TOTALLY GEEKED!

Was “Softly As I Leave You” Written by a Man on His Deathbed?

Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about music and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the music urban legends featured so far.

MUSIC URBAN LEGEND: “Softly as I Leave You” was written by a dying man as his wife slept at his bed side.

The song, “Softly as I Leave You,” was a pretty big hit for a number of singers, most particularly Matt Monro and Frank Sinatra (both during the early 60s). A lot of other people have recorded it over the years, including Elvis Presley, who is actually quite important for this story.

In any event, as the story goes, “Softly As I Leave You” was written by a dying man while his wife slept next to him.

Softly, I will leave you softly
For my heart would break if you should wake and see me go
So I leave you softly, long before you miss me
Long before your arms can beg me stay
For one more hour or one more day
After all the years, I cant bear the tears to fall
So, softly as I leave you there

(softly, long before you kiss me)
(long before your arms can beg me stay)
(for one more hour) or one more day
After all the years, I cant bear the tears to fall
So, softly as I leave you there
As I leave I you there
As I leave I you there

As you can see, the lyrics pretty clearly show that it is a guy sneaking out on a woman he’s been in a long-term relationship with. It’s actually a fairly cowardly act (but it’s a beautiful song). In any event, it really does not suggest that particular reading of a dying man with his wife beside him, but I guess it isn’t 100% NOT counting such a reading out.

But in any event, no, that’s not what happened. Some time before the song became a hit, composer Antonio De Vita wrote an instrumental song that he simply called “(Piano) Softly.” Popular pop Italian songwriter, Giorgio Calabrese, wrote Italian lyrics to the song, and it became a minor hit in Italy.

Songwriter Hal Shaper “wrote” English lyrics, but what he really did was just translate the Calabrese lyrics.

So it became a hit for a few artists.

But neither De Vita, Calabrese nor Shaper were ever in said situation. Calabrese is even still alive!

No, this story came about because of Elvis Presley, who started AND propagated this rumor to add some schmaltz to his performances of the song during the 1970s