"Beyond the Sea" is a 1946

1946 in music

- Events :*January 6 – A somewhat revised and streamlined revival of Kern and Hammerstein's Show Boat opens on Broadway at the Ziegfeld Theatre, the same theatre at which the original production played back in 1927. This production features newly designed sets and costumes, new, more extended...

 contemporary pop

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 song with music taken from the song "La Mer"

La Mer (song)

Trenet wrote the lyrics of "La Mer" on a train in 1943 while travelling along the French Mediterranean coast, returning from Paris to Narbonne. He supposedly wrote the song in ten minutes, on toilet paper supplied by SNCF. He was assisted with the tune by Leo Chauliac. It was originally published...

 by Charles Trenet

Charles Trenet

Charles Trenet was a French singer and songwriter, most famous for his recordings from the late 1930s until the mid-1950s, though his career continued through the 1990s...

 and lyrics by Jack Lawrence

Jack Lawrence

Jack Lawrence was an American songwriter. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975.- Biography :...

.

Trenet had composed "La Mer" (which means "The Sea") with French lyrics totally different and unrelated to the English language

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 version that Lawrence composed. Trenet's French version was an homage and ode to the changing moods of the sea, while Lawrence, by just adding one word "Beyond" to the title, gave him the start whereby he made the song into one of a lover pining for a lost love.

It has been recorded by many artists, including Benny Goodman

Benny Goodman

Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...

, Mantovani

Mantovani

Annunzio Paolo Mantovani known as Mantovani, was an Anglo-Italian conductor and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature. The book British Hit Singles & Albums states that he was "Britain's most successful album act before The Beatles .....

, Roger Williams

Roger Williams (pianist)

Roger Williams was an American popular music pianist. As of 2004, he had released 116 albums.-Biography:...

 and Gisele MacKenzie

Gisele MacKenzie

Gisèle MacKenzie was a Canadian-American singer, most famous for her performances on the popular television program Your Hit Parade.-Biography:...

, but Bobby Darin

Bobby Darin

Bobby Darin , born Walden Robert Cassotto, was an American singer, actor and musician.Darin performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country...

's version released in 1959 is the best known by many, reaching #6 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

. The song reached the top 40 twice prior to the Darin version (Goodman-1948, Williams-1955).

Performances by Darin

Darin's recording has been used in many films, TV shows and video games, including Apollo 13

Apollo 13 (film)

Apollo 13 is a 1995 American drama film directed by Ron Howard. The film stars Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Kathleen Quinlan and Ed Harris. The screenplay by William Broyles, Jr...

, Austin Powers in Goldmember

Austin Powers in Goldmember

Austin Powers in Goldmember is a 2002 American spy comedy film and the third installment of the Austin Powers series starring Mike Myers in the title role. The movie was directed by Jay Roach, and co-written by Mike Myers and Michael McCullers. Myers also plays the roles of Dr. Evil, Goldmember,...

, Diner

Diner (film)

Diner is a 1982 comedy-drama film written and directed by Barry Levinson. Levinson's screen directing debut, Diner is the first in his "Baltimore films", which also include the subsequent Tin Men, Avalon and Liberty Heights.-Plot:...

, Goodfellas

Goodfellas

Goodfellas is a 1990 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a film adaptation of the 1986 non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scorsese...

, Lost

Lost (TV series)

Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...

, Black Rain, The X-Files, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane

The Adventures of Ford Fairlane

The Adventures of Ford Fairlane is a 1990 American action/comedy film starring comedian Andrew Dice Clay as Ford Fairlane, a "Rock n' Roll Detective," whose beat is the music industry in Los Angeles. The film was directed by Renny Harlin.-Plot:...

, Finding Nemo

Finding Nemo

Finding Nemo is a 2003 American comi-drama animated film written by Andrew Stanton, directed by Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich and produced by Pixar. It tells the story of the overly protective clownfish Marlin who, along with a regal tang called Dory , searches for his abducted son Nemo...

 and BioShock

Bioshock

BioShock is a first-person shooter video game developed by 2K Boston and designed by Ken Levine. It was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 on August 21, 2007 in North America, and three days later in Europe and Australia. It became available on Steam on August 21, 2007...

