Answer Me, My Love

"Answer Me, My Love" is a popular song, originally written (with German lyrics, under the title "Mütterlein") by Gerhard Winkler and Fred Rauch. The English lyrics were written by Carl Sigman in 1953.

Sigman first wrote the song as a religious-themed song, "Answer Me," (in which the first line reads "Answer me, Lord above") as a question to God about why the singer has lost his lover, which became a joint #1 hit both for Frankie Laine and David Whitfield in the United Kingdom in November 1953. This was the only time in UK chart history that two versions of the same song tied at the top. The BBC banned the song because of the "religious" lyrics and Sigman then rewrote them to address the lost lover directly, under the title "Answer Me, My Love." Whitfield then re-recorded the number with the new lyrics so as to get BBC air-plays. Both his versions have appeared on CD.Laine went back into then Studios of Columbia and recorded Answer Me, My Love which was released in the UK but failed to overtake the original - many considered that this was due to the poor quality of the backing which lacked the 'atmosphere' of the original Paul Weston arrangement.

The best-selling version of the song was recorded by Nat King Cole in 1954. The recording was released by Capitol Records as catalog number 2687. The record first reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on February 24, 1954 and lasted 19 weeks on the chart, peaking at #6.

In 2000, it was performed by Joni Mitchell on an album, Both Sides Now. It was performed in concert (but not recorded) by Bob Dylan in the early 1990s.

Recorded versions

• Gene Ammons
• Petula Clark (1965)
• Nat King Cole (1954)
• Harry Connick, Jr. (2009)
• Bing Crosby
• The Happenings
• Engelbert Humperdinck
• Frankie Laine (1953)
• Gisele MacKenzie
• Joni Mitchell
• Ray Peterson
• Gene Pitney
• Johnny Rivers
• Don Shirley
• Ray Stevens (1968)
• Jerry Vale (1972)
• David Whitfield UK 1953 (two versions, with different lyrics)
• Barbara Dickson UK 1976
• Bryan Ferry
• Betty Buckley