Comme d'habitude

"Comme d'habitude" ([kɔm da.bi.tyd], French for "As usual") is a French song composed in 1967 by Claude François and Jacques Revaux with lyrics by Claude François and Gilles Thibaut (), originally recorded by Hervé Vilard.

Revaux, reportedly not satisfied with Vilard's version of the song, approached Claude François to re-record it. François accepted but asked that an underlying theme of a couple in a strained relationship be included, in reference to his recent breakup with fellow French singer France Gall. Revaux agreed and with some rewriting from Gilles Thibaut the song became "Comme d'habitude" in its best-known version in French, which was released by Claude François in 1968.

Paul Anka, after hearing the song while watching French television in Paris, bought the song's publication and adaptation rights but the original songwriters retained the music-composition half of their songwriter royalties. Anka wrote English lyrics specifically for Frank Sinatra, who then recorded a cross-Atlantic version of it in 1969 under the title "My Way". "My Way" has since been covered by many artists.

The lyrics of My Way are related to those of Comme d'habitude in terms of structure and metre, but the meaning is completely different. The French song is about routine in a relationship that is falling out of love, while the English language version is set at the end of a lifetime, approaching death, and looking back without regret – expressing feelings that are more related to Piaf's song Non, je ne regrette rien.

Many artists sang Comme d'Habitude in French after Claude François's success (and international success through My Way), notably:

David Bowie has said that in 1968 – the year before Paul Anka acquired the French song – his manager, Kenneth Pitt, asked him to write English lyrics for "Comme d'habitude" but that his version, titled "Even a Fool Learns to Love", was rejected. The unfinished work would later inspire his 1971 song "Life on Mars?"

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