Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)

"Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)"^[1] first published in 1956, is a popular song which was written by the Jay Livingston and Ray Evans songwriting team.

The song was featured in Alfred Hitchcock's 1956 film, The Man Who Knew Too Much,^[2] with Doris Day and James Stewart in the lead roles. Day's recording of the song for Columbia Records (catalog number 40704) was a hit in both the United States— where it made it to number two on the Billboard charts^[3]—and the United Kingdom. From 1968 to 1973, it was the theme song for the situation comedy The Doris Day Show, becoming her signature song.

It reached the Billboard magazine charts in July 1956. The song received the 1956 Academy Award for Best Original Song with the alternative title "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)".^[2] It was the third Oscar in this category for Livingston and Evans, who previously won in 1948 and 1950.

Language in title and lyrics

There has been some minor controversy about the reputed language in the song's title and lyrics. The phrase was lyricist Jay Livingston's own variation on "Che sera sera," a fictional motto which he had seen in the 1954 film The Barefoot Contessa.^[4][5] Although it seems Livingston didn't know it, Che sera sera is the official motto of the Earls of Russell^[6].

Authentic renderings of the phrase "whatever will be" in romance languages include:

The phrase also appears as "Che sera, sera / What will be, shall be" in the sixteenth century English play Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe (Act 1, scene 1).

Cover versions

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• 1956: Jo Leemans Reached number 1 in Belgian national hitparade with a translated version, just one month after the original version that held the same spot.
• 1956: Lys Assia German version Was kann schöner sein (Whatever could be more beautiful)
• 1962: Connie Francis Recorded in April 1962 at RCA Italiana Studios, Rome/Italy during the on location shootings for her 2nd movie Follow the boys, Francis was not satisfied with Geoff Love's orchestrations which had been pre-recorded at E. M. I.'s Abbey Road Studios in London and prompted her manager the withheld the release of her version of the song. In March 1963, however, new orchestrations arranged by Don Costa were recorded and synchronized with Francis' original 1962 vocals. This new version was featured on Francis' 1963 album Connie Francis sings Award Winning Motion Picture Hits.
• 1963: The High Keys version with a calypso feel and sports whistle accents^[7] influenced versions by Earl Royce & the Olympics (1964) and Normie Rowe & the Playboys (1965)
• 1964: The Earl Royce & The Olympics version was recorded by Beatles producer George Martin.
• 1964: Not really as a cover version of her own song but more as a remake, Doris Day recorded a new version of the song for her 1964 children's songs album With a smile and a song.
• 1965: The Chipmunks sang the song on the album The Chipmunks Sing with Children, with the altered line, "I asked old David" instead of "I asked my mother." The version is also on the 1969 album Chipmunks go to the Movies.
• 1965: The Normie Rowe & The Playboys version was a hit in Australia.
• 1966: Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band record an up tempo version of the song released as a single, "Que Sera Sera" / "All I Need" Piccadilly 7N 35346 Single. The same song also appears on Geno Washington And The Ram Jam Band's 1968 compilation, Sifter Shifters And Finger Clickin' Mama's - Marble Arch MALS 816
• 1966: Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band, do a live version of the song on their Hand Clappin' Foot Stompin' Funky-Butt … Live! Piccadilly NPL 38026 album.
• 1968: Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band, do a second live version of the song on their Running Wild - Pye NSPL.18219 album
• 1969: Mary Hopkin recorded it as Apple Records single 1823 with "Fields Of St. Etienne" on the other side.
• 1973: The funk band Sly & the Family Stone, on their Fresh album .
• 1974: British entertainer Tommy Steele recorded it in a medley with other songs.^[8]
• 1977: Husband-and-wife duo The Raes had a big hit in Canada with their disco-pop version of the song.
• 1979: Swedish pop and country singer Kikki Danielsson, on her "Rock'n Yodel" album.
• 1984: A Hungarian language cover version by singer Zsuzsa Koncz is featured in Béla Tarr's film Őszi almanach (Almanach of the Fall).
• 1985: Ex-New York Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders recorded a version for his Que Sera, Sera album.
• 1994: K Cera Cera, a K Foundation (KLF) presentation of The Red Army Choir, was a limited edition single released in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
• 1996: Holly Cole recorded a version for her live album It Happened One Night.
• 1997: Pink Martini rendered a noir version on their debut album, Sympatique.
• 1998: The song was covered by BZN, on the album A symphonic night, volume 2.
• 2000: In the Bollywood film Pukar, a different version of the song was performed by Shankar Mahadevan and Kavita Krishnamurthy.Music by A.R. Rahman & Lyrics by Javed Akhtar & Majrooh Sultanpuri. It shares the same title and main lyric, but the beat, rhythm and tunes are completely different.
• 2001: Hermes House Band, on their cover albums, The Album, Hermes House Band Greatest Hits and Football Megamix.^[9]
• 2003: Jill Sobule does an acoustic version on The Folk Years 2003-2003.
• 2004: Jennifer Terran covers the song on her album Live From Painted Cave.
• 2005: The electronic artist Wax Tailor produced the song "Que Sera" on the Tales of the Forgotten Melodies album with cuts from an earlier version mixed in.
• 2007: David Ryan Harris has covered the song at various solo performances.
• 2007: Damien Rice and David Gray played the song at Live Earth concert, London at Wembley Stadium
• 2008: Dan McLean Jr did an acoustic version of the song on his "Soul Café" album, with additional guitar by Kevin Breit of The Sisters Euclid.
• 2009: Italian singer Simona Molinari recorded the song in its original English language for her debut album "Egocentrica"
• 2009: The song was played in a live concert by Steve Kimock and Crazy Engine.^[10]

