17th February: My Way Day

Today is My Way Day - not sure why, but here are ten little known facts about the famous song.

1. The tune was based on a French song that composer Paul Anka heard on holiday in 1967. The French song was called Comme d'habitude (As Usual) and was performed by Claude François.
2. Anka flew to Paris to negotiate obtaining the rights to the song. He acquired adaptation, recording, and publishing rights for one dollar, subject to the provision that the melody's composers retained their original share of royalty rights with respect to whatever versions Anka or his designates created or produced.
3. They lyrics to My Way are not related in any way to the French song. Anka wrote the lyrics specifically for Frank Sinatra, who was threatening to quit show business at the time. Anka subtly changed the melody and came up with the kind of words Sinatra might naturally use. He finished it at 5am and immediately called Sinatra in Vegas and said, 'I've got something really special for you.'
4. Frank Sinatra recorded his version of the song on December 30, 1968. It was released in early 1969 on the album of the same name and as a single.
5. It wasn't a number one hit. It reached No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 2 on the Easy Listening chart in the USA. In the UK, it peaked at number 5 but it did achieve a still unmatched record, becoming the recording with the most weeks inside the Top 40, spending 75 weeks from April 1969 to September 1971.
6. My Way is the song most frequently played at British funeral services.
7. It has been covered many times, including several times by Anka himself, usually in a duet with another artist. He performed the song with Gabriel Byrne in the film Mad Dog Time), Julio Iglesias (in Spanish), Jon Bon Jovi and Garou.
8. Other cover versions include Elvis Presley singing it live (despite Paul Anka saying the song wouldn't suit him), Sid Vicious (a sped up punk version with swear words, since Vicious didn't know all the words) and Just Throw It My Way, Oscar the Grouch's anti-litter anthem on Sesame Street.
9. Paul Anka wasn't the only one attempting to write English lyrics to Comme d'habitude in 1968. A then unknown singer/songwriter in the UK had been asked by his music publisher to write English lyrics for it as well. He came up with a song called Even a Fool Learns to Love. The publishers didn't like it, so it was never recorded. However, the songwriter in question liked the French song enough to play with it, rework the chords, write new lyrics and release it on an album in 1971. The songwriter was David Bowie and the resulting song was Life on Mars. On the album cover, the song is noted as "inspired by Frankie".
10. Singing My Way in Karaoke bars in the Philippines can be dangerous. There was a phenomenon there known as the My Way killings, where anything up to 12 fatal disputes broke out in Karaoke bars over the singing of the song. In one incident, a man was shot dead by the bouncer in the bar who objected to the song being sung out of tune. Some Filipinos, even those who love the song, will not sing it in public in order to avoid trouble. No-one is sure whether it's simply coincidence (violence in Karaoke bars in the Philippines is common, and it's a popular song) or if something about the song itself winds people up.