"Never on Sunday", also known by its original Greek title "Ta Pediá tou Pireá" (" Τα Παιδιά του Πειραιά", The Children of Piraeus), is a popular song written by

Manos Hatzidakis Manos Hatzidakis (also spelled Hadjidakis; el, Μάνος Χατζιδάκις; 23 October 1925 – 15 June 1994) was a Greek composer and theorist of Greek music, widely considered to be one of the greatest Greek composers and one of the most ...

and first sung by Melina Mercouri in the film of the same name, directed by

Jules Dassin Julius "Jules" Dassin (December 18, 1911 – March 31, 2008) was an American film and theatre director, producer, writer and actor. A subject of the Hollywood blacklist in the McCarthy era, he subsequently moved to France, and later Greece, whe ...

and starring Mercouri. The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1960, a first for a foreign-language picture. The

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

was first released on 1 October 1960 by

United Artists Records United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1959, ...

. The song has since been recorded by numerous artists, and has gained various degrees of success throughout the world. The opening of the song bears some resemblance to that of Poinciana.

Background

"Never on Sunday" was written by Manos Hadjidakis as "Ta Pedia tou Pirea" (The Children of Piraeus). His original Greek lyrics, along with the foreign translations in German, French, Italian and Spanish do not mention "Never on Sunday" (as found in the English lyrics), but rather tell the story of the main female character of the film, Illya (Mercouri). Illya is a jolly woman who sings of her joyful life in her port town of

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saron ...

("If I search the world over/I'll find no other port/Which has the magic/Of my Port Piraeus"). Although she earns her money as a prostitute, she longs to meet a man someday who is just as full of ''

joie de vivre ( , ; "joy of living") is a French phrase often used in English to express a cheerful enjoyment of life, an exultation of spirit. It "can be a joy of conversation, joy of eating, joy of anything one might do… And ''joie de vivre'' may be ...

'' as she is herself. In 1960, the song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, a first for a foreign-language picture since the Academy began to recognize achievements in this category in 1934.

Recordings

The song has been recorded in a number of languages since its release: * Greek (as "Τα Παιδιά του Πειραιά") by Melina Mercouri,

Nana Mouskouri Ioanna "Nana" Mouskouri ( el, Ιωάννα "Νάνα" Μούσχουρη ) (born 13 October 1934) is a Greek singer. Over the span of her career, she has released over 200 albums in at least twelve languages, including Greek, French, English, Germ ...

, and

Pink Martini Pink Martini is an American band that was founded in 1994 by pianist Thomas Lauderdale in Portland, Oregon. Group members call it a little orchestra that crosses several styles, such as classical, latin, traditional pop, and jazz. The co-lead vo ...

. * English: An orchestral version recorded by

Don Costa Dominick P. "Don" Costa (June 10, 1925 – January 19, 1983) was an American conductor and record producer. He discovered singer Paul Anka and worked on several hit albums by Frank Sinatra, including ''Sinatra and Strings'' and '' My Way''. ...

reached number 19 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1960, then returned to the '' Billboard'' Top 40 when reissued in 1961. His version also peaked at #27 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 ...

. Following the success of the orchestral version as well as the Oscar win, an

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

version of the song was commissioned to be written especially to match the title of the film. The lyrics to the English version of the song were written by Billy Towne. A vocal of the song by

The Chordettes The Chordettes were an American female vocal quartet, specializing in traditional pop music. They are best known for their 1950s hit songs " Mr. Sandman" and "Lollipop". Career The group organized in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, in 1946. The origin ...

reached number 13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in 1961, making it their final Top 40 hit in the United States. It was also recorded by Billy Eckstine, Bing Crosby, Lena Horne, Doris Day, Andy Williams,

Trini Lopez Trinidad López III (May 15, 1937 – August 11, 2020) was an American singer, guitarist, and actor. His first album included a cover version of Pete Seeger's " If I Had a Hammer", which earned a Golden Disc for him. His other hits include ...

, The 4 Seasons,

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” ...

, Julie London, Eartha Kitt,

Petula Clark Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades. Clark's professional career began during the ...

Lale Andersen Lale Andersen (23 March 1905 – 29 August 1972) was a German chanson singer-songwriter and actress born in Lehe (now part of Bremerhaven). She is best known for her interpretation of the song ''Lili Marleen'' in 1939, which by 1941 transcend ...

