He began singing as a child, first starting in the St Elijah Syrian Orthodox Church choir in Ottawa. As a student at Ottawa's Fisher Park High School he was part of a trio called the Bobby Soxers.
Encouraged by his parents, at age 14 he recorded his first single, I Confess. In 1957 he went to New York City where he auditioned for ABC, singing a lovestruck verse he had written to a former babysitter, Diana Ayoub. The song, Diana, brought Anka instant stardom as it rocketed to number one on the charts. Diana is one of the best selling 45s in music history. He followed up with four songs that made it into the Top 20 in 1958, making him one of the biggest teen idols of the time. He toured Britain and then, with Buddy Holly, toured Australia.
His talent went beyond singing, writing Buddy Holly's giant hit, It Doesn't Matter Anymore, the theme for Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, Tom Jones' biggest hit record, She's A Lady, and the English lyrics for My Way, Frank Sinatra's signature song and sung by many well known artists, including Greta Keller, for whom the words were very fitting.
In the 1960s, Anka would begin acting in motion pictures as well as writing songs for them, most notably the theme for the hit movie The Longest Day. From his movie work, he wrote and recorded his monster hit, Lonely Boy. He then went on to become one of the first pop singers to perform at the Las Vegas casinos.
After more than ten years without a hit record, in 1974 he teamed up with Odia Coates to record the number 1 hit, Having My Baby. They would record two more duets that both made it into the Top 10. In 1975, he wrote a jingle for Kodak called The Times of Your Life. The jingle became so popular, he recorded it as a full song, The Times of Your Life, and it became a hit a year later.
By the 1970s, Anka's career centered around adult contemporary and big-band standards, played regularly in Las Vegas. On September 6, 1990, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He returned to his home town to buy a part of the Ottawa Senators hockey team.
In 1999 he visited Lebanon for sell-out performances at the Forum de Beyrouth (The Beirut Forum).
Paul Anka was elected to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1980. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6840 Hollywood Blvd. In 1991, the Government of France honored him with the title "Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters". He was appointed an officer of the Order of Canada in 2005.
On the WB show Gilmore Girls, Lorelai named her new dog Paul Anka. He also made a guest appearance as himself in the episode "The Real Paul Anka", which aired April 11, 2006.
Paul Anka recently did a live session on Live @ The Orange Lounge playing songs from his new cover-CD Rock Swings.
Notable rap artist Jay-Z featured his vocals on the track I Did it my Way on The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse in 2002.
He became infamous amongst musicians (and more recently to internet users) for a mid-70's after-show tirade which was secretly recorded by a "snake we later fired" (Anka: Fresh Air interview). The diatribe, in which Anka berates his crew and band members, has spawned a number of in-joke references and quotations, the main ones being: "The guys get shirts", "Where's Joe?", and "Slice like a hammer."
Crazy
Paul Anka Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm crazy crazy for feeling so blue
I knew that you'd love me as long as you wanted
And then some day you'd leave me for somebody new
Worry, why do I let myself worry
Wondering what in the world did I do
I'm crazy for thinking that my love could hold you
And I'm crazy for loving you
I'm crazy for thinking
that my love could hold you because it is a common human tendency to romanticize love and hope that it will conquer all. But in reality, love alone cannot always hold someone because people change and feelings can fade over time. The singer in the song is acknowledging that their love was not enough to keep their partner from leaving, and they are feeling the emotional pain of that loss.
The lyrics also touch on the theme of self-doubt and overthinking. The singer is questioning what they did wrong to push their partner away and worries about the future. This shows the insecurity that can come with being in love and not wanting to lose that person. They know that their behavior may seem irrational, which is why they declare themselves crazy for loving and trying so hard.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm crazy, crazy for feeling so lonely
I am consumed by feelings of loneliness, leading me to feel irrational and out of control.
I'm crazy crazy for feeling so blue
The overwhelming sadness I feel seems to have taken over my entire being, leaving me feeling lost and hopeless.
I knew that you'd love me as long as you wanted
At first, I thought that your love would be endless and unwavering, always there for me to rely on.
And then some day you'd leave me for somebody new
But as time passed, I began to fear that your love would not last forever and that someday you would leave me for someone else.
Worry, why do I let myself worry
Despite sensing that our love had become unstable, I cannot help but feel incredibly worried about what the future holds.
Wondering what in the world did I do
I am preoccupied with thoughts of what I may have done to cause our relationship to fall apart and where I went wrong.
I'm crazy for thinking that my love could hold you
In retrospect, my belief that my love alone could keep us together was foolish and misguided.
I'm crazy for trying and crazy for crying
I feel foolish for attempting to salvage our relationship and for the tears that I have shed in vain.
And I'm crazy for loving you
Despite everything, I realize that my love for you was truly madness, impossible to explain or contain.
I'm crazy for thinking that my love could bind you
I was naive to believe that our love would suffice, that there would be enough to keep you by my side.
And that you would never leave, but always find me
I was blinded by the thought that you would never leave me, but would always find me, regardless of the obstacles we might face.
But now I'm left to wonder what I did wrong
As you depart, I am left to question where things went wrong and what I could have done to change the outcome.
And why you chose to leave and carry on
I cannot comprehend why you chose to leave me behind and move on, leaving me to cope with the pain alone.
My love for you was so strong and true
I was convinced that my love for you was steadfast and unwavering.
But in the end, I was just crazy for loving you.
In retrospect, it is clear that my love for you was pure madness, completely irrational and uncontainable.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, O/B/O DistroKid
Written by: Willie Nelson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@juannunez9418
Cómo de me caen las lágrimas con estos temas y sobre todo de Paul Anka, tengo 77 años, mis años mas felices fueron en los sesenta
@49morocha
Y yo 74 y adoro a paul anka, fue el primer cantante que me intereso escuchar a pesar de no hablar ingles pero siempre recuerdo haber estado pegada a la radio cuando vino a chile x ahi por 1963
@juannunez9418
Vuelvo a escribir soy Juan Daniel Nuñez, ya di mí opinión sobre Paul AnKa, y la reafiirmo, cuánto daría x volver a los sesenta, y soñar escuchando a todos los cantores de esa época, léase Sedaka, AnKa, Shannon, etc
@alonavt3693
I wish i could go back to the old days to see this man
@galisan4749
Alona Tugot he’s still alive and he still sings beautiful ☺️💕
@bpandorf33
Same
@saraigoudeau9325
Same.....same
@ilovemayoi5856
Who doesn't???
@AtomicLobotomy
Yeah, I think he does Vegas dinner theaters. He's a Vegas regular.
@axylmagro4489
One of Canada’finest Crooner singers and teenage idols of the late 1950 Paul Anka is still the most remarkable icons to this day and above all else such charismatic and invincible voice