- For the original French hit written by Charles Trenet, see La mer (song)
- For other uses, see Beyond the Sea
"Beyond the Sea" is a 1946 contemporary pop song with music taken from the song "La Mer" by Charles Trenet and lyrics by Jack Lawrence.
Trenet had composed "La Mer" (which means "The Sea") with French lyrics totally different and unrelated to the English language version that Lawrence composed. Trenet's French version was a homage and ode to the changing moods of the sea, while Lawrence, by just adding one word "Beyond" to the title, gave him the start whereby he made the song into one of a lover pining for a lost love.[1]
[edit] Versions
It has been recorded by many artists, but Bobby Darin's version released in 1959 is the best known by many, reaching #6 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Prior to Bobby Darin, two recordings reached the Billboard Hot 100 top 40. Benny Goodman version in 1948 and pianist Roger Williams' version in 1955. It has been recorded by Mantovani and Gisele MacKenzie.
American R&B singer George Benson recorded a R&B version of the song under the title "Beyond The Sea (La Mer)". It was released on Warner Bros.. This version entered the UK Singles Chart on 20 April 1985. It reached a peak position of number 60, and remained in the chart for 3 weeks. [2]
Another recording of the song released in 1965 as the B-side of American folk-rock band We Five's #1-hit "You Were On My Mind" is also well-known. Robbie Williams included the song on his album Swing When You're Winning in 2001, which was used in the 2003 Disney film Finding Nemo. The Irish musical group Celtic Woman covered this song for their two albums, A New Journey and The Greatest Journey Essential Collection, and in each album, Hayley Westenra and Chloë Agnew respectfuly sing a solo in the first verse. In 1998, it was released in a swing-tempo cover by Royal Crown Revue on the Mugsy's Move album. In the movie 'A Life Less Ordinary, it was sung by Ewan McGregor and Cameron Diaz. It bookends Barry Manilow's 2006 release The Greatest Songs of the Fifties. Westlife did a cover of the song as a digital download release in UK in 2004.
[edit] In popular culture
- Bobby Darin's recording has been used in many films, TV shows and video games, including Apollo 13, Austin Powers in Goldmember, Diner, Goodfellas, Lost, Black Rain, The X-Files, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, Finding Nemo and BioShock.
- A portion of Bobby Darin's recording was played during the splashdown and post-recovery of Alan Shepard's Freedom 7 in the first episode of the 1998 HBO miniseries, From the Earth to the Moon.
- The song was also played in a 2005 commercial for Carnival Cruise Lines.
- Kevin Spacey sang the song in the movie Beyond the Sea, a biopic about Bobby Darin, in a "fantasy" sequence leading up to his marriage to Sandra Dee.
- Cary Grant hums the tune in the 1952 movie Room for One More.
- On the television series American Dreams, Duncan Sheik performed the song while playing the role of Bobby Darin.
- The song was remixed by Moby and Oscar The Punk on the BioShock EP Game soundtrack.
- An instrumental version of the song is heard at the end of the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage at Disneyland.
- A version of this song was sung by Kathryn Williams for the title track of The Cafe (TV series), a Sky TV series initially screened in the last quarter of 2011 (in the UK).[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ Soeder, John (December 27, 2004). - "Darin Continues to be Defined by Single ‘Sea’". - The Plain Dealer.
—Hedgpeth, Steve (January 10, 2005). - "In any language, it's a hit - RICKY RETRO". - The Star-Ledger.
—Schudel, Matt (March 18, 2009). - "Composer's Hits Helped Singers Such as Sinatra". - The Washington Post.
- ^ Rice, Tim; Rice, Jonathan; Gambaccini, Paul (1990), Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums, Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness World Records and Guinness Publishing, ISBN 0-85112-398-8
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