PAUL ANKA - SHE'S A LADY

SHE'S A LADY 

PAUL ANKA

SONGWRITER: PAUL ANKA

COUNTRY: CANADA

ALBUM: LIVE IN LAS VEGAS

LABEL: BARNABY RECORDS

GENRE: POP

YEAR: 1975

Paul Albert Anka (born July 30, 1941) OC is a Canadian singer, songwriter and actor. Anka became famous with hit songs like "Diana", "Lonely Boy", "Put Your Head on My Shoulder", and "(You're) Having My Baby". He wrote such well-known music as the theme for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and one of Tom Jones's biggest hits, "She's a Lady". He also wrote the English lyrics to Claude François and Jacques Revaux's music for Frank Sinatra's signature song, "My Way", which has been recorded by many, including Elvis Presley.

In 1983, he co-wrote the song "I Never Heard" with Michael Jackson. It was retitled and released in 2009, under the title "This Is It". An additional song that Jackson co-wrote with Anka from the 1983 session, "Love Never Felt So Good", was released in 2014 on Jackson's posthumous album Xscape. The song was also released by Johnny Mathis in 1984.

Anka became a naturalized US citizen in 1990.

(...)1970s chart comeback

Anka with friends Bill Porter and Elvis Presley backstage at the Las Vegas Hilton on August 5, 1972

Frustrated after more than ten years without a top 25 hit record, Anka switched labels again, which marked a turning point in his career. This time he signed with United Artists and in 1974 teamed up with Odia Coates to record the No. 1 hit, "(You're) Having My Baby", exposing Anka to a new generation of fans and proved his staying power among his original fan base that was now maturing.

Anka also wrote five songs which were included on an album by Don Goodwin.

Anka and Coates would record two more duets that made it into the Top 10, "One Man Woman/One Woman Man" (No. 7) and "I Don't Like to Sleep Alone" (No. 8), and the No.15 duet "(I Believe) There's Nothing Stronger Than Our Love". In 1975 he recorded a jingle for Kodak written by Bill Lane (lyrics) and Roger Nichols(melody) called "Times of Your Life". It became so popular Anka recorded it as a full song, which peaked at No. 7 in the US pop chart in 1976. The follow-up was another hit that Anka wrote for Sinatra, "Anytime (I'll Be There)", peaking at No. 33. Anka's last Top 40 hit in the US was in the summer of 1983: "Hold Me 'Til the Mornin' Comes", which included backing vocals from then-Chicago frontman Peter Cetera; it hit No. 2 on the Hot Adult Contemporary chart.

1990s comeback

His 1998 album A Body of Work was his first new US studio release since Walk a Fine Line in 1983; vocalists and performers included Celine Dion, Kenny G, Patti LaBelle, and Skyler Jett. The album included a new version of "Hold Me 'Til the Morning Comes", once again performed with Peter Cetera. In 2005, his album of big-band arrangements of contemporary standards, Rock Swings, provided a mainstream comeback of sorts that saw him awarded a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto.

On October 12, 2009, Anka stated that Michael Jackson's new release titled "This Is It" was a collaborative effort between the two in 1983. According to Anka, after recording the song, Jackson decided not to use it and the tune was then recorded and released by Sa-Fire. After Anka threatened to sue for credit and a share of royalties, the administrators of Jackson's estate granted Anka 50% of the copyright. An additional song that Jackson co-wrote with Anka from this 1983 session, "Love Never Felt So Good", was discovered shortly thereafter. His album Songs of December charted at No. 58 in Canada in November 2011.

On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Paul Anka among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire. 

[Verse:]

She knows what love’s about,

She turns me inside out,

That’s not easy.

She knows me through and through,

She knows what to do,

How to tease me.

[Chorus:]

She’s a lady, she’s a lady

We’re talking about my little lady

And the lady is mine.

[Verse:]

But she’s never in the way,

Always something nice to say

And what a blessing.

I can leave her on her own,

Knowing she’s okay alone

And that’s no messing.

[Chorus:]

She’s a lady, she’s a lady

We’re talking about my little lady

And the lady is mine.

[Bridge:]

Well she never asks for very much and I don't refuse her.

Always treat her with respect, I never would abuse her.

What she's got is hard to find, and I don't want to lose her.

Help me build a mountain from my side and lonely day.

[Verse:]

Well she's all you'd ever want,

The kind I’d like to flaunt

And take to dinner.

Well she always knows her place,

She's got style, she's got grace,

She's a winner.

[Chorus:]

She’s a lady, she’s my lady

We’re talking about my little lady

And the lady is mine.

She’s my lady, she’s my lady,

Listen to me, fellas, she’s my lady,

She’s nobody else’s, she’s my lady,

My woman only, my little lady

Tell ‘em girl, you’re my lady.

Paul, do you hear what I’m saying?

She’s my lady.

Sorry, Tom, my little lady.

Forget about it.

Yeah, she’s my lady,

My one and only little lady

We’re talking about my little lady

Yeah, she’s my lady.