. The song was also played in a 2005 commercial for Carnival Cruise Lines

Carnival Cruise Lines

Carnival Cruise Lines is a British-American owned cruise line, based in Doral, Florida, a suburb of Miami in the United States. Originally an independent company founded in 1972 by Ted Arison, the company is now one of eleven cruise ship brands owned and operated by Carnival Corporation & plc...

. A portion of Bobby Darin's recording was played during the splashdown

Splashdown (spacecraft landing)

Splashdown is the method of landing a spacecraft by parachute in a body of water. It was used by American manned spacecraft prior to the Space Shuttle program. It is also possible for the Russian Soyuz spacecraft and Chinese Shenzhou spacecraft to land in water, though this is only a contingency...

 and post-recovery of Alan Shepard

Alan Shepard

Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. was an American naval aviator, test pilot, flag officer, and NASA astronaut who in 1961 became the second person, and the first American, in space. This Mercury flight was designed to enter space, but not to achieve orbit...

's Freedom 7 in the first episode of the 1998 HBO miniseries

Miniseries

A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...

, From the Earth to the Moon.

Performances as Darin

Kevin Spacey

Kevin Spacey

Kevin Spacey, CBE is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and crooner. He grew up in California, and began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television...

 sang the song in the movie Beyond the Sea

Beyond the Sea (film)

Beyond the Sea is a 2004 biographical film based on the life of singer/actor Bobby Darin. Kevin Spacey, who stars in the lead role and used his own singing voice for the musical numbers, co-wrote, directed, and co-produced the film, which takes its title from the Darin song of the same name...

, a biopic about Bobby Darin, in a "fantasy" sequence leading up to his marriage to Sandra Dee

Sandra Dee

Sandra Dee was an American actress. Dee began her career as a model and progressed to film. Best known for her portrayal of ingenues, Dee won a Golden Globe Award in 1959 as one of the year's most promising newcomers, and over several years her films were popular...

. Similarly, on the television series American Dreams

American Dreams

American Dreams is an American television comedy-drama program broadcast on the NBC television network, produced by Once A Frog and Dick Clark Productions in association with Universal Network Television and NBC Studios...

, Duncan Sheik

Duncan Sheik

Duncan Scott Sheik is an American singer-songwriter and composer. Sheik initially found success as a singer, most notably for his 1996 debut single "Barely Breathing". He later expanded his work to include compositions for motion pictures and the Broadway stage, leading him to involvement in the...

 performed the song while playing the role of Bobby Darin.

George Benson version

American R&B singer George Benson

George Benson

George Benson is a ten Grammy Award winning American musician, whose production career began at the age of twenty-one as a jazz guitarist....

 recorded a version of the song under the title "Beyond The Sea (La Mer)", which entered the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 on 20 April 1985. It reached a peak position of number 60, and remained in the chart for 3 weeks.

Other versions

Another recording of the song released in 1965 as the B-side of American folk-rock band We Five

We Five

We Five was a 1960s folk rock musical group based in San Francisco, California. Their best-known hit was their 1965 remake of Ian and Sylvia's "You Were on My Mind", which reached #1 on the Cashbox chart, #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart...

's #1-hit "You Were On My Mind" is also well-known. Robbie Williams

Robbie Williams

Robert Peter "Robbie" Williams is an English singer-songwriter, vocal coach and occasional actor. He is a member of the pop group Take That. Williams rose to fame in the band's first run in the early- to mid-1990s. After many disagreements with the management and certain group members, Williams...

 included the song on his album Swing When You're Winning

Swing When You're Winning

Swing When You're Winning is a swing cover album by English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams.-Background:After the success of his third studio album, Sing When You're Winning, Williams wanted to take another musical direction...

 in 2001, which was used in the 2003 Disney film Finding Nemo

Finding Nemo

Finding Nemo is a 2003 American comi-drama animated film written by Andrew Stanton, directed by Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich and produced by Pixar. It tells the story of the overly protective clownfish Marlin who, along with a regal tang called Dory , searches for his abducted son Nemo...

