Never on Sunday (song)

October 1, 1960

Ta pedia tou Pirea (Greek Τα παιδιά του Πειραιά, English title Never on Sunday ) is a hit Manos Hadjidakis from. In addition to an orchestral version of the song was in the movie Sunday ... never! sung by Melina Mercouri. The song won the 1961 Academy Award for Best Original Song and was the first foreign language song that ever won an Oscar.

Formation background

Manos Hadjidakis wrote the song in Greek Ta pedia tou entitled Pirea (Eng. The children of Piraeus "). The version used in the film was sung by Melina Mercouri. In the film she sings to a gramophone record with the instrumental version lying on a bed. Both the original text as well as some of the later foreign-language versions, tell the story of Illya, the protagonist of the film. Illya is a " loose woman ", which although earned her living as a prostitute, but still enjoys life. She loves her home city of Piraeus and its inhabitants. Secretly she hopes for a better life with a man who shares her love of life.

As 1960 reached an instrumental version of Don Costa No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 and # 27 in the UK singles charts, decided to write an English version of the song under the original film title, which was eventually written by Billy Towne. The Chordettes had in 1961 a top 20 hit with the song.

In 2005, the original version of the song for Munich was used.

Cover versions

There are numerous cover versions were released in various languages. The list only represents a selection

  • Instrumental: Herp Alpert
  • Greek: Nana Mouskouri and Pink Martini
  • English: Bing Crosby, The Four Seasons, Lena Horne, Doris Day, Andy Williams, Trini Lopez, Connie Francis, Julie London, Eartha Kitt, Petula Clark and Lale Andersen
  • German: the first version under the title A ship will come by Lale Andersen in 1960, a number -one hit. 1982, as part of the Neue Deutsche Welle, the band released The Modern Man under the title "Blue sailors " a gay version of the song, so with the same text, but sung by a man.
  • French by Melina Mercouri, Darío Moreno and Dalida
Genre Record label United Artists Records 33rd Academy Awards The Four Seasons (band)
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