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Never on Sunday (song)
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Wikipedia article
"'Never on Sunday'", also known by its original Greek title "'Ta Pedi tou Pire'" (" ", The Children of Piraeus), is a popular song written by Manos Hatzidakis and first sung by Melina Mercouri in the film of the same name, directed by Jules Dassin and starring Mercouri. The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1960, a first for a foreign-language picture. The film score was first released on 1 October 1960 by United Artists Records. The song has since been recorded by numerous artists, and has gained various degrees of success throughout the world. The opening of the song bears some resemblance to that of Poinciana.
Background
"Never on Sunday" was written by Manos Hadjidakis as "Ta Pedia tou Pirea" (The Children of Piraeus). His original Greek lyrics, along with the foreign translations in German, French, Italian and Spanish do not mention "Never on Sunday" (as found in the English lyrics), but rather tell the story of the main female character of the film, Illya (Mercouri). Illya is a jolly woman who sings of her joyful life in her port town of Piraeus ("If I search the world over/I'll find no other port/Which has the magic/Of my Port Piraeus"). Although she earns her money as a prostitute, she longs to meet a man someday who is just as full of 'joie de vivre' as she is herself.
In 1960, the song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, a first for a foreign-language picture since the Academy began to recognize achievements in this category in 1934.
Recordings
The song has been recorded in a number of languages since its release:
* Greek (as " ") by Melina Mercouri, Nana Mouskouri, and Pink Martini.
* English: An orchestral version recorded by Don Costa reached number 19 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100 in 1960, then returned to the 'Billboard' Top 40 when reissued in 1961. His version also peaked at #27 in the UK Singles Chart. Following the success of the orchestral version as well as the Oscar win, an English language version of the song was commissioned to be written especially to match the title of the film. The lyrics to the English version of the song were written by Billy Towne. A vocal of the song by The Chordettes reached number 13 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100 chart in 1961, making it their final Top 40 hit in the United States. It was also recorded by Billy Eckstine, Bing Crosby, Lena Horne, Doris Day, Andy Williams, Trini Lopez, The 4 Seasons, Connie Francis, Julie London, Eartha Kitt, Petula Clark, Lale Andersen, Ann-Margret, and the New Christy Minstrels, plus as an instrumental by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass and James Last. The Ventures released a version on their 1963 Dolton album 'The Ventures Play Telstar and the Lonely Bull', as did The Baskerville Hounds on their 1967 Dot Records album 'The Baskerville Hounds Featuring Space Rock, Part 2'.
* In the United Kingdom, there were five versions in the UK Singles Chart. They were Don Costa, reached number 27; Chaquito (actually Johnny Gregory), reached number 50; Lynn Cornell with the only vocal version in the UK chart, reached number 30; Makadopulos and his Greek Serenaders, reached number 36; and Manuel and his Music of The Mountains (actually Geoff Love), which peaked at number 29.Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 333. .
* Italian (as "Uno a te, uno a me") by Dalida, Milva, Nilla Pizzi, Isabella Fedeli.
* French (as "Les enfants du Pire") by Dalida, Melina Mercouri, Daro Moreno. Dalida's French version of this song topped French singles chart in 1960.
* Spanish (as "Los nios del Pireo") by Dalida. "Nunca en Domingo" by Xiomara Alfaro.
* German: Lale Andersen scored a number one hit in 1960 with the German-language version of the song titled "Ein Schiff wird kommen". It was also covered by Dalida, Caterina Valente, Lys Assia, Nana Mouskouri, Helmuth Brandenburg and Melina Mercouri. In 1982 the Neue Deutsche Welle band Der Moderne Man recorded a gay themed new wave version named "Blaue Matrosen" with the same German lyrics of Lale Andersen's version, but sung by a man.
* Dutch (as "Nooit op zondag") by Mieke Telkamp, based on the melody.
* Yiddish (as "Nisht af zintuk") by The Barry Sisters.
* Polish (as "Dzieci Pireusu") by Maria Koterbska and duo of actors Hanna leszyska & Jacek Wjcicki.
* Czech (as "Dti z Pirea", 1962) by Milan Chladil & Yvetta Simonov.
* Serbian (as " ") by Lola Novakovi and Ljiljana Petrovi.
* Croatian (as "Nikad nedjeljom") by Ksenia Prohaska.
* Slovenian (as "Otroci Pireja") by Helena Blagne.
* Cantonese (as "") by Cheng Gwan-min (), Tang Kee-chan (), and Cheng Pik Ying () in 1962. Another cover version was sung by Andy Lau (), Anita Mui (), Sandra Ng (), Ronald Cheng (), Gordon Lam (), Suzanne Chung (), Cherrie Ying () and Lam Chi-chung () in the 2001 film 'Dance of a Dream' (). The song title roughly translates as "Father and Son".
* Mandarin (as "") by Teresa Teng (). The title translates as "Never on Sunday". It was additionally covered by Rebecca Pan () in 1961 and Ouyang Fei Fei () in 1968.
* Portuguese (as "As crianas do Pireu") by Paula Ribas.
* Hindi (as " ") by Usha Uthup on the album "Dekha Dekhi"
* Finnish (as "Ei koskaan sunnuntaisin") by Four Cats, Vieno Kekkonen and Kaarina Heikkinen among others.
*Sinhala (as " ") by Chandu de Silva (a.k.a. Jolly Seeya).
* Hebrew (as " ", that is, "And What Do I Have Left?") by the Givatron.
Other appearances
*In 1962, Chubby Checker released an uptempo version of the song with slightly altered English lyrics ("You can twist it" rather than "You can kiss me" and "You can shake it on a Friday ..." instead of "A Thursday, a Friday ..."). Checker's recording also included a single verse in Greek.
*The song was used again in the 2005 movie 'Munich'.
*James Hill, a Canadian ukulele player, recorded a version of the song on ukulele for his album 'A Flying Leap'.
*Nia Vardalos sang a snippet of the Greek version in her 2009 film 'My Life in Ruins'.
*Los Umbrellos, a Danish musical group, used it as a base for their 1998 signature song, "No Tengo Dinero".
*This song was sung on 'The Muppet Show' by Miss Piggy and Greek pig characters, complete with smashing plates.
*Egyptian guitarist Omar Khorshid recorded an instrumental version of this song.
*Hartford Stage artistic director Darko Tresnjak chose this song to open his production of 'Comedy of Errors' by William Shakespeare.
*Appears in the movie 'Beautiful Girls', however it is not on the soundtrack. This version was performed by Bernie Wyte and his Orchestra.
*The song also can be heard in a scene from the 1999 Kevin Smith movie 'Dogma' (The Chordettes version).
References
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