Ann-Margret Ann-Margret Olsson (born April 28, 1941) is a Swedish–American actress, singer, and dancer. As an actress and singer, she is credited as Ann-Margret. She is known for her roles in '' Pocketful of Miracles'' (1961), ''State Fair'' (1962), '' ...

, and

the New Christy Minstrels The New Christy Minstrels are an American large-ensemble folk music group founded by Randy Sparks in 1961. The group has recorded more than 20 albums and scored several hits, including " Green, Green", "Saturday Night", "Today", "Denver", and ...

, plus as an instrumental by

Herb Alpert Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s. During the same decade, he co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss. Alpert has recorded 28 albums that have landed on the ...

and the Tijuana Brass and

James Last James Last (, ; born Hans Last; 17 April 1929 – 9 June 2015), also known as Hansi, was a German composer and big band leader of the James Last Orchestra. Initially a jazz bassist (Last won the award for "best bassist" in Germany in each of ...

The Ventures The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar across the world during the ...

released a version on their 1963 Dolton album ''

The Ventures Play Telstar and the Lonely Bull ''The Ventures Play Telstar and the Lonely Bull'' is an album by the band the Ventures, released in 1963. It consists entirely of cover versions of popular instrumentals from the late 1950s to early 1960s (all of which reached the Top 15 on Billb ...

'', as did The Baskerville Hounds on their 1967

Dot Records Dot Records was an American record label founded by Randy Wood (record producer), Randy Wood and Gene Nobles that was active between 1950 and 1978. The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee. In 1956, the company moved ...

album ''The Baskerville Hounds – Featuring Space Rock, Part 2''. * In the United Kingdom, there were five versions in the

. They were Don Costa, reached number 27; Chaquito (actually Johnny Gregory), reached number 50; Lynn Cornell with the only vocal version in the UK chart, reached number 30; Makadopulos and his Greek Serenaders, reached number 36; and Manuel and his Music of The Mountains (actually

Geoff Love Geoffrey Love (4 September 1917 – 8 July 1991) was a prolific British arranger and composer of easy listening and pop versions of film themes. He became famous in the late 1950s, playing under the pseudonym of Manuel and The Music of The Mo ...

), which peaked at number 29. * Italian (as "Uno a te, uno a me") by

Dalida Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti (; 17 January 1933 – 3 May 1987), professionally known as Dalida, was an Italian-French singer and actress born in Egypt. She sang in eleven languages and sold millions of records internationally. Her best known son ...

Milva Maria Ilva Biolcati, (; 17 July 1939 – 23 April 2021), known as Milva (), was an Italian singer, stage and film actress, and television personality. She was also known as ''La Rossa'' (Italian for "The Redhead"), due to the characteristic co ...

Nilla Pizzi Nilla Pizzi, stage name of Adionilla Pizzi (; 16 April 1919 – 12 March 2011), was an Italian singer and actress. Born in Sant'Agata Bolognese, she was particularly famous in Italy during the 1950s and 1960s. She won the first edition of the ...

, Isabella Fedeli. * French (as "Les enfants du Pirée") by

, Melina Mercouri,

Darío Moreno David Arugete (3 April 1921 – 1 December 1968), commonly known under his stage name Darío Moreno, was a Turkish-Jewish polyglot singer, an accomplished composer, lyricist, and guitarist. He attained fame and made a remarkable career centred ...

. Dalida's French version of this song topped French singles chart in 1960. * Spanish (as "Los niños del Pireo") by

. "Nunca en Domingo" by Xiomara Alfaro. * German:

scored a number one hit in 1960 with the German-language version of the song titled "Ein Schiff wird kommen". It was also covered by

Caterina Valente Caterina Valente (born 14 January 1931) is a French multilingual singer, guitarist, and dancer of Italian ethnicity. Valente is a polyglot; she speaks six languages, and sings in eleven. While she is best known as a performer in Europe, Valent ...

Lys Assia Lys Assia (born Rosa Mina Schärer; 3 March 1924 – 24 March 2018) was a Swiss singer who won the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. Assia was born in Rupperswil, Aargau, and began her stage career as a dancer, but changed to singing in 1940 ...

