My Way
Original by Frank Sinatra, Cover by Sid Vicious
It would be reasonable to think that a song like My Way by an artist like Frank Sinatra would be somewhat sacred and perhaps in bad taste to cover in an untraditional way. But being authentic is really the only code amongst artists. Even making a mockery of an original song can be acceptable if the cover version comes from an authentic place. That is the case with Sid Vicious’s cover of the classic song My Way.
The history of the song My Way is quite interesting. It began as a ballad named For Me written in 1967 by the French songwriter Jacques Revaux. After the demo of the song was rejected by several artists, Revaux partnered with French singer/songwriter Claude Francois and reworked the song into Comme d’habitude (“As Usual” in English). The new song was released by Francois in late 1967 and actually made it to the top of the French pop chart in February of 1968.
The Canadian singer and songwriting legend Paul Anka heard the song while on vacation in France and negotiated a deal where he acquired the recording and publishing rights for the song with the intention of re-writing the lyrics. The deal included the provision that Revaux and Francois would retain their shares of the writers royalties.
Anka was friends with Frank Sinatra from the early age of 16 after performing at the Sands, the once very popular hotel/casino/showroom in Las Vegas, where Sinatra headlined for many years in the 1960s as part of the infamous Rat Pack. Sinatra had asked Anka to write songs for his final album and from the first time he heard As Usual in France, Anka knew the song would be perfect for Sinatra.
After Anka re-wrote the lyrics of the French song, he sent it to Sinatra and Sinatra recorded it in one take and released the new version, now titled My Way, in late 1968. Sinatra’s version of My Way would go on to sell millions of copies and peaked at number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 2 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart. My Way would also go on to become Sinatra’s signature song and the title of his final album.
Several other artists released their own versions of My Way, including Paul Anka himself. Elvis Presley performed and released a version in the mid 1970s which would go on to become one of his most popular songs.
But it was in 1978, when Sex Pistols’ bassist Sid Vicious recorded and released a very different version of the song. Vicious, one of the most well-known icons of the punk rock scene, changed many of the words of the original song and sped up the tempo to effectively turn My Way into a legitimate punk rock song.
Vicious’s arrangement of My Way starts as a ballad with orchestra, as the original is, but with Vicious singing the first verse in a way that seems to be mocking both the lyrics and the “crooner” style of singing that the original song is known for.
In the second verse, the tempo picks up and the band kicks in and Vicious starts singing with more attitude, hinting that he is indeed going to take the song and do it his way.
As the song gets progressively more chaotic, Vicious’s performance increasingly reflects the punk style he was known for. Although the song still sounds like a cover song, as the melody isn’t typical of the way Vicious was known to write songs, he delivers all the apathy and angst one would expect from the punk rock scene legend.
Just as My Way became Sinatra’s signature song and a perfect song to signal the end of his career, it was also the perfect song for Sid Vicious to cover. The way two artists with such opposing styles can take a song and sing it with authenticity and communicate it in such a literal sense says a lot about the quality of the songwriting and the universal appeal of the song. Both Sinatra and Vicious took My Way and both performed it their own way to perfection.