In popular culture

• 1956: "Que Sera Sera" was the name given to a US Navy C-47 Skytrain^[11][12] which, on October 31, 1956, was the first aircraft to land on the South Pole (Operation Deep Freeze II).
• 1960: Doris Day sings a few lines of the song in the film, Please Don't Eat the Daisies (film). Her character, Kate, is out to dinner with husband, Lawrence. She hears the restaurant playing the music to the song and quietly sings the chorus to him.
• 1963: The Italian version of the phrase appears prominently in the Henry Mancini song, "Meglio Stasera".
• 1964: Allan Sherman quoted the words "Que Sera Sera" in the song "That is why America's a nice Italian Name" on his album For Swinging Livers Only.
• 1966: Doris Day and Arthur Godfrey (playing her dad in the movie) both sing a few lines as Godfrey strums his trademark ukelele in the film The Glass Bottom Boat.
• 1977: In Episode 119 of The Muppet Show at the end of the "Under My Skin" sketch Shakey Sanchez finishes off the song with lyrics from "Que Sera Sera."
• 1978: Eddie Money's hit song "Baby Hold On" featured something of a tribute to "Que Sera Sera" in the lyrics: "Whatever will be will be/The future is ours to see." Money was sued by Livingston & Evans for plagiarizing these lines; they won damages in court.^{[citation needed]}
• 1980s: The tune was used, with altered lyrics, in a British television advert for Birds Eye Steakhouse Grills. A group of labourers on their way home from a day's work speculate in song about what side dish will be served up with the grills for their dinner: "Will it be chips or jacket spuds? Will it be salad or frozen peas? Will it be mushrooms, fried onion rings? You'll have to wait and see." The song ends with the chorus: "Hope it's chips, it's chips... we hope it's chips, it's chips..." ^[13]
• 1987: Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam song Lost in Emotion referenced "Que Sera Sera" in the chorus lines.
• 1989: The song was used in the title sequence of the movie Heathers, with an arrangement by Van Dyke Parks and performed by Syd Straw. The Sly & the Family Stone cover version is also in the film.
• 1989: The song was sung near the end of the pilot episode of Quantum Leap by Sam's leap's wife.
• 1991: Queen featured the line "whatever will be, will be" near the end of their song "Innuendo" from the album of the same name; the last fully recorded while Freddie Mercury was alive.
• 1994: The song was sung in the Beverly Hills 90210 Season 4 episode, "Greek To Me". It was sung by Jennie Garth, Tori Spelling, Shannen Doherty and Gabrielle Carteris just before the ending credits
• 1994: A jazz rendition of the song by the Holly Cole Trio was used in the Due South episode, "Chicago Holiday: Part 2".
• 1995: The song was featured in The Simpsons episode "Bart's Comet" sung by Ned Flanders along with the whole city and also during the credits.
• 1997: The song was featured in an Australian Johnny Walker ad depicting a lesbian couple's wedding.
• 1998: The song was mentioned in the comic strip Liberty Meadows issue #1.
• 1999: The song was used (in Japanese) near the end of the anime movie My Neighbors the Yamadas.
• 1999: The Doris Day version was played in the movie version of Girl, Interrupted.
• 2000: Que Sera Sera wordings were used in Hindi film Pukar starring Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit
• 2000: This song was featured prominently in the movie Nurse Betty.
• 2000: During the Canadian Federal Election, 2000, This Hour Has 22 Minutes news anchor Rick Mercer proposed a national referendum to change the first name of the Leader of the Official Opposition, Stockwell Day, to "Doris." The online petition received hundreds of thousands of e-votes. In response to the joke, the leader of the Canadian Alliance playfully lip synced the song "Que Sera Sera" to reporters on his campaign jet.
• 2000: The song was featured in a season two episode of The Sopranos.
