History of a vintage song: My Way by Frank Sinatra

First and foremost, happiest start of springtime wishes! And to those south of the equator, joyful start of autumn wishes alike. No matter if the weather in your area is jiving with the calendar, the fact remains that winter is on its way out the door and we'll soon be rotating in our warm weather threads, wearing open toed shoes, and awakening, like the earth itself, to all of pleasures, beauties and wonders of this gentle, marvelous season!

Last year I had the pleasure of interviewing big band jazz musician Glenn Crytzer. I capped off that post by discussing how I'd like to involve more music as part of my blog and that desire has not wavered. With spring's return, I feel like cranking up the volume on life and the tunes I listen to alike, and as such put on my thinking cap as to how I, someone who adores music but is not a musician or singer themselves, could do that on a regular basis.

Given the very nature of this blog, the answer burst out at me quite quickly: start a new randomly occurring blog post series in which I shine the spotlight on a particular vintage song and by extension the artist or group behind it (of course some songs have been covered many times by a wide range of artists and in such instances, I will likely focus on the - or one of the - best known/most famous).

My tastes in music, as in so many areas of my life, is eclectic. I was fortunate to have grown up in a home where music was highly appreciated and where a vast array of genres and artists were on heavy rotation. From Motown to Mozart, The Bee Gees to The Cure, Abba to ZZ Top, on vinyl, 8-track, cassette tape, and CD, music was a both a point and a highlight of my youth and the appreciation for it that took root then has only deepened as time has passed.

As a mid-century vintage lover, wearer and blogger, I'm sometimes asked if I "only listen to vintage (aka, in many people's minds, correspondingly 1930s - 1950s) music". I understand why some folks might think as much, but the answer to that query is a resounding "no!".

I certainly adore and have many favourites from that time period, but my tastes in music far broader and I listen to songs that are hundreds of years old (classical music) to bracingly new releases from artists around the world. I couldn't personally imagine not enjoying at least a few different types of music and feel that limiting oneself in such a way would be akin to, by choice, only eating a tiny handful of foods or just watching a couple of TV shows throughout your whole life.

For the sake of this post series however, I am going to focus on vintage songs, though not strictly ones from the 1930s - 50s, particularly since I am massive fan of classic rock from the 1960s, 70s and 80s and it would be a disservice to fellow music lovers everywhere if I didn't feature a wide range of genres, time frames and artists.

So all that said, on with the show! But what song to pick first? It wasn't an easy choice at all, thanks to the unending bevy of fantastic, beautiful, culturally significant and/or just plain fun tunes that have been produced over the years. Ultimately, my gut kept going back to the same song however, one that Tony and I both adore.
 
Maestro, a drum roll, if you please.......
 
For the first ever edition of History of a Vintage Song, let's take a peek at none other than Frank Sinatra's 1969 classic, My Way.



{Man, legend, and sensational crooner, Frank Sinatra's dynamic career spanned both decades and generations, ensuring his rightful place as one of the best there ever was - a point that was only aided further by his 1969 smash hit "My Way". Vintage image source.}


The lyrics of this song were penned by none other than recording artist Paul Anka and were partnered with music that had originally belonged to a French song called Comme d'habitude (from composers Jacques Revaux and Gilles Thibault). Though the music itself is very similar, the words of the two songs are not the same and deal with different subject matters.

It was while on holiday to the south of France that Anka first heard the French pop song that had been released in 1967. He was struck by the melody (though later claimed that he thought the album itself was "bad") and knew that he wanted to work with it stateside, so he bopped over to Paris to negotiate rights to use the music.

Anka received as much and returned to the States, where he subtly altered the music and rewrote the words. Intending them, from the get-go for Sinatra, whom Anka has said in interviews he kept squarely in mind when doing so, trying to imagine what Sinatra might say were he the one writing the lyrics (right down to the kind of Rat Pack era lingo that Frank himself was using in his daily speech at the time).



{Canadian born teen heartthrob and legendary musician Paul Anka, seen here as a young man, penned the words to My Way, one the most famous songs Frank Sinatra would ever sing. A highly gifted song writer, Anka is also the man behind such hits as Tom Jone's "She's a Lady". Vintage image source.}


Interestingly, Anka's recording company was initially irked that he hadn't kept the song for himself. However, rather sweetly, if one thinks about - he said that he felt that he wasn't the right person to sing the song, specifying from the get-go that he knew it was meant for Frank and Frank alone (though, perhaps not surprisingly, Paul Anka would go on to release the song himself five times, the first of which was in 1969, the same year that Frank's hit debuted on the airwaves).

Sinatra's version was first recorded on December 30, 1968, and was released shortly thereafter on an eponymously named single and (full) album.

{The album cover of Frank Sinatra's highly successful and hugely popular My Way album from 1969.}
In the midst of an era filled with politic ballads, fluffy pop songs, experimental sounds, and the melodies of the hippie counterculture, My Way - itself symbolic in many regards of the emergence of independence for numerous groups in society at the time - was a bold, no holds barred celebration of the melodic power ballads, if you were, that made artists like Frank, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, and many others of their era irrefutable stars and beloved households names.

As a song and a message, it is thrilling. One cannot listen to My Way and not feel inspired, energized and fueled by the soul and strength that Frank poured into every silken voice filled word.

Even in the electrically charged, uncertain times that it was released in, My Way was very well received by the listening public, reaching the 27th spot on Billboard's Hot 100 chart and the second spot on the Easy Listening chart in the United States.

Across the pond in the UK, May Way spent a still-unmatched record of the most number of weeks (75) a song has ever remained in the Top 40, with an additional forty-nine weeks in the Top 75.

                       

{Sinatra performing My Way on stage to a live crowd in London, England in 1971.}

Though more than 100 (seriously!) different artists around the world have since recorded their own versions of My Way, not surprisingly, Frank's original remains the seminal standard and most beloved of them all. 

Recorded at a time when Sinatra had already been in the music business for more than 30 years, experiencing waves of popularity and decline alike in both the 50s and 60s, this song cemented his place in the halls of the best musicians of all-time. 

It was brazen, honest and spoke deeply to Frank's very full life and career itself. With confidence, swagger and unmatched showmanship, Sinatra belted out that "I took the blows and did it my way" and the world nodded. The public knew, and still knows, that he did. That he was the king of his era's music and a timeless classic in the same go. 

Fascinatingly, various sources, including Sinatra's daughter Tina herself, have said that Frank wasn't a huge fan of a song that many hold up as the crowning glory of his illustrious, multi-decade spanning career. 

Personally however, I have a hard time believing that in his heart of hearts, he didn't appreciated and secretly like, if not love, the song that further established his place as one of the greatest and most talented singers to ever walk the face of the earth.

As someone for whom personal independence (something that at various points I have had had to fight tooth and nail for) has always been of unmatched importance, My Way has been an anthem of sorts for me throughout my life. I am not alone on this front in the slightest. 

{Image source}

Countless people for decades now have been touched and motivated by the "walk your own path" message that this My Way encourages. And even if it wasn't personally Sinatra's absolute favourite tune, I can't help but think that, surely, he must have loved knowing what an important role it had on the lives of countless others - both in the moment and for the rest of time - who have been inspired to "do it their own way", too, because of this incredible song.