And now, the end is near,
And so I face the final curtain.
My friend, I’ll say it clear,
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain.

I’ve lived a life that’s full,
I traveled each and every highway,
And more, much more than this,
I did it my way.

Regrets, I’ve had a few,
But then again, too few to mention.
I did what I had to do,
And saw it through without exemption.

I planned each charted course,
Each careful step along the byway,
And more, much more than this,
I did it my way.

Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew,
When I bit off more than I could chew,
But through it all, when there was doubt,
I ate it up and spit it out.
I faced it all and I stood tall
And did it my way.

I’ve loved, I’ve laughed and cried,
I’ve had my fill, my share of losing.
And now, as tears subside,
I find it all so amusing.

To think I did all that,
And may I say, not in a shy way,
“Oh no, oh no, not me,
I did it my way.”

For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught.
To say the things he truly feels
And not the words of one who kneels.
The record shows, I took the blows
And did it my way.

Lyrics by Paul Anka, Jacques Revaux, Claude Francois, Gilles Thibaut

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Chrysalis Music Group

My take:

Paul Anka wrote the lyrics to “My Way” specifically for his friend, Frank Sinatra, based on a French song titled “Comme d’habitude,” which he heard in 1967 and didn’t even particularly like.  But once it was released by Sinatra, it achieved a still unmatched record of seventy-five weeks on the Top 40 chart.

The lyrics bear some similarity to “Yesterday When I Was Young,” in that both are about a man (sometimes a woman) reflecting back on his life.  But there is one big difference:  “Yesterday When I Was Young” is a song filled with regret, while “My Way” are the words of a self-satisfied person with very few regrets — a man who lived a full life, traveled “each and every highway,” and, above all, did it his way.  In fact, in this respect, it’s more similar in tone to “The Impossible Dream.”

Would that we could all look back on our lives as we approached the end and be able to honestly say that we did things our way.  In an environment of government-created automatons who spend much of their time, consciously or unconsciously, overdosing on sports and reality TV, anesthetizing their brains with media-created news stories, and keeping up with the Joneses, the man who takes “the road less traveled” should, indeed, feel proud of himself.

I especially like the words about standing tall in the face of doubt and still insisting on doing it “my way.”  In a world filled with naysayers and doubters, this is man at his best.  I think one of the biggest challenges a person faces in life is to refuse to yield to the legions of doubters who cross his path — to ignore their words of discouragement and take action to transform his dreams into reality.

No more powerful lyrics have ever been written that those contained in the last stanza of this powerful song, starting with the words “For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught.”  Indeed, in the end, the most important thing you can own is yourself.  Or, to borrow from the late Harry Browne, to learn to live free in an unfree world is perhaps the greatest triumph a man can achieve.

That said, and with all due respect to the legendary Frank Sinatra, I would be shortchanging you if I didn’t give you the best version of this magnificent song ever recorded — by perhaps the greatest pop voice of all time — Tom Jones.  (Calm down, girls.  Tom doesn’t look like this anymore.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XODxxH220iM