This Is My Song (1967 song)
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| "This Is My Song" | |||||
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| Single by Petula Clark | |||||
| from the album These Are My Songs | |||||
| B-side | "High" (US) "The Show Is Over" (UK) |
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| Released | February 1967 | ||||
| Format | Vinyl | ||||
| Recorded | 1966 | ||||
| Genre | Pop, Vocal | ||||
| Length | 3:16 | ||||
| Label |  Pye 7N 17258 (UK) Warner Bros. 7002 (US) Vogue V 4185 (FRA) |
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| Writer(s) | Charlie Chaplin | ||||
| Producer | Sonny Burke | ||||
| Petula Clark singles chronology | |||||
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"This Is My Song" is a composition by Charlie Chaplin written in 1966. The song was intended for the film, A Countess from Hong Kong, which Chaplin wrote and directed. Chaplin saw his film as a throwback to the shipboard romances which were popular in the 1930s and wrote "This Is My Song" with the intent of evoking that era: to reinforce the evocation Chaplin was determined to have Al Jolson sing the song - so determined that he only accepted the advisement that Jolson had died in 1950 when shown a photograph of Jolson's tombstone. Ultimately, the song would be featured in the film only as an instrumental.
After being disillusioned in regard to Jolson, Chaplin offered "This Is My Song" to Petula Clark who had a home in Switzerland near his residence. In a single session, Clark recorded the song in French ("C'est Ma Chanson" - lyrics by Pierre Delanoë), German ("Love, So Heisst Mein Song" - lyrics by Joachim Relin) and Italian ("Cara Felicita" - lyrics by Ciro Bertini) as well as English. Clark found the song's English lyrics mawkish and attempted to block the single release of that version. Instead, she found herself atop the UK charts for the first time in six years when "This Is My Song" reached number one on the UK Top Fifty dated 18 February 1967.
"This Is My Song" was number one for two weeks in the UK; it was also number one for four weeks in Ireland and six weeks in Australia, with number-one rankings also achieved in Rhodesia, South Africa and on the Dutch charts for both the Netherlands and Belgium. "This Is My Song" also earned hit status in India (#5), New Zealand (#15) and Norway (#6). In Germany, the English version competed with the German language version with the former more successful, reaching number 16 while "Love, So Heisst Mein Song" peaked at number 23. In its North American single release - which omitted the opening section - "This Is My Song" reached number three U.S. and number four in Canada. "Cara Felicita" and "C'est Ma Chanson" were also number-one hits in Italy and France, respectively. The French version not only reached number three on the chart for Belgium's French-speaking sector but also number ten on that country's Dutch chart where the English version had hit number one.
The uncertainty over the single release of Clark's English version led to a cover of "This Is My Song" being cut by Harry Secombe with Wally Stott responsible for arranging and conducting. Secombe himself found the lyrics risible - several takes were necessitated due to his bursting into laughter when he tried to sing the line: "I care not what the world may say". Despite the eventual UK release of Clark's version as a single "This Is My Song"'s appeal was strong enough to sustain two versions high on the chart. Secombe's version debuted at number 44 on 25 February 1967 (the second week Clark's version was number one) to rise as high as number two on the chart dated 1 April (which featured Clark's version at number eight). Clark's previous UK number-one song, "Sailor", had also had a rival version - in that instance by Anne Shelton - which had reached the top ten (Wally Stott had also overseen the Shelton recording) while Clark's attempt to block the release of the English version of "This Is My Song" recalls her attempt to block the release of "My Love", which would become her second U.S. number-one hit. The popularity of both songs has demanded their inclusion in any concert Clark gives in the English speaking world. She generally performs "This Is My Song" with a mixture of its English and French lyrics. Despite her well-known dislike for the song, the one published biography of Clark written to date - by Andrea Kon in 1983 - is entitled This Is My Song (W.H. Allen & Co. Ltd.).
Although Clark had become a fixture on the upper realms of the U.S. charts via her collaboration with writer/producer Tony Hatch on "Downtown", her corresponding UK success had been more hit-and-miss. The last two singles prior to "This Is My Song": "Who Am I?" and "Colour My World" had failed to rank in the UK Top 50 making the strong UK showing of "This Is My Song" - Clark's first single release since "Downtown" neither written nor produced by Hatch - the more remarkable. The follow-up single "Don't Sleep in the Subway" resumed the Clark/Hatch collaboration and was a UK hit (#12) but like all Clark's releases after "This Is My Song" would fail to return her to the UK Top Ten.[1]
[edit] Cover versions
The Seekers recorded a version of "This Is My Song" in 1967. The track was unreleased until 1995 when it was included on The Seekers - Complete box set. On the Seekers' Night of Nights...Live! release from 2002, "This Is My Song" follows "Ten Thousand Years Ago" - which only features the group's male members - to showcase Judith Durham as a solo vocalist.
"This Is My Song" has also been recorded by Frank Sinatra, Jim Nabors, James Darren, Connie Francis (live version) and Engelbert Humperdinck (whose "Release Me" succeeded Clark's version of "This Is My Song" at #1 UK and kept Secombe's version at #2).
[edit] References
| Preceded by "I'm a Believer" by The Monkees |
UK number one single 16 February 1967 for two weeks |
Succeeded by "Release Me (And Let Me Love Again)" by Engelbert Humperdinck |
