The Windmills of Your Mind

By Michel Legrand, Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman
1968

In honor of the great composer Michel Legrand, who passed away last Saturday at the age of 86, I'm spotlighting the song that was perhaps rivaled only by "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" as his greatest hit. Written for the soundtrack of the Steve McQueen heist film The Thomas Crown Affair at the request of director Norman Jewison, it began life as a French song with lyrics by Eddy Marnay. Husband-wife lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman were brought in, and handpicked the haunting, circular melody from among Legrand's numerous compositions, adding lyrics meant to reflect the mental turmoil of the film's main character. Introduced in the movie by Noel Harrison, it won the Oscar for Best Original Song, and was performed by Sting for the 1999 Thomas Crown Affair remake.

Lyrics:

Round like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel
Like a snowball down a mountain, or a carnival balloon
Like a carousel that's turning running rings around the moon
Like a clock whose hands are sweeping past the minutes of its face
And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind!

Like a tunnel that you follow to a tunnel of its own
Down a hollow to a cavern where the sun has never shone
Like a door that keeps revolving in a half forgotten dream
Or the ripples from a pebble someone tosses in a stream
Like a clock whose hands are sweeping past the minutes of its face
And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind!

Keys that jingle in your pocket, words that jangle in your head
Why did summer go so quickly, was it something that you said?
Lovers walking along a shore and leave their footprints in the sand
Is the sound of distant drumming just the fingers of your hand?
Pictures hanging in a hallway and the fragment of a song
Half remembered names and faces, but to whom do they belong?
When you knew that it was over you were suddenly aware
That the autumn leaves were turning to the color of her hair!

Like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel
As the images unwind, like the circles that you find 
In the windmills of your mind!

Recorded By:

Jose Feliciano
Dusty Springfield
Vic Damone
Jack Jones
Petula Clark

My Way

By Claude Francois, Jacques Revaux & Paul Anka
1968

Although Frank himself never considered it one of his best, we celebrate his birthday today with what is undoubtedly one of his signature records, and a song that is second only to Lennon & McCartney's "Yesterday" as the most recorded of all time. Originally a French tune by Francois and Revaux, the young Anka heard it and decided to repurpose it for an aging, disillusioned Chairman, who had all but decided to quit the business. Anka slightly altered the melody and gave it English lyrics, and presented it as a gift to Frank, whose recording would result in one the legendary singer's most massive hits. It may not be Porter, Gershwin or Mercer, but it's undeniably Frank, and a song that kept him relevant in the Beatles era. It's been attempted by everyone from Elvis to Sid Vicious, but no one made it his own to the degree that Sinatra did. For whom could those lyrics ever be more true?

Happy Birthday, Francis Albert!

Lyrics:

And now, the end is nearAnd 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 ev'ry 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 , I saw it through without exemption
I planned each charted course, each careful step along the highway
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
And 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
The right to say the things he feels and not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows and did it my way!

Recorded By: 

Nina Simone
Elvis Presley
Sid Vicious
Gipsy Kings
Andy Williams
Gonzo the Great
Shirley Bassey
Tom Jones
Andrea Bocelli
Patti Lupone