, Helmuth Brandenburg and Melina Mercouri. In 1982 the

Neue Deutsche Welle Neue Deutsche Welle (NDW, , "New German Wave") is a genre of West German rock music originally derived from post-punk and new wave music with electronic influences. The term was first coined by Dutch radio DJ Frits Spits on the popular nationwid ...

band Der Moderne Man recorded a

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

themed new wave version named "Blaue Matrosen" with the same German lyrics of Lale Andersen's version, but sung by a man. * Dutch (as "Nooit op zondag") by Mieke Telkamp, based on the melody. * Yiddish (as "Nisht af zintuk") by

The Barry Sisters Minnie Bagelman (April 6, 1923 – October 31, 1976) and Clara Bagelman (October 17, 1920 – November 22, 2014),NOTE: Claire Barry was not born in 1923, the year that had previously been cited as her year of birth, but in 1920, as all notices ...

. * Polish (as "Dzieci Pireusu") by Maria Koterbska and duo of actors Hanna Śleszyńska & Jacek Wójcicki. * Czech (as "Děti z Pirea", 1962) by Milan Chladil & Yvetta Simonová. * Serbian (as "Деца Пиреја") by Lola Novaković and Ljiljana Petrović. * Croatian (as "Nikad nedjeljom") by Ksenia Prohaska. * Slovenian (as "Otroci Pireja") by Helena Blagne. * Cantonese (as "兩仔爺") by Cheng Gwan-min ( 鄭君綿),

Tang Kee-chan Tang Kee Chan (, 17 February 1912 – 2 July 1991) was a Hong Kong actor, singer and radio personality. He is often referred to as the "King of Comedy (諧劇大王)" which is a moniker given to him by the Hong Kong entertainment industry as ev ...

( 鄧寄塵), and Cheng Pik Ying ( 鄭碧影) in 1962. Another cover version was sung by

Andy Lau Andy Lau Tak-wah (; born 27 September 1961) is a Hong Kong actor, singer-songwriter and film producer. He has been one of Hong Kong's most commercially successful film actors since the mid-1980s, performing in more than 160 films while maint ...

( 劉德華),

Anita Mui Anita Mui Yim-fong (; 10 October 1963 – 30 December 2003) was a Hong Kong singer and actress who made major contributions to the Cantopop music scene and received numerous awards and honours. She remained an idol throughout her career, and i ...

( 梅艷芳),

Sandra Ng Sandra Ng Kwan-yue (born 2 August 1965) is a Hong Kong actress, film director and producer. Life and career The daughter of the actor Kenneth Ng Kam Tsun, Ng was born in Hong Kong, where she attended St. Stephen's Girls' College. Encouraged by he ...

( 吳君如), Ronald Cheng ( 鄭中基),

Gordon Lam Gordon Lam Ka-tung (林家棟; born 21 September 1967) is a Hong Kong actor, film producer and screenwriter. Initially known for his supporting roles in films directed by Andrew Lau and Johnnie To, Lam eventually became a lead actor in the Ho ...

( 林家棟), Suzanne Chung (鍾依澄),

Cherrie Ying Cherrie Ying Choi-yi (born 20 June 1983), better known as Ting Yim-yi or Ting Man, is a Taiwan-born Hong Kong actress. She moved to New York City at a young age, and later to Hong Kong. Her nickname is "Dingding" (丁丁), and she is often credit ...

( 應采兒) and

Lam Chi-chung Lam Chi-chung (; born 16 August 1976) is a Hong Kong actor. Partial filmography * ''The Sexy Guys'' (2019) * ''The Incredible Monk 3'' (2019) * ''Monkey King - The Volcano'' (2019) * ''Flirting Scholar from the Future'' (2019) * ''A Home with a ...

( 林子聰) in the 2001 film ''

Dance of a Dream ''Dance of a Dream'' () is a 2001 Hong Kong romantic comedy film co-produced and directed by the film's cinematographer, Andrew Lau and starring Andy Lau, Anita Mui and Sandra Ng. Plot Namson Lau (Andy Lau) is a ballroom dancing instructor. On ...

