I said, 'Hey, I can write it, but I'm not the guy to sing it.' It was for Frank, no one else.' ĭespite this, Anka would record the song in 1969 very shortly after Sinatra's recording was released. '' Anka asserted: 'When my record company caught wind of it, they were very pissed that I didn't keep it for myself. I used to be around steam rooms with the Rat Pack guys-they liked to talk like Mob guys, even though they would have been scared of their own shadows.Īnka finished the song at 5 in the morning: 'I called Frank up in Nevada-he was at Caesars Palace – and said, 'I've got something really special for you. I used words I would never use: 'I ate it up and spit it out.' But that's the way he talked. We were in the 'me generation' and Frank became the guy for me to use to say that. I'm sick of it I'm getting the hell out.' īack in New York, Anka re-wrote the original French song for Sinatra, subtly altering the melodic structure and changing the lyrics:Īt one o'clock in the morning, I sat down at an old IBM electric typewriter and said, 'If Frank were writing this, what would he say?' And I started, metaphorically, 'And now the end is near.' I read a lot of periodicals, and I noticed everything was 'my this' and 'my that'. Some time later, Anka had a dinner in Florida with Frank Sinatra and 'a couple of Mob guys' during which Sinatra said: 'I'm quitting the business. He acquired adaptation, recording, and publishing rights for the nominal but formal consideration of one dollar, subject to the provision that the melody's composers would retain their original share of royalty rights with respect to whatever versions Anka or his designates created or produced. He flew to Paris to negotiate the rights to the song. Paul Anka heard the French original, while on holiday in the south of France. It was released in November 1967 and was at the top of the French pop chart for one week in February 1968. Revaux rejected a version by Hervé Villard and reworked the track into Comme d'habitude ('As usual') with the help of Claude François. According to Revaux, the demo was then sent to Petula Clark, Dalida, and Claude François, to no avail. In 1967, Jacques Revaux wrote a ballad named 'For Me', with English lyrics about a couple falling out of love. 4.4 Margaret Mackie and Jamie Lee Morley.

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