Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)
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This article is about the song. For the House episode, see Que Sera Sera (House).
"Que Sera Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)"[1] first published in 1956, is a popular song which was written by the Jay Livingston and Ray Evans songwriting team.
The song was featured in Alfred Hitchcock's 1956 film, The Man Who Knew Too Much,[2] with Doris Day and James Stewart in the lead roles. Day's recording of the song for Columbia Records (catalog number 40704) was a hit in both the United States— where it made it to number two on the Billboard charts[3]—and the United Kingdom. From 1968 to 1973, it was the theme song for the situation comedy The Doris Day Show, becoming her signature song.
It reached the Billboard magazine charts in July, 1956. The song received the 1956 Academy Award for Best Original Song with the alternate title "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)."[2] It was the third Oscar in this category for Livingston and Evans, who previously won in 1948 and 1950.
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[edit] Language in title and lyrics
There has been some minor controversy about the reputed language in the song's title and lyrics.[4] The phrase was lyricist Jay Livingston's own variation[5][6][7] on "Che sera sera," a fictional motto which he had seen in the 1954 film The Barefoot Contessa.
Authentic renderings of the phrase "whatever will be" in romance languages include:
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[edit] Cover versions
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This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2007) |
- 1956: Jo Leemans Reached number 1 in Belgian national hitparade with a translated version, just one month after the original version that held the same spot.
- 1963: The High Keys version with a calypso feel and sports whistle accents[8] influenced versions by Earl Royce & the Olympics (1964) and Normie Rowe & the Playboys (1965)
- 1964: The Earl Royce & The Olympics version was recorded by Beatles producer George Martin.[9]
- 1965: The Normie Rowe & The Playboys version was a hit in Australia.
- 1966: Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band on their Hand Clappin' Foot Stompin' Funky-Butt … Live! album.
- 1969: Mary Hopkin recorded it as Apple Records single 1823 with "Fields Of St. Etienne" on the other side.
- 1965: The Chipmunks sang the song on the album The Chipmunks Sing with Children, with the altered line, "I asked old Alvin" instead of "I asked my mother." The version is also on the 1969 album Chipmunks go to the Movies.
- 1973: The funk band Sly & the Family Stone, on their Fresh album .
- 1974: British entertainer Tommy Steele recorded it in a medley with other songs.[10]
- 1977: Husband-and-wife duo The Raes had a big hit in Canada with their disco-pop version of the song.
- 1979: Swedish pop and country singer Kikki Danielsson, on her "Rock'n Yodel" album.
- 1985: Ex-New York Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders recorded a version for his Que Sera, Sera album.
- 1994: K Cera Cera, a K Foundation (KLF) presentation of The Red Army Choir, was a limited edition single released in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
- 1997: Pink Martini rendered a noir version on their debut album, Sympatique.
- 1998: The song was covered by BZN, on the album A symphonic night, volume 2.
- 2000: In the Bollywood film Pukar, a version of the song was performed by Shankar Mahadevan and Kavita Krishnamurthy.
- 2001: Hermes House Band, on their cover albums, The Album, Hermes House Band Greatest Hits and Football Megamix.[11]
- 2003: Jill Sobule does an acoustic version on The Folk Years 2003-2003.
- 2004: Jennifer Terran covers the song on her album Live From Painted Cave.
- 2005: The electronic artist Wax Tailor produced the song "Que Sera" on the Tales of the Forgotten Melodies album with cuts from an earlier version mixed in.
- 2007: David Ryan Harris has covered the song at various solo performances, most recently at a show in The Woodlands, Texas.[citation needed]
- 2007: Damien Rice and David Gray played the song at Live Earth concert, London at Wembley Stadium
[edit] In popular culture
- The song is regularly sung at English football matches when a team is progressing to the next round of a competition that will ultimately lead them to Wembley. The chorus' second line is changed to 'we're going to Wembley, que sera, sera'.
- 1956: "Que Sera Sera"[12][13] was the name given to a US Navy R4D C-47 Skytrain which, on October 31, 1956, was the first aircraft to land on the South Pole (Operation Deep Freeze II).
- 1960: Doris Day also sings just a few lines of song in the film, Please Don't Eat the Daisies (film). Her character, Kate, is out to dinner with husband, Lawrence. She hears the restaurant playing the music to the song and quietly sings the chorus to him.
- 1964: Allan Sherman quoted the words "Que Sera Sera" in the song "That is why America's a nice Italian Name" on his album For Swinging Livers Only.
- 1966: Doris Day and Arthur Godfrey (playing her dad in the movie) both sing a few lines as Godfrey strums his trademark ukelele in the film The Glass Bottom Boat.
- 1978: Eddie Money's hit song "Baby Hold On" featured something of a tribute to "Que Sera Sera" in the lyrics: "Whatever will be will be/The future is ours to see." Money was sued by Livingston & Evans for plagiarizing these lines; they won damages in court.[citation needed]
- 1987: Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam song Lost in Emotion referenced "Que Sera Sera" in the chorus lines.
- 1989: The song was used in the title sequence of the movie Heathers, with an arrangement by Van Dyke Parks and performed by Syd Straw. The Sly & the Family Stone cover version is also in the film.
- 1989: The song was sung near the end of the pilot episode of Quantum Leap by Sam's leap's wife.
