Bobby Darin Song File:
Lyricist Jack Lawrence goes "Beyond The Sea"

interview by Michael Macomber
A dapper Jack Lawrence in a 1950s publicity shot.	"Somewhere beyond the sea, somewhere waiting for me, my lover stands on golden sands, and watches the ships that go sailing." These are the words of lyricist Jack Lawrence, penned in 1946. They are also the words that launched a mega-hit for Bobby Darin in 1959. Beyond The Sea, Lawrence's English version of Charles Trenet's French hit, La Mer, has become one of the most well known and best loved romantic ballads in musical history. Featured on numerous soundtracks and played at countless weddings, it is now part of the American experience.
Lawrence first heard La Mer courtesy of his publisher, Chappell Music. "I had a close relationship with Chappell Music because they had published many of my hits," he explains. "They had a reciprocal publishing agreement with Raoul Breton and gave me preference on all foreign hits they acquired. Breton was Charles Trenet's French publisher, so I did three or four Trenet songs. One was Vous Qui Passez Sans Me Voir (You who pass without seeing me). My English version was a happier lyric with the title Passing By—a great record by Buddy Clark. I also did the English lyric for Symphonie, which became a huge hit as Symphony. When writing an English lyric for any foreign song, I never did a translation. I felt that was not being creative. So I would disregard the original foreign lyric and immerse myself in the music, until I knew it completely. Then I would let the music guide me to a story line. In practically every instance, my story line was different from the original." "This was particularly true with a French hit Edith Piaf had introduced," he continues. "The American publisher who acquired it phoned me from California and said he was air mailing an instrumental version of this song. I understood him to say the title was Pauvre Gens De Paris, which I translated as Poor People of Paris. In my mind, I started getting ideas for a tongue-in-cheek song about all those poor people in Paris, who had nothing but love and romance. That's what my finished humorous lyric was about. But eventually, I discovered that the original title was Poor John of Paris. The word for people is 'gens' and the word for John is 'Jean.' Fortunately, the publisher liked my version, and that's how it became famous." Lawrence's brilliant Beyond The Sea lyric was not the result of any mistranslation, but rather a calculated move away from the song's original title and theme. "Breton had sent both an instrumental and vocal recording of the original French song," says Lawrence. "I liked the melody, although it was done in an almost symphonic manner, heavy on the strings—and sung like a prayer or an anthem. The French lyric was rather poetic; all about how the various moods of the sea affected the singer—but there was no story line. When I had digested the melody I decided that it was really a romantic song of longing, of yearning for something or someone. From the title La Mer I knew it had something to do with the sea. But if I were French I never would have called my song La Mer—that was already a famous title of a lovely piece of music by Claude Debussy." For his primary inspiration, Lawrence looked to Greek mythology. "I began getting an image of someone on the shore and someone on the sea, two lovers separated," he explains. "Then I remembered an ancient Greek myth about beautiful Penelope, who stood on golden sands days and nights, praying and waiting for the return from the sea of her lover, Odysseus. And I had the basis for my romantic story. Adding the one word beyond gave the story scope and adventure." Several fine recordings of Beyond The Sea followed, including renditions by Benny Goodman and Tex Beneke. It took a chance meeting with a young crooner more than 10 years later, however, before the song would find its true voice. "One day at the publisher's offices I ran into a new young singer with a distinctive style," explains Lawrence. "He was brash and a bit cocky, but rather refreshing, and his name was Bobby Darin. He didn't hesitate to tell everyone that someday he would be as popular as Sinatra. I gave him a copy of Beyond The Sea and asked him what he thought of it. He said he liked some of the recordings he'd heard but he felt the song lacked a definite beat. A few months later he sent me his latest album—and there was Mack The Knife and Beyond The Sea done to a crisp, with an infectious toe-tapping beat and Bobby's inimitable delivery. Everyone in the business will agree that Bobby Darin's version turned those two songs into mega-hits." In addition to Beyond The Sea, Lawrence has authored or co-authored a seemingly endless string of great American standards, including two more songs sung by Bobby Darin, All or Nothing At All (from the LP It's You or No One) and The Other Half of Me (from the LP In a Broadway Bag). Like many people who met and worked with Darin, Lawrence still holds the man and his talent in high regard. "I think he left a remarkable mark on the music of his day," says Lawrence. "I'm certain he would have shown great development had he lived. Just think of how much Sinatra achieved in his mature years. Would he have been equal or greater than Frank? Who knows?" Lately, Lawrence has been hard at work on a book, Between The Sheets, detailing the many fascinating stories behind his songs. Some of these stories can be read on his official website, www.jacklawrencesongwriter.com. "I can't help feeling a glow of pride each time I get a letter from some stranger from some distant part of the universe," he says, "from someone who has found my website and wants me to know what a particular song of mine has meant in their lifetime—their wedding, the birth or death of a loved one—the lives I have touched and the memories that return each time they hear that particular song. It's humbling to know I've had such an effect."
Reference sources for this article include: www.jacklawrencesongwriter.com.