Never on Sunday (song)

"Never on Sunday"
2002 remastered single
Single by Manos Hadjidakis
from the album Never on Sunday
Released	October 1, 1960
Format	Vinyl
Recorded	1960
Label	United Artists
Writer(s)	Manos Hadjidakis
Producer(s)	Jack Lewis

"Never on Sunday", also known as "Ta Pediá tou Pireá" (Greek: "Τα Παιδιά του Πειραιά"; English: "The Children of Piraeus"), is a popular song by Manos Hadjidakis. A vocal version was also released and performed by Melina Mercouri in the film of same name directed by Jules Dassin and starring Mercouri. The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1960, a first for a foreign-language picture. The film score to the movie was first released on October 1, 1960 by United Artists Records. The song has since been recorded by numerous artists, and has gained various degrees of success throughout the world.

"Never on Sunday" was written by Manos Hadjidakis originally in Greek with the title "Ta Pedia tou Pirea" (The children of Piraeus). The original Greek version featured lyrics also written by Hadjidakis, and was performed in the film by Melina Mercouri. The original Greek lyrics (along with the foreign translations in German, French and Italian) do not mention "Never on Sunday" (as found in the English lyrics), but rather tell the story of the main female character of the film, Illya (Mercouri). Illya is a jolly woman who sings of her joyful life in her port town of Piraeus ("If I search the world over/I'll find no other port/Which has the magic/Of my Port Piraeus"). Although she earns her money as a prostitute, she longs to meet a man someday who is just as full of joie de vivre as she is herself.

In 1960, the song was nominated and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, a first for a foreign-language picture since the Academy began to recognize achievements in this category in 1934.

The song has been recorded in a number of languages since its release:

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