. The Irish musical group Celtic Woman

Celtic Woman

Celtic Woman is an all-female musical ensemble conceived and assembled by Sharon Browne and David Downes, a former musical director of the Irish stage show Riverdance...

 covered this song for their two albums, A New Journey

Celtic Woman: A New Journey

Celtic Woman: A New Journey is the second on-stage production by the group Celtic Woman. The show was filmed at Slane Castle in County Meath, Ireland and featured Hayley Westenra as a new addition to the group...

 and The Greatest Journey Essential Collection

Celtic Woman: The Greatest Journey

Celtic Woman: The Greatest Journey is the fourth studio album by the group Celtic Woman, released on 28 October 2008. It is an Essential Collection album composed of tracks from their self-titled debut and A New Journey albums with a couple reworked, plus three new tracks.Performers in The...

, and in each album, Hayley Westenra

Hayley Westenra

Hayley Dee Westenra is a New Zealand soprano, classical crossover artist, songwriter and UNICEF Ambassador. Her first internationally released album, Pure, reached No. 1 on the UK classical charts in 2003 and has sold more than two million copies worldwide...

 and Chloë Agnew

Chloë Agnew

Chloë Alexandra Adele Emily Agnew is an Irish singer who is one of the current members of the Celtic music group Celtic Woman as the youngest member. She comes from Knocklyon, County Dublin where she lived with her mother Adele "Twink" King and younger sister Naomi...

 respectfuly sing a solo in the first verse. It was also remixed by Moby

Moby

Richard Melville Hall , better known by his stage name Moby, is an American musician, DJ, and photographer. He is known mainly for his sample-based electronic music and his outspoken liberal political views, including his support of veganism and animal rights.Moby gained attention in the early...

 and Oscar The Punk on the BioShock EP Game soundtrack

BioShock Original Soundtrack

The music soundtrack of BioShock is composed of licensed music from the 30s, 40s, and 50s, as well as an original orchestral score by Garry Schyman.-BioShock Score:The original score for BioShock was composed by Gary Schyman...

. In 1998, it was released in a swing-tempo cover by Royal Crown Revue

Royal Crown Revue

The Royal Crown Revue is a band formed in 1989 in Los Angeles, California. They are often credited with starting the Swing Revival movement. Live, RCR has been extremely successful: They participated in 1998's Vans Warped Tour, opened for the B-52s and The Pretenders and played at major US Jazz...

 on the Mugsy's Move album. In the movie A Life Less Ordinary

A Life Less Ordinary

A Life Less Ordinary is a 1997 British black comedy film directed by Danny Boyle, written by John Hodge. It stars Ewan McGregor, Cameron Diaz, Holly Hunter, and Delroy Lindo.-Plot:...

, it was sung by Ewan McGregor

Ewan McGregor

Ewan Gordon McGregor is a Scottish actor. He has had success in mainstream, indie, and art house films. McGregor is perhaps best known for his roles as heroin addict Mark Renton in the drama Trainspotting , young Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy , and poet Christian in the...

 and Cameron Diaz

Cameron Diaz

Cameron Michelle Diaz is an American actress and former model. She became famous during the 1990s with roles in the movies The Mask, My Best Friend's Wedding, and There's Something About Mary. Other high-profile credits include the two Charlie's Angels films, voicing the character Princess Fiona...

. It bookends Barry Manilow

Barry Manilow

Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...

's 2006 release The Greatest Songs of the Fifties

The Greatest Songs of the Fifties

The Greatest Songs of the Fifties is an album by veteran American singer Barry Manilow, released in the United States on January 31, 2006. A significant album for Barry Manilow, it finds the Brooklyn-born crooner taking on songs that were popular in his youth...

. Westlife

Westlife

Westlife are an Irish boy band established on 3 July 1998. They are to disband in 2012. The group's line-up was Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, and Brian McFadden . The group are the only act in British and Irish history to have their first seven singles peak at number one...

did a cover of the song as a digital download release in UK in 2004.

External links

• "Beyond The Sea". - Jack Lawrence Website.
• Official Bobby Darin fansite