My Boy
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"My Boy" is a popular song from the early 1970s. The music was composed by Jean-Pierre Bourtayre and Claude François, and the lyrics were translated from the original version "Parce que je t'aime, mon enfant" (Because I Love You My Child) into English by Phil Coulter and Bill Martin.


Song meaning

A
sentimental ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner. Balla ...
, the song is sung in a first-person narrative from the point of view of a father to his young son under the presumption that the child is asleep and can’t hear what his father is trying to tell him. The father tells his son the truth of the strained relationship between the child's parents, and that all the father has left is the love of his son. Rather than risk losing that through a painful divorce, the father makes the decision to stay in a loveless marriage for the sake of his child.


Richard Harris version

Actor
Richard Harris Richard St John Francis Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. Having studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, he rose to prominence as an icon of the British New Wave. He received numerous a ...
performed the song "My Boy" at a music contest sponsored by
Radio Luxembourg Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg). The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...
in 1971. Despite not winning the contest, Harris recorded the song and released it as a single later that year. Appearing on Harris' album of the same name, the song reached #41 on the ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' pop chart and peaked at #13 on the ''Billboard'' adult contemporary chart.


Elvis Presley version

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
recorded a
cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
of "My Boy" in late 1973 that was included on his 1974 album '' Good Times''. Presley's version of the song reached #20 on the ''Billboard'' pop chart and #17 on ''Cash Box''. In the UK, where Presley's career had had something of a resurgence in the previous few years, it made the top 10 peaking at number 5 in the first week of January 1975. It was a bigger adult contemporary hit, spending one week atop the U.S. and Canadian charts in April 1975. "My Boy also peaked at #14 on the ''Billboard'' country chart.


Charts


Richard Harris version


Elvis Presley version


Year-end charts


See also

* List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1975 (U.S.)


References


External links

* {{authority control 1971 singles 1974 singles 1975 singles Richard Harris songs Elvis Presley songs Songs written by Bill Martin (songwriter) Songs written by Phil Coulter Songs with music by Claude François Songs written by Jean-Pierre Bourtayre 1971 songs Pop ballads RCA Records singles Songs about fathers Songs about children