- 1994: The song was sung in the Beverly Hills 90210 Season 4 episode, "Greek To Me". It was sung by Jennie Garth, Tori Spelling, Shannen Doherty and Gabrielle Carteris just before the ending credits
- 1995: The song was featured in The Simpsons episode "Bart's Comet."
- 1998: The song was mentioned in the comic strip Liberty Meadows issue #1.
- 1999: The song was used (in Japanese) near the end of the anime movie My Neighbors the Yamadas.
- 1999: The Doris Day version was played in the movie version of Girl, Interrupted.
- 2000: Que Sera Sera wordings were used in Hindi film Pukar starring Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit
- 2000: This song was featured prominently in the movie Nurse Betty.
- 2001: In the anime series Fruits Basket, Shigure Sohma used the quote "Que Sera, Sera" in episode 6 to say "Whatever Will Be, Will Be", a quote he likes to use in the manga of the same name.
- 2001: Que Sera Sera is in the song lyric "Life is Good" on the Maaya Sakamoto album Lucy.
- 2002: This song was used in the Gilmore Girls episode "Secrets and Loans".
- 2003: A version of the song performed by Pink Martini was also used in the pilot episode of Dead Like Me, as well as a season three episode of Nip/Tuck (2006).
- 2004: The song was used on the television commercial for the first season of Desperate Housewives on Channel 4 in the UK
- 2004: The Japanese jazz musician Charlie Kosei is the vocalist for a song entitled "Que Sera Sera" (lyrics and melody unrelated to the 1956 version) in the video game soundtrack Katamari Fortissimo Damacy.
- 2004:In the remake of Helter Skelter in one scene when they were in the car they started to sing "Que Sera Sera".
- 2005: The song was played in The Simpsons episode "There's Something About Marrying."
- 2005: "Que Sera Sera" is the title of a song by Philadelphia punk rock band Valencia.[14]
- 2006: Vanessa Hudgens wrote her own version of "Whatever Will Be," featured on her debut album V.
- 2006: Que Sera, Sera is the title of an episode of the House television series.
- 2006: The song was used before the penalty shoot out in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.
- 2006: Japanese musician Közi has a song Que Sera Sera (not a cover, just the same title) on his CD Loki n' Roll.
- 2007: A Korean drama starring Eric Mun is called Que Sera, Sera.
- 2007: Jennifer Terran's recording of Que Sera Sera was used in a commercial for Dell's new XPS computer, complete with exploding monitors and wrecking balls.
- 2008: The Sly & the Family Stone version of the song is in the Will Ferrell movie Semi-Pro
- 2008: The song was played for Holcim advertisement in Indonesia.
- 2008: The song was featured in BBC drama Hotel Babylon
- 2008: The song was in an episode of the ABC show Boston Legal
- 2008: The song was performed by three blind children and a children's choir on the 10th anniversary concert of the Bantay Bata Organization in the Philippines.
[edit] References
- ^ Front cover of Livingston & Evans sheet music.
- ^ a b Spencer Leigh (19 October 2001). Obituary: Jay Livingston. The Independent.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1987), The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (3rd ed.), New York: Billboard Publications, ISBN 0823075206.
- ^ Lyrics of a song in a movie. Answers.com (January 2006).
- ^ English usage discussion: Lost Cause? (March 2006).
- ^ Anecdotes: Ray Evans (1915-2007). ArtDaily.org.
- ^ Murray Pomerance. "The Future's Not Ours To See: Song, Singer, Labyrinth in Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much." Essay in Soundtrack Available: Essays on Film and Popular Music, Pamela Robertson Wojcik and Arthur Knight, eds. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2001. Author's footnote: “Written one night after they saw The Barefoot Contessa, in which Rossano Brazzi says near the end, "Che sera sera." Livingston jotted down the words in the dark and they "knocked off the song" afterwards. Two weeks later the call from Hitchcock came through. [Conversation with Livingston, September 18, 1995.]”
- ^ Lyn Nuttall. Que Sera Sera. Sources of Australian Pop Records from the 50s, 60s and 70s.
- ^ Earl Royce & The Olympics. SunsetStrip: Artists and Groups featured in the British Beat Boom. (Biography on AOL Music.)
- ^ Tommy Steele LPs. Listed in Tommy Steele Discography. “Arcade Records 1974 “40 FAVOURITES” Side A, Medley 4: Que Sera, Sera/ Cruising Down the River/ Wonderful Copenhagen/ Tulips From Amsterdam.”
- ^ Hermes House Band: Que Sera Sera. Top40Charts. (Hermes House Band News.)
- ^ U.S. Centennial of Flight (reference: Bill Gunston, ed. Aviation Year by Year. London: Amber Books Limited, 2001. Dorling Kindersley editions: ASIN 0751333670, ASIN 0789479869). Aviation History Facts. “October 31 in 1956: The US Navy R4D-5 Skytrain Que Sera Sera, commanded by Rear Admiral George Dufek, becomes the first airplane to make a landing at the South Pole.”
- ^ Bill Spindler. Que Sera Sera. South Pole Station website. Includes photographs of the crew and the plane; references include Paul Allen Siple, 90° South (1959).
- ^ Emily Zemler (14 October 2005). Artist of the Day: Valencia. Spin. (2005 band review.)
| Preceded by "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" from Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing |
Academy Award for Best Original Song 1956 |
Succeeded by "All the Way" from The Joker Is Wild |
