“My Way”: The Baby Daddy of “Mars” and more

Did you know that Bowie wrote English lyrics for a song that’d later become My Way? The tune was from the French song Comme d'habitude. It was composed by Jacques Revaux and released in 1967 by French singer Claude François.

Legend goes that Paul Anka heard the song on the radio during a French holiday and decided to secure the song’s rights. Anka would write English lyrics, based loosely on the original and a conversation Anka had with Frank Sinatra over dinner. During dinner Sinatra would claim that he was planning to leave show business. That night, Anka wrote the lyrics with Sinatra in mind and made subtle changes to the original’s melody. Anka brought it to Sinatra who released the song in 1969. It was an international smash.

Bowie heard the Sinatra song, recognizing it as the tune he worked on. He’d composed Life on Mars as revenge, borrowing some of the song’s structure.

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