Answer Me, My Love

"Answer Me, My Love" is a popular song, originally written (with German lyrics, under the title "Mütterlein") by Gerhard Winkler and Fred Rauch. The English lyrics were written by Carl Sigman in 1953.

Sigman first wrote the song as a religious-themed song, "Answer Me," (in which the first line reads "Answer me, Lord above") as a question to God about why the singer has lost his lover, which became a joint #1 hit both for Frankie Laine and David Whitfield in the United Kingdom in November 1953. This was the only time in UK chart history that two versions of the same song tied at the top. The BBC banned the song because of the "religious" lyrics and Sigman then rewrote them to address the lost lover directly, under the title "Answer Me, My Love." Whitfield then re-recorded the number with the new lyrics so as to get BBC air-plays. Both his versions have appeared on CD.

The best-selling version of the song was recorded by Nat King Cole in 1954. The recording was released by Capitol Records as catalog number 2687. The record first reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on February 24, 1954 and lasted 19 weeks on the chart, peaking at #6. [1]

In 2000, it was performed by Joni Mitchell on an album, Both Sides Now. It was performed in concert (but not recorded) by Bob Dylan in the early 1990s.

Recorded versions

References

  1. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1973). Top Pop Records 1940-1955. Record Research.