The “Revenge” Track David Bowie Wrote in Response to Frank Sinatra’s “My Way”

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Surely, you’ve heard that before or experienced it firsthand. One person who allegedly did was David Bowie, but he wasn’t very thrilled by the fact. Though before we get to why that is, we must reiterate the importance of Frank Sinatra‘s 1969 single, “My Way”.

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Written by Paul Anka, “My Way” became a generational standard and has remained one of the greatest songs of all time to this day. Following its release, “My Way” peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100. Though more importantly, it has existed as an anthem promoting self-reliance, self-resilience, and ultimately, an anthem telling the tale of a life well lived.

As we stated previously, this is, without a doubt, one of the most famous songs of all time. However, according to David Bowie, it was his song to a certain extent. Specifically, in 1968, Bowie was tasked to write an English version of the French song “Comme d’Habitude” for his publishing company. It turned into nothing. Well, until it finally turned into something, but in the hands of somebody else.

Recalling the memory, Bowie stated, “I wrote some really terrible lyrics [to it] — I think it was called ‘Even A Fool Learns To Love.’” He added, “I sent it back again and I thought that will be the last I hear of that. Then I hear it on the radio and I thought ‘That’s that tune, it must be my song … but hang on, these are different lyrics,’ and it was Sinatra singing ‘My Way,’” via the Australian Broadcasting Company.

David Bowie’s Response to Frank Sinatra

With both rage and inspiration flowing through his veins, the feelings moved Bowie to create something bigger than Sinatra’s signature staple. He said, “That really made me angry for so long—for about a year… Eventually, I thought, ‘I can write something as big as that, and I’ll write one that sounds a bit like it.’”

To release both this rage and inspiration, David Bowie came up with his own signature track. That signature track was his 1971 single, “Life On Mars?”. “So I did ‘Life On Mars?,’ which was my sort of revenge trip on ‘My Way,’” said Bowie.

Rage, inspiration, and motivation: What creates better art? We don’t know the answer to that question. Although given David Bowie’s response to “My Way”, we believe it’s fair to say that those three things certainly do. While this certainly frustrated Bowie, it did lead to one of the songs and the album that made him famous.

Photo by Chris Walter/WireImage