02 | February | 2015 | Dame Shirley Bassey Blog

(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story
Music by Francis Lai and lyrics by Carl Sigman

Recorded in January 1971, this song was released on a single (UP 35194) and the album Something Else. The single reached position number 34 in the UK charts and spent over two months in the British charts in the spring of 1971 (albeit overtaken by Andy Williams’ Top 10 version).

The music is the instrumental theme of the famous 1970 Paramount film ‘Love Story’. Francis Lai & His Orchestra reached 1971 position No. 31 in the US Billboard with the instrumental version of this song. In the same year Henry Mancini & His Orchestra reached position No. 13. The song has also been performed by Andy Williams, Perry Como, Placido Domingo and many others.

The song is available digitally remastered on many collections, and has been performed live on many occasions, for example on the Thank You For The Years Tour 2003.

Chart Positions: Official British Chart, Entered: Mar 27 1971
Highest: Singles: #34 Run: 9 weeks

Remix Version:
A remix of Shirley’s version by the awayTEAM was released on the Where Do I Begin: Shirley Bassey and awayTEAM in September 2000 and a longer version one week later on The Remix Album…Diamonds Are Forever.

A video clip for the remix has been produced, but in a more comic style and without Shirley in it. The video is however very funny and the animators’ attempts to create the animated Shirley Bassey is frightfully accurate! In the clip Shirley is represented by a doll, and the same doll also appears on the cover of the single.

Francis Lai:
Francis Lai won an Oscar for the music. He already had another Oscar for his theme to “A Man And A Woman”. He also was accompanist for Edith Piaf, for whom Lai also composed a number of songs.

Carl Sigman:
Carl Sigman penned the words to the music and the title became “Where Do I Begin” and Andy Williams reached a peak US Billboard position No. 9 in 1971 with this song.

Carl Sigman was a lyricist and wrote many famous songs. Many of his compositions have been recorded by Frank Sinatra from the 40’s into the 90’s. His first major composition was 1940’s “Love Lies,” recorded by Sinatra while with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra.

Carl Sigman was one of the great American songwriters of the 20th century. With a career spanning six decades, he created the music – but more often the lyrics – to songs popularized by not only Shirley Bassey and Frank Sinatra but also Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holliday, Nat King Cole, Louis Prima, Elvis Presley, Dean Martin, Linda Ronstadt, Van Morrison, Merle Haggard and many others.

Other famous Sigman songs recorded by Shirley Bassey include You Are My Way Of Life, Till and What Now My Love.

Love Story; Film Synopsis:
Harvard Law student/hockey jock Oliver Barrett IV (Ryan O’Neal) meets Radcliffe music wonk Jennifer Cavilleri (Ali MacGraw), and the couple soon enter into a relationship. When the couple decide to get married, Oliver’s father Oliver Barrett III (Ray Milland) threatens to disinherit him from the family will, leaving Oliver and Jennifer to start their marriage at rock-bottom. Jennifer and her dad Phil Cavilleri (John Harley) do what they can to bring father and son back together, but the two prefer to remain at war with one another. Years go by, and the young couple attempt to have children, only to discover that she is malfunctioning. The doctor finds out that she has an incurable disease and has a very short time to live. All the money of Oliver could not save her and she died at the age of 25. The book was written by Erich Segal. “Love Story” won 7 Academy Award nominations. It was also the film debut for Tommy Lee Jones.

Lyrics;

Where do I begin?
To tell the story of how great a love can be
The sweet love story that is older than the sea
The simple truth about the love he brings to me
Where do I start?

Like a summer rain
That cools the pavement with a patent leather shine
He came into my life and made the living fine
And gave a meaning to this empty world of mine
He fills my heart

He fills my heart with very special things
With angels’ songs, with wild imaginings
He fills my soul with so much love
That anywhere I go, I’m never lonely
With him along, who could be lonely
I reach for his hand, it’s always there

How long does it last?
Can love be measured by the hours in a day?
I have no answers now, but this much I can say
I’m going to need him till the stars all burn away
And he’ll be there