• 2001: In the anime series Fruits Basket, Shigure Sohma used the quote "Que Sera, Sera" in episode 6 to say "Whatever Will Be, Will Be", a quote he likes to use in the manga of the same name.
• 2001: Que Sera Sera is in the song lyric "Life is Good" on the Maaya Sakamoto album Lucy.
• 2002: This song was used in the Gilmore Girls episode "Secrets and Loans".
• 2003: A version of the song performed by Pink Martini was also used in the pilot episode of Dead Like Me.
• 2004: The song was used on the television commercial for the first season of Desperate Housewives on Channel 4 in the UK
• 2004: The Japanese jazz musician Charlie Kosei is the vocalist for a song entitled "Que Sera Sera" (lyrics and melody unrelated to the 1956 version) in the video game soundtrack Katamari Fortissimo Damacy.
• 2004:In the remake of Helter Skelter in one scene when they were in the car they started to sing "Que Sera Sera".
• 2005: The song was played in The Simpsons episode "There's Something About Marrying."
• 2005: The band Valencia used this title for one of their songs on their album This Could Be a Possibility
• 2005: Tammin Sursok recorded a different song called Whatever Will Be on her album also called Whatever Will Be.
• 2006: During an emotional scene in the episode "Queen of Sheba", for the British sitcom The Royle Family, Nana and Barbara Royle tearfully hummed and swayed to the song as it played in the background on radio.
• 2006: Vanessa Hudgens covered Tammin Sursok's version of "Whatever Will Be," featured on her debut album V.
• 2006: Que Sera, Sera is the title of an episode of the House television series.
• 2006: The song was used before the penalty shoot out in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.
• 2006: Japanese musician Közi has a song Que Sera Sera (not a cover, just the same title) on his CD Loki n' Roll.
• 2006: The Nip/Tuck episode in season 4 entitled "Diana Lubey" featured the Pink Martini cover.
• 2007: A Korean drama starring Eric Mun is called Que Sera, Sera.
• 2007: Jennifer Terran's recording of Que Sera Sera was used in a commercial for Dell's new XPS computer, complete with exploding monitors and wrecking balls.
• 2008: The Sly & the Family Stone version of the song is in the Will Ferrell movie Semi-Pro
• 2008: The song was played for Holcim advertisement in Indonesia.
• 2008: The song was featured in BBC drama Hotel Babylon
• 2008: The song was in an episode of the ABC show Boston Legal
• 2008: The song was performed by three blind children and a children's choir on the 10th anniversary concert of the Bantay Bata Organization in the Philippines.
• 2008: What Made Milwaukee Famous uses "Que Sera, Sera" as a lyric in the song "Cheap Wine" on their album "What Doesn't Kill Us".
• 2008: The song is referenced in country music singer Sara Evans' song "Pray For You" lyrics: "I think of home and how you use to sing to me, she sang Que sera, sera, life goes on..." The song is on her Greatest Hits CD
• 2008: The song was played in the ending of the movie Tutta la vita davanti.
• 2009: On Swan Lake's album Enemy Mine, the song "Settle on Your Skin" features the phrase in the final verse.
• 2009: The opening track on "Tragic Boogie" an album by "The Life and Times" is titled, "Que Sera Sera"[1]

The song is regularly sung at English football matches when a team is progressing to the next round of a competition that will ultimately lead them to Wembley Stadium.^{[citation needed]} The chorus' second line is changed to "we're going to Wembley, que sera, sera." However, this practice was started by the two sets of Merseyside fans from EVERTON FC and LIVERPOOL FC.^{[citation needed]} They changed the lyrics to, "Tell me ma, me ma. I don't want no tea, no tea. I'm going to Wemb-er-ly. Tell me ma, me ma." ('Ma' is local slang for mother. 'Tea' refers to an evening meal).

References

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