Artist: Claude François
Author: Jacques Revaux/Claude François/Gilles Thibaut
Label: Flèche
Year: 1967
After the break-up with France Gall. Two years earlier Jacques Revaux proposed the melody to Michel Sardou with no reaction.
Covers:
David Bowie [translated it as Even A Fool Learns To Love; demo with Claude François' version in the background, never released, just used in an Alan Yentob documentary]
Paul Anka [translated it as My Way]
Frank Sinatra [also as My Way; international hit]
Anita Kerr Singers [idem]
Brook Benton [idem]
Dorothy Squires [idem; hit UK]
David Bowie [part of the melody in Life On Mars; sort of revenge (see footnote)]
Ron Davis [as Mijn Leven (My Life) shortly before his accidental death]
Elvis Presley [live on lp Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite, hit UK in '77]
Michel Sardou [at last, following the death of Claude François, he finally admitted he made a mistake declining the original]
Toon Hermans [as De Zwerver]
Sid Vicious [shock-value My Way in the wake of Elvis' death]
George Thorogood [as My Way]
André Hazes [as Waarom]
IJf Blokker [as Mijn Thee]
Gipsy Kings [as A Mi Manera]
Zangeres Zonder Naam [as Mijn Leven]
Will Tura [as My Way on Tura In Symfonie and again after Frank Sinatra had died as Alleen Gaan]
Shane MacGowan [hit UK]
Party Animals [dance hit NL]
Herman Brood [outtake Back On The Corner sessions; considered to be too sentimental; first heard at his funeral, July 16th 2001; posthumous n°1 NL, his one and only]
Belle Perez [as A Mi Manera]
Raymond Van het Groenewoud [as Zoals Gewoonlijk]
Il Divo [as A Mi Manera]
Robbie Williams [in film Happy Feet]
Thomas Dutronc [with Larry Gold]
Ol' Blue Eyes' version wasn't even the first in English, nor was Paul Anka's, even though he was the one who translated Comme d'habitude as My Way. The first one to attempt a translation was a young David Bowie, pre Space Oddity in January 1968. His Even A Fool Learns To Love influenced Paul Anka's translation in a way. Bowie's translation was never released. This information comes from Kenneth Pitt's biography: Bowie - The Pitt Report. That's where you can read the lyrics to Even A Fool Learns To Know. The original writers objected against Bowie's release. They only authorized for big names on the song. In came Paul Anka, Sinatra, Presley and all the others. Sid Vicious, Nina Hagen, The Bollock Brothers and Herman Brood had to wait until composer Clo Clo died. My Boy (as done by Richard Harris and Elvis Presley) was also written by François; see: Parce-que je t'aime mon enfant.
If you noticed blunt omissions, mis-interpretations or even out-and-out errors,
please let me know:
Arnold Rypens
Rozenlaan 65
B-2840 Reet (Rumst)