'No Regrets' and 'My Way'

The popularity of last year's movie "La Vie en Rose" propelled the music of French singer Edith Piaf to the playlist of a few more stereos.

Upon listening to Piaf's music, the song "Non, je ne Regrette Rien," commonly referred to as "No Regrets," has an unmistakable melody similar to Frank Sinatra's "My Way."

In fact, while Piaf is singing "that is my crying for you" toward the end of the song, you can almost hear Sinatra singing "I did it my way" over the same score.

So did Paul Anka, who wrote "My Way" for Sinatra in 1969, copy the melody of "No Regrets"?

Sort of.

"No Regrets" was composed by Charles Dumont with lyrics by Michel Vaucaire in 1956, and was made famous by Piaf in 1960.

But the melody of "My Way" is actually inspired by the French song "Comme d'habitude," which was composed by Claude Francois and Jacques Revaux in 1967.

So it was Francois and Revaux who actually borrowed from their French countrymen, Dumont and Vaucaire, who had written the popular melody 11 years earlier.

"No Regrets" is simply a great song that inspired others.

And it inspired the song for which Ol' Blue Eyes is arguably most remembered.

Comments

[Cassandra]

I love that song. It's one of the French classics. But i never knew Paul Anka wrote My Way.

[Scott]

"Imitation is the highest form of flattery" (???)

[Rocket French]

This is a very clear and detailed article on "No Regrets". I didn't know that the melody of "My Way" was actually inspired by "No Regrets".
Cathy