‘My Way’ recorded by Frank Sinatra
Whether we consider “My Way” as Sinatra’s swan song as he approached retirement, a statement of principles for living, or just a nice song, it’s difficult to hear anyone else sing it. The 1969 song originated with the French song “Comme d’habitude” composed by Jacques Revaux with lyrics by Gilles Thibaut and Claude François that would be translated into English by Paul Anka.
When the song was released, friends on colleagues thought I was full of myself to see the song as a roadmap for my life. “Sinatra’s famous, you’re not. Find a better song.” I suggested “Roll Me Over in the Clover” making people think I really was approaching life my way.
As the song says “Regrets, I’ve had a few, But then again, too few to mention,” and that’s certainly true of anyone who refuses to kow tow to the movers and shakers. In general, I don’t trust the movers and shakers, much less allow them to dictate the rules for a writer’s life.
In terms of regrets in the song, sure, I should have treated a lot of people more fairly than I did, though, many of these folks got bent out of shape because I wouldn’t do things their way. Some of them meant well and some of them didn’t. I had a boss once, the president of the company, who said the firm was in trouble in a department heads meeting because I didn’t do XYZ. I produced a memo from six months prior to that in which I sought permission to do XYZ, his resonse being “absolutely not.” I quit the next day because, as the president, nobody else on the staff was willing to concede that he was the liar.
This is typical of the kinds of scrapes I get into, partly because I don’t trust authority and partly because I think when I’m hired to do a job based my experience, I think the bosses should at least listen. It doesn’t have to be my way when all kinds of compromises and idea-tweeking are obvious. At another company that was really too small to survive, the person doing my exit interview tried to shush me when I said that I was leaving because of “the brain trust who got us into this mess.”
So there it is. “My Way” has probably made life more difficult that it could have been. I’m very stubborn and refuse to compromise on principle in spite of what the powers that be want within the machinations of their own agendas. Both the companies mentioned here went out of business because they wouldn’t face the reality of the arena where they operated.
What about you? Do you think it’s better to keep quiet just to get along with the power structures around you, or call them out?
–Malcolm
Malcolm R. Campbell is the author of the conjure novel set in the Florida Panhandle in the Jim Crow era.
