Pierre Delanoë

1918–2006 · French lyricist · French lyrics (English lyrics by Manny Curtis)

Born Pierre Leroyer in Paris in 1918, Delanoë was a tax inspector before he became one of the most prolific lyricists in the French language, credited with several thousand songs for Bécaud, Dalida, Aznavour, Joe Dassin and Michel Sardou, and later a president of SACEM. By the account carried in the song’s Wikipedia entry ↗, he wrote the words as an apology to Bécaud for missing one of his Olympia performances. The English lyric that the Everly Brothers sang is a separate piece of writing, by Manny Curtis.

Who recorded it

Songs written by Pierre Delanoë

Let It Be Me

Written by them — first recorded by Les Compagnons de la chanson

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