Paul Anka – My Way (Guitar)
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"My Way" is a song written by Paul Anka and set to music based on the French song "Comme d'habitude" co-composed, co-written and performed in 1967 by Claude François. Anka's English lyrics are unrelated
to the original French song. Paul heard the original 1967 French pop song, Comme d'habitude (As Usual)
performed by Claude François, while on holiday in the south of France. He flew to Paris to negotiate
the rights to the song. Sometime 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. I'm sick of it; I'm getting the
hell out". Back in New York, Anka re-wrote the original French song for Sinatra, subtly altering the
melodic structure and changing the lyrics. "At one o'clock in the morning, Paul sat down at an old IBM
electric typewriter and said, 'If Frank were writing this, what would he say?' So Paul started,
metaphorically, 'And now the end is near.' he read a lot of periodicals, and noticed everything was
'my this' and 'my that'. Paul said we were in the 'me generation' and Frank became the guy for me to
use to say that. Anka used words like: 'I ate it up and spit it out.' On his own way of talking. Anka
finished the song at 5 am. "I called Frank up in Nevada – he was at Caesar's Palace – and said, 'I've
got something really special for you. Paul said at loud during the recording at the record company:
'Hey, I can write it, but I'm not the guy to sing it'. It reached No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart
and No. 2 on the Easy Listening chart in the US. In the UK, the single achieved a still unmatched record,
becoming the recording with the most weeks inside the Top 40, spending 75 weeks from April 1969 to
September 1971. It spent a further 49 weeks in the Top 75. This is a song that we can all feel related
and say: "It's My Life".
PAY ATTENTION TO THE CHORDS STRUCTURE
D/F# 004232
F#m/A 000222
D7 557575
B7 797877
Em 009987
D/A 557775
Am6 002212
Bm 004432
Gm7 353333
A7 575655
G/B 009787
Em7 000787
G 355433
PAY ATTENTION TO THE CHORDS STRUCTURE
[Verse 1]
D/F# F#m/A And now, the end is near Am6 B7 And so I face, the final curtain Em Em7 My friend, I'll say it clear A7 D/F# I'll state my case, of which I'm certain
[Verse 2]
D/A D7 I've lived, a life that's full G Gm7 I've traveled each, and every highway D/A A7 But more, much more than this G/B D/F# I did it my way
[Verse 3]
D/F# F#m/A Regrets, I've had a few Am6 B7 But then again, too few to mention Em Em7 I did, what I had to do A7 D/F# And saw it through, without exemption
[Verse 4]
D/A D7 I planned, each chartered course G Gm7 Each careful step, along the byway D/A A7 But more, much more than this G/B D/F# I did it my way
[Verse 5]
D/F# D7 Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew G When I bit off, more than I could chew Em A7 But through it all, when there was doubt F#m/A Bm I ate it up, and spit it out Em A7 I faced it all, and I stood tall G/B D/F# And did it my way
[Verse 6]
D/F# F#m/A I've loved, I've laughed and cried Am6 B7 I've had my fill, my share of losing Em Em7 And now, as tears subside A7 D/F# I find it all so amusing
[Verse 7]
D/A D7 To think, I did all that G Gm7 And may I say, not in a shy way D/F# A7 Oh no, Oh no, not me G/B D/F# I did it my way
[Verse 8]
D/F# D7 For what is a man, what has he got? G If not himself, then he has naught Em A7 To say the things, he truly feels F#m/A Bm And not the words, of one who kneels Em A7 The record shows, I took the blows G/B D/F# And did it my way