Usually Ray Evans wrote the words and Jay Livingston composed the tunes in their collaborative efforts. The earlier ones were for ‘Buttons and Bows’ in ‘The Paleface’ and ‘Mona Lisa’ in ‘Captain Carey, USA’. ‘Que Sera Sera’ gave Ray Evans and Jay Livingston their third Oscar for best original songs in films.
48 among the 100 best songs in American cinema. In 2004 the American Film Institute ranked ‘Que Sera Sera’ as No. The singles record released by Columbia records boomed in sales and topped the charts that year in the UK. The song won for Jay Livingston and Ray Evans an Oscar for Best Original Song in 1956. The chief attraction of the film was the song ‘Que Sera Sera’. It was also well-received internationally. The film was produced on a budget of $ 1.2 million but US box office earnings alone amounted to $ 11.2 million. ‘The Man Who Knew Too Much’ was a huge commercial success in 1956. The song in the film therefore is in two parts. In a melodramatic twist Josephine or Jo gets to sing ‘Que Sera Sera,’ which is heard by the son who whistles the tune loudly, thereby alerting the father, who then manages to rescue him. Josephine and Benjamin are honoured guests at the London Embassy of a foreign country while their son is being held prisoner in the same embassy premises. In the climax sequences verses of the song are sung by her again in a tense, suspense-ridden atmosphere. These scenes portray the Mackennas as a typical all-American family. We also see the son Hank whistle the tune loudly. In an early sequence she sings some verses of the song along with her son. In the film it is sung twice in parts by Doris Day who plays Josephine Conway a popular singer now married to a medical doctor Benjamin Mckenna played by James Stewart. Que sera, sera what will be, will be,” sung as a chorus. There is only one answer to all these questions at various levels – “Whatever will be, will be the future’s not ours to see. First as a child she asks her mother, “What will I be?” Next as a student she asks her teacher, “What will I try?” Then as a lover she asks her sweetheart, “What lies ahead?” Finally as a mother she is now asked by her children the same question she once asked her mother, “What will I be?” In the first three verses she is concerned about her future and asks pointed questions. (In some versions there are only three verses, with the one relating to the teacher being left out.) She is a child, young adult, lover and mother respectively. It has four verses denoting four phases of her life in progressive order. The song ‘Que Sera Sera’ is sung in the first person by a woman in a reflective, pensive frame of mind. Many of her songs remain as perennial favourites but the widely-popular evergreen number ‘Que Sera Sera’ is adjudged by many as Doris Day’s signature song. Doris acted with a number of leading Hollywood actors including Rock Hudson with whom she paired off best.ĭoris Day was a successful singer cum actress who was the top star of her day in the late fifties and early sixties of the 20th century. She acted in a number of romantic musical comedies. Doris Day became rapidly popular and was voted favourite star by US servicemen stationed in Korea. Curtiz felt she had that “all-American girl look”. The Director Michael Curtiz gave her a break in acting by casting her in the film ‘Romance in the High Seas’. Starting out as a singer on radio and at restaurants, Doris joined popular bands and began recording singles. She adopted the stage name Doris Day and commenced a career in singing. The ‘Spotlight’ column appearing after several weeks focuses therefore on this remarkable song and singer this week.ĭoris Day was born on 3 April 1922 as Doris Mary Kappelhoff in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. ‘The Man Who Knew Too Much’ and ‘Que Sera Sera’ figured prominently in that binge of nostalgia. When Doris Day died last May at the age of 97, I watched DVDs of the actress-singer’s films and listened to her CDs.
QUE SERA SERA LYRICS MEANING MOVIE
The song written and composed by the American duo Jay Livingston and Ray Evans became an instant hit.Īs the years progressed in Toronto, I acquired a DVD of Alfred Hitchcock’s movie ‘The Man Who Knew Too Much’ as well as a CD of Doris Day numbers and occasionally watched the film or listened to the ever-popular ‘Que Sera Sera’. It was a revised version of a film, by the same name, made in 1934 by Hitchcock. The film was directed by the legendary Alfred Hitchcock.
It was the well-known singing actress Doris Day who sang it in the film ‘The Man Who Knew Too Much’ released in 1956. It is one of the most popular songs to be featured in an English film. ‘Que Sera Sera’ pronounced ‘Kay Sera Sera’ means “Whatever will be, will be” or “What will be, will be”.