to the toppermost of the poppermost

Paul McCartney by Gordon Hunter, Campbeltown, Argyll

If you’ve watched “The Music of Lennon & McCartney,” you know the Beatles’ songs were sometimes adapted into other languages. French was one of them, and the one I want to talk about today is “Toi l’ami” by Richard Anthony (the one you can hear in the special).

Now, this song the adaptation of “All My Loving,” and let me tell you… it is wild. This isn’t just a “let’s translate this into French” version. Oh no. The lyrics were completely reworked, and while the melody and sense of longing remain, the story is different.

It’s about a man singing about a friend from his youth who is now gone, and who he will never be able to see again.

This song (who, mind you, was released in 1964) sounds like Paul talking to John after their breakup, and then after John’s death. I’m not joking, I can’t think about anything else whenever I listen to it.

Here’s the song:

Translated lyrics (I tried to keep the meaning rather than doing a literal translation):

You, the friend from our twenties, Tomorrow you will be leaving With a lover on your arm, But don’t forget your friends from before Remember us from time to time

Among us who remain here, We will often talk about you And the joy of the good old days You will, despite everything, still be with us For your name lives on in our childhood memories

Everything disappears As soon as love arrives Life passes by Each one in turn

You are far away now, so far, and everything has changed Our hearts are too heavy to sing It feels like, with you, a part of our lives has gone And it’s true, because our twenties are slipping away

Everything disappears As soon as love arrives Life passes by Each one in turn