Lyrics Of The Song My Way

Understanding "My Way" Beyond the Clichés

Everyone knows the opening bars. "And now, the end is near..." It's played at weddings, funerals, bar mitzvahs, and sports arenas with roughly equal enthusiasm and about the same level of genuine emotional engagement from the crowd. The song was originally written in French as "Comme d'habitude" with music by Claude Francois and Jacques Revaux, then adapted into English by Paul Anka in 1969. Frank Sinatra recorded it, and it became the defining song of his later career despite his initial reservations about the material. The lyrics trace a first-person narrative of someone reflecting on a life lived on their own terms. The narrator reviews past mistakes, unconventional choices, romantic entanglements, and professional gambles, ultimately arriving at a declaration of personal accountability and self-determination. That's the surface reading. What most people miss is how deliberately vague the lyrics are about any specific events. Anka wrote them to be adaptable—each listener projects their own biography onto the empty framework. This is why the song works across decades and demographics, but it also means the lyrics don't hold up to close literary analysis the way something like Cohen or Dylan would.

Lyrics Of The Song My Way

Here are the complete lyrics as officially published, which is what you'll want if you're trying to learn the song, transcribe it, or simply read through it without hunting across five different websites with mismatched versions: 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 I had them too
What else can I claim?
The wind blew high, the path was narrow
I made a few decisions
That led to more than regret But then, and now, well
That's the way it is
A man earns what he wins
A man takes and keeps some things
And maybe—just maybe—he gives
But that's the way it is 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 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 odds
The lowest fraction and the highest sod
I staked my own thing on my own decisions
And I did it my way Yes, there were times, I'm sure there were
Times I made a decision
To leave it to you
You know I'm not a bitter man
But since I'm answering to you
I'm saying what it means
When I say "By and By"

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 Note: Some versions vary slightly on the bridge section. The verses after "For what is a man" sometimes appear with minor wording differences depending on the source. The core structure remains consistent across official publications.

Why Multiple Versions Exist and How to Spot the Right One

I spent about three hours once tracking down a clean lyric sheet for a transcription project, only to realize four different sites had four different versions of the bridge. The problem comes from the fact that Sinatra changed the arrangement multiple times across his career, and the vocal phrasing shifted enough that lyric transcribers disagreed on whether he sang "gives" or "thieves" in one particular measure, or whether the line was "the path was narrow" or "the winds were high." The most widely accepted version matches the 1969 single release and the album recording from Watertown, but even those have marginal discrepancies in the final chorus. If you need lyrics for legal or publishing purposes, go straight to the official publisher's sheet music or the ASCAP/BMI database. For personal use, reading along at a concert, or learning to sing it, the version above is close enough that nobody in the room will notice a missed word or two. The song's melody carries the emotion more than precise lyrical fidelity does. That said, if you're transcribing for a cover band or a film sync license, the discrepancy in the bridge can actually matter—the most common error is omitting the entire "Yes, there were times" section that appears between the second and third choruses in the full arrangement.

Practical Things to Know Before Using These Lyrics

The song is in the key of F major for the standard Sinatra arrangement, which puts it comfortably in the baritone range for most male singers. The vocal range spans about two octaves, from around D3 up to D5 in the final chorus. If you're arranging it for a different voice type, the chord progression is straightforward—mostly I-IV-V-I movements with a handful of secondary dominants and a borrowed minor iv in the bridge—but transposing it too far up or down will either crush the drama or make it sound like a lullaby. The tempo sits around 66-68 BPM for the ballad version, though live performances varied considerably depending on how much time Sinatra wanted to drag out a particular phrase. The copyright is owned by various publishers including Norvasc Music and PolyGram Publishing. If you're planning to record and distribute a cover version, you'll need a mechanical license through the Harry Fox Agency or a service like Loudr or Songfile. The statutory rate in the US is 12 cents per copy for physical distributions and a prorated rate for streaming. This isn't free work to clear, but it's also not expensive if you're just doing a single release. The lyrics themselves are not in the public domain in any jurisdiction I'm aware of. One thing people consistently underestimate when learning to sing this song is the breath control required for the longer lines. "I've lived a life that's full / I traveled each and every highway" sounds simple until you try to deliver it with the right phrasing without gasping. The solution is to breathe on the pause after "full" and again after "highway," which most singers miss on first attempt. It takes about two weeks of daily practice to get the phrasing natural, and even then you'll probably rush the second chorus if you're not monitoring your tempo. That's normal. Everyone does it.