spending 75 weeks from April 1969 to September 1971. It spent a further 49 weeks in the Top 75 but never bettered the No. 5 slot achieved upon its first chart run.

Sinatra probably did not have in mind the red velvet drapes of a crematorium when he sang about facing his final curtain. However, in 2005 a survey by Co-Operative Funeralcare put this tune at the top of songs most requested at funerals in the UK. Spokesman Phil Edwards said: “It has that timeless appeal – the words sum up what so many people feel about their lives and how they would like their loved ones to remember them.”

First video on the top was recorded at Madison Square Garden, New York City, in 1974.

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