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My Way
Words & Music by Paul Anka & Jacques Revaux (Original title "Comme d'Habitude")Recorded by Frank Sinatra , 1969 (#27)
Also recorded by Elvis Presley, 1977(#22)
D F#m F#m7 B7
And now the end is near, and so I face the final curtain;
Em B+ Em A7 D
My friend, I'll say it clear, I'll state my case of which I'm certain.
D DM7 D7 G Gm
I've lived a life that's full, I've traveled each and every highway,
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And more, much more than this, I did it my way.
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Regrets? I've had a few...but then again, too few to mention;
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I did what I had to do, and saw it through without exemption.
D DM7 D7 G Gm
I planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway;
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But more, much more than this, I did it my way.
A7 D DM7 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,
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I ate it up and spit it out.
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I faced it all, and I stood tall, and did it my way.
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I've loved, I've laughed and cried; I've had my fill, my share of losing.
Em B+ Em A7 D
And now, as tears subside, I find it all so amusing.
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To think, I did all that...and may I say, not in a shy way,
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Oh no, oh no not me, I did it my way.
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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,
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And not the words of one who kneels;
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The record shows I took the blows and did it my way.
It always struck me as somewhat odd that Elvis would record "My Way" when virtually every element of his career had been Col. Tom Parker's way. It also struck me as possibly slightly unfair that Presley's version would co-opt the link between this song and Sinatra, who so clearly did things his way. End of soap box tirade.