"Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" is a

popular Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...

song with music by Sammy Fain and lyrics by Paul Francis Webster. The song appeared first in the movie '' Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing'' (1955), and it won the

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who have composed th ...

in 1956. From 1967 to 1973, it was also used as the theme song to '' Love is a Many Splendored Thing'', the

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

based on the movie. Many versions of the song have been released. The best-selling version was recorded by

The Four Aces The Four Aces are an American male traditional pop quartet popular since the 1950s. Over the last half-century, the group amassed many gold records. Its million-selling songs include " Love is a Many-Splendored Thing", " Three Coins in the Fo ...

, whose recording reached number two in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, and number one on both the '' Billboard'' and ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' charts in 1955.

Background

The music was commissioned for the movie '' Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing'' and included in the film's

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

-winning score, composed and conducted by Alfred Newman. It was initially only composed as background music for the film, lyrics were subsequently added to make it eligible for the

Best Original Song This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

category of the Academy Awards. The original lyrics were rejected by the studio so new ones were written. The song has been noted for its similarity to the

aria In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

Un bel dì vedremo The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

'' from

Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini ( Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long ...

’s

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

, '' Madama Butterfly'' in its downward moving thirds. An orchestral version of "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" is played at the title sequence of the film, with a vocal version performed by a chorus at the end.

Don Cornell Don Cornell (born Luigi Francisco Varlaro; April 21, 1919 – February 23, 2004) was an American singer. Early years Born to an Italian family in The Bronx, New York, Cornell attended Roosevelt High School in the Bronx. Career In his teens he pl ...

and

quickly recorded the song before the film was released. Before the Four Aces had a hit with their version, several artists, including Doris Day, disliked the song. Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster won an Oscar for Best Original Song at the 28th Academy Awards, their second Oscar after winning the award for " Secret Love" in 1953. The background score for the film that was built around the melody of the song also won an Oscar for Best Original Score for Alfred Newman. This song is noted for its memorable lines: "In the morning mist, two lovers kissed, and the world stood still".

Four Aces version

The song was covered by

featuring Al Roberts backed by the Jack Pleis Orchestra and issued by Decca Records as catalog number 29625. It was released backed with

Shine On, Harvest Moon "Shine On, Harvest Moon" is a popular early-1900s song credited to the married vaudeville team Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth. It was one of a series of moon-related Tin Pan Alley songs of the era. The song was debuted by Bayes and Norworth in the Z ...

in July 1955, and reached No. 1 on ''Billboard''s first ever Top 100 chart in November 1955. It was ranked No. 8 on ''Billboard''s 1955's Top Tune. The recording by The Four Aces is featured in the film ''

Cookie A cookie is a baked or cooked snack or dessert that is typically small, flat and sweet. It usually contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of oil, fat, or butter. It may include other ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chips, n ...

'' (1989). It became a

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

Charts

Other versions

recorded a version around at the same time as the Four Aces. It was issued by

Coral Records Coral Records was a subsidiary of Decca Records that was formed in 1949. Coral released music by Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly, the McGuire Sisters and Teresa Brewer. Coral issued jazz and swing music in the 1940s, but after Bob Thiele became head of ...

(catalog number 61467) backed with " The Bible Tells Me So". The song reached No. 26 on ''Billboard'' Top 100 chart. A number of orchestral versions were also released in the same year and reached the Top 100 chart; David Rose and His Orchestra reached No 54, while

Woody Herman Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading groups called "The Herd", Herman came to prominence in the late 1930s and was active until his dea ...

and His Orchestra reached No. 79. Bing Crosby recorded the song in 1955 for use on his radio show and it was subsequently included in the box set ''The Bing Crosby CBS Radio Recordings (1954-56)'' issued by Mosaic Records (catalog MD7-245) in 2009. The song has also been recorded by

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

(on his album '' Sentimental Journey''),

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

, Andy Williams, Shirley Bassey,

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

and

Barry Manilow Barry Manilow (born Barry Alan Pincus; June 17, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter with a career that spans seven decades. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", " Somewhere Down the Road", " Mandy", "I Write the Songs", " Can ...

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

recorded the song in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

as "L'Amore E' Una Cosa Meravigliosa".

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (born December 12, 1937), known professionally as Connie Francis, is an American pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Called the “First Lady of Rock & Roll” ...

recorded the song in Italian in 1960 during the work for her album ''More Italian Favorites'', although this version remains unreleased to this day. Francis also recorded the original English lyrics in 1961 for her album ''Connie Francis Sings 'Never on Sunday' and Other Title Songs from Motion Pictures''. The instrumental playback of this 1961 recording was also used when Francis cut a German-language version, "Sag, weißt du denn, was Liebe ist", in 1966. The song was also performed by

Fairuz Nouhad Wadie' Haddad ( ar, نهاد وديع حداد, ; born November 21, 1934), known as Fairuz ( ar, فيروز, ; also spelled Fairouz, Feyrouz or Fayrouz), is a Lebanese singer. She is considered by many as one of the leading vocalists a ...

in Arabian language ("Zar Bisukun Al Lail"). French-Malaysian singer Shake recorded a French version of the song in 1977 titled "Rien n'est plus beau que l'amour". A Disco version was recorded by Tina Charles in 1980.

Jeff Lynne Jeffrey Lynne (born 30 December 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the co-founder of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was formed in 1970. As a songwriter, he has cont ...

recorded his version for his nostalgic cover album ''

Long Wave In radio, longwave, long wave or long-wave, and commonly abbreviated LW, refers to parts of the radio spectrum with wavelengths longer than what was originally called the medium-wave broadcasting band. The term is historic, dating from the e ...

'' in 2012.

recorded a version which reached No. 32 on the Adult Contemporary chart in 2006. This song has been a staple of Engelbert Humperdinck's live show since 1995.

In popular culture

This song can be heard in the movies '' Grease'', '' Circle of Friends'', '' Private Parts'', ''

St. Trinian's ''St Trinian's'' is a British gag cartoon comic strip series, created and drawn by Ronald Searle from 1946 until 1952. The cartoons all centre on a boarding school for girls, where the teachers are sadists and the girls are juvenile delinquents ...

'', '' St. Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold'', and '' The Nutty Professor 2''. The song, among others, was referenced in ''

Moulin Rouge! ''Moulin Rouge!'' (, ) is a 2001 jukebox musical romantic drama film directed, co-produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. It follows a young English poet, Christian, who falls in love with the star of the Moulin Rouge, cabaret actress and cour ...

'' when Christian says, "Love is like oxygen - love is a many splendored thing - love lifts us up where we belong! All you need is love!." It has been also heard in the series ''

Bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, a ...

'', in the 14th episode of the third season sung by Dr. Zack Addy (

Eric Millegan Eric Millegan (born August 25, 1974) is an American actor, best known for his role as Dr. Zack Addy on the Fox series '' Bones''. Early life Millegan was born in Hackettstown, New Jersey, and raised in Springfield, Oregon. He attended Springfi ...

References