Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)

From Wikipedia:

“Que Será, Será (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)”[a] is a song written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans and first published in 1955. Doris Day introduced it in the Alfred Hitchcock film The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), singing it as a cue to their onscreen kidnapped son. The three verses of the song progress through the life of the narrator—from childhood, through young adulthood and falling in love, to parenthood—and each asks “What will I be?” or “What lies ahead?” The chorus repeats the answer: “What will be, will be.”

Day’s recording of the song for Columbia Records made it to number two on the Billboard Top 100 chart and number one in the UK Singles Chart. It came to be known as Day’s signature song. The song in The Man Who Knew Too Much received the 1956 Academy Award for Best Original Song. It was the third Oscar in this category for Livingston and Evans, who previously won in 1948 and 1950. In 2004 it finished at number 48 in AFI’s 100 Years…100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema. In 2012, the 1956 recording by Doris Day on Columbia Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

It was a number-one hit in Australia for pop singer Normie Rowe in September 1965.

The song popularized the title expression “que sera, sera” to express “cheerful fatalism”, though its use in English dates back to at least the 16th century. The phrase is evidently a word-for-word mistranslation of the English “What will be will be”, as in Spanish, it would be “lo que será, será”. […]

In 1969, Mary Hopkin recorded a cover of “Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be),” produced by Paul McCartney and featuring Ringo Starr on drums. Released as a single in the US, it reached number 77 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 7 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The single marked the final collaboration between Mary Hopkin and Paul. For the next stage of her career, Mary would be produced by Mickie Most.

Tell us about “Que Sera Sera,” the last single Paul produced for you.

At the time, it was just one of Paul’s fun ideas. It was one sunny afternoon, we were sitting in Paul’s garden, and he said, “Do you like this song?” I said, “Well, I used to sing it when I was three!” And he said, “My dad likes it, let’s go and do it.” And so Ringo came along; it was all done in an afternoon. I was sort of swept along with Paul’s enthusiasm, really.

By the time I was halfway through the backing vocals, I said, “This is awful.” I really thought it was dreadful and I didn’t want it released.

Mary Hopkin – Interview with Goldmine Magazine, 1992

As far as I remember, it’s just Paul and Ringo. I don’t think he added anything else. It was all finished in that one afternoon.

Mary Hopkin – Interview with Goldmine Magazine, 1992

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