"West of the Wall" is a 1962 song written by

Wayne Shanklin Wayne Shanklin (June 6, 1917 – June 16, 1970) was an American singer, songwriter and producer. His best known compositions were "Jezebel", " Chanson D'Amour (Song of Love)", and " The Big Hurt". Personal life Shanklin was born June 6, 1916, i ...

, and was recorded as a single by

Toni Fisher Toni Fisher (born Marion Colleen Nolan; December 4, 1924 – January 11, 1999), also billed on her records as Miss Toni Fisher, was an American pop singer. She was known for her recordings of "The Big Hurt", "West of the Wall", "Maybe (He'll ...

. It was recorded at Gold Star Recording Studio, Hollywood.

Background

The song tells of the sadness of lovers separated by the Berlin Wall which divided

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

from surrounding

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

, including East Berlin at the time, and expresses the hope that the wall will soon fall. The Berlin Wall had been constructed in 1961, and in fact did not fall until 1989. Fisher's earlier 1961 single for the Signet record label, "You Never Told Me", had "Toot Toot Amore" on the B side, which was the same melody and arrangement as "West of the Wall" with different lyrics.

Chart performance

The song was a Top 40 hit for Toni Fisher in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, where it reached #37 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in July 1962. It was issued on the Bigtop label. It enjoyed greater success in Australia, where it reached #1 on the Australian chart for two weeks beginning 21 July.

References

1962 singles Number-one singles in Australia Songs written by Wayne Shanklin Berlin Wall in popular culture 1962 songs {{1960s-single-stub