"My Way" is a song popularized in 1969 by Frank Sinatra set to the music of the French song "Comme dhabitude" composed by Jacques Revaux with lyrics by Gilles Thibaut and Claude François and first performed in 1967 by Claude François. Its English lyrics were written by Paul Anka and are unrelated to the original French song. The song was a success for a variety of performers including Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and Sid Vicious. Sinatras version of "My Way" spent 75 weeks in the UK Top 40, which is 2nd place all-time. Background
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 and reworked the track into Comme dhabitude ("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 melodys composers would retain their original share of royalty rights with respect to whatever versions Anka or his designates created or produced.
On April 23 and 30, 2015, as part of 2 vocal overdubbed sessions, Yuzo Kayama performed My Way with the earlier record of Frank Sinatra as a duet. Adaptations
Besides translations more or less faithful to the original, some artists have set unrelated lyrics to the same tune. Jozsef Gregor the renowned Hungarian bass-baritone/basso buffo recorded the song with Andras Ruszanovs Hungarian love themed lyrics version in 1996. Two years later, he sang this version in one of the most popular TV show in Budapest, since then this version has been permanently on the playlists of numerous radio stations in Hungary. Mexican singer Vicente Fernandez did a Spanish language version, named "A Mi Manera". Public use
The song is popularly associated with nostalgia to an individuals lifetime of events. Surveys beginning in 2005 have often reported that "My Way" has been the song most frequently played at funeral services in the UK. "My Way" is also a popular karaoke song around the world. However, it has been reported to cause numerous incidents of violence and homicide among karaoke singers in the Philippines, referred to in the media as the My Way killings, which has led to the song being banned in many Filipino bars.The songs association with Sinatra led to Mikhail Gorbachevs policy of allowing other states in the Warsaw Pact to make their own policy decisions being nicknamed the Sinatra Doctrine, referencing My Ways lyrics about doing things your own way.