My Way

The melody began as Comme d'habitude, written in 1967 by Jacques Revaux with Claude François and Gilles Thibaut, a song about a marriage going through its motions. Paul Anka heard it in France, bought the rights for a nominal sum and wrote an entirely new English lyric with Frank Sinatra's retirement in mind; Sinatra recorded it on 30 December 1968. David Bowie had earlier been asked to write English words, and when his version was rejected he reworked the idea into Life on Mars?, which mocks the result on its sleeve.