'' ( 愛君如夢). The song title roughly translates as "Father and Son". * Mandarin (as "別在星期天") by

Teresa Teng Teng Li-Chun (; 29 January 1953 – 8 May 1995), commonly known as Teresa Teng, was a Taiwanese singer, actress, musician and philanthropist. Referred to by some as " Asia's eternal queen of pop," Teng became a cultural icon for her contributio ...

( 鄧麗君). The title translates as "Never on Sunday". It was additionally covered by Rebecca Pan (潘迪華) in 1961 and Ouyang Fei Fei (歐陽菲菲) in 1968. * Portuguese (as "As crianças do Pireu") by Paula Ribas. * Hindi (as "जाने न जाने") by

Usha Uthup Usha Uthup Iyer (born 7 November 1947) is an Indian pop, filmi, jazz, and playback singer who sang songs in the late 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. "Darling", which she recorded with Rekha Bhardwaj for the film ''7 Khoon Maaf'', won the Filmfare ...

on the album "Dekha Dekhi" * Finnish (as "Ei koskaan sunnuntaisin") by Four Cats, Vieno Kekkonen and Kaarina Heikkinen among others. * Sinhala (as "රෑට කමු අපි වම්බොටු") by Chandu de Silva (a.k.a. Jolly Seeya). * Hebrew (as "ומה נשאר לי", that is, "And What Do I Have Left?") by the Givatron. * Swedish (as "Aldrig på en söndag") by Ann-Louise Hanson and Siw Malmkvist. * Danish (as "Aldrig Om Søndagen") by Grethe Ingmann.

Other appearances

*In 1962,

Chubby Checker Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American rock and roll singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including The Twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnight ...

released an uptempo version of the song with slightly altered English lyrics ("You can twist it" rather than "You can kiss me" and "You can shake it on a Friday ..." instead of "A Thursday, a Friday ..."). Checker's recording also included a single verse in Greek. *The song was used again in the 2005 movie ''

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

''. * James Hill, a Canadian

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

player, recorded a version of the song on ukulele for his album ''A Flying Leap''. *

Nia Vardalos Antonia Eugenia Vardalos (born September 24, 1962) is a Canadian actress, director, producer and screenwriter. She is best known for starring in and writing the romantic comedy film ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding'' (2002), which garnered her nominati ...

sang a snippet of the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

version in her 2009 film ''

My Life in Ruins ''My Life in Ruins'' (released as ''Driving Aphrodite'' in the United Kingdom) is a 2009 romantic comedy film directed by Donald Petrie and starring Nia Vardalos, Richard Dreyfuss, Alexis Georgoulis, Rachel Dratch, Harland Williams and Alista ...

''. *

Los Umbrellos Los Umbrellos was a Latin pop dance group formed in Denmark. It was formed by record producer Kenneth Bager in 1997 and disbanded in 1999. It was led by the rapper Al Agami, the exiled crown prince of the small African enclave of Lado. His family ...

, a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

musical group Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the na ...

, used it as a base for their 1998 signature song, " No Tengo Dinero". *This song was sung on ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as a s ...

'' by

Miss Piggy Miss Piggy is one of the Muppet characters known for her breakout role in Jim Henson's ''The Muppet Show''. Since her debut in 1976, Miss Piggy has been notable for her temperamental diva superstar personality, tendency to use French phrases i ...

and Greek pig characters, complete with smashing plates. *Egyptian guitarist Omar Khorshid recorded an instrumental version of this song. *Hartford Stage artistic director

Darko Tresnjak Darko Tresnjak ( sr-cyr, Дарко Трешњак, Darko Trešnjak) is a director of plays, musicals, and opera, and winner of several awards, including the Tony Award. He was the artistic director of the Hartford Stage in Connecticut, United S ...

chose this song to open his production of ''

Comedy of Errors ''The Comedy of Errors'' is one of William Shakespeare's early plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. ...

'' by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. *Appears in the movie '' Beautiful Girls'', however it is not on the soundtrack. This version was performed by Bernie Wyte and his Orchestra. *The song also can be heard in a scene from the 1999

Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film '' Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, ...

movie ''

Dogma Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Isla ...

'' (

version).

References

External links

Melody with printed lyrics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Never on Sunday (song) Film theme songs 1960 songs Nana Mouskouri songs The Chordettes songs Andy Williams songs Caterina Valente songs Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songs Songs about prostitutes Compositions by Manos Hatzidakis United Artists Records singles