Frank Sinatra – Softly, As I Leave You

General CommentThe true story behind this song is beautifully told by Elvis in a duet with Sherill Nielsen that was nominated for a Grammy in 1973. "There was a man who was dying in hospital, and his wife has been sitting by his bedside for three days and three nights. Sometime on the third day, between midnight and day, she lay down beside him and dozed off to sleep. And he felt her when she dozed off to sleep and at the same time he felt himself start to die. And he didn't want her to see him pass away, so he took a notepad from the side of the bed and he wrote... Softly, I will leave you softly,
For my heart would break if you should wake and see me go....."

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  @njmhk
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  While I am a HUGE Elvis fan, I know that this story is not true. The music was written by Giorgio Calabrese and Tony De Vita. The English songwriter Hal Sharper noticed the song and in 1961 wrote english lyrics to the melody. Elvis's one recorded version of this song was a bootleg recording made by a fan in Las vegas in December 1975. While Elvis' story is very touching, it is not true, and it wasn't nominated for a Grammy in 1973.

  Flag debbieduon April 19, 2013