Paul Anka has found a new way to honor Christopher Columbus.
The famed singer/songwriter has written an updated version of his classic Frank Sinatra hit “My Way,” whose lyrics hit out at those who want to erase the memory of the famous explorer.
“The fun, the food, the friends, there’s never a shortage // You’re gonna get those laws back,” he wrote in the new song, which he’ll perform at the Columbus Day Parade in Chicago on Monday.
The song references the statues of Christopher Columbus that were removed from the Windy City’s Grant Park and Arrigo Park.
The song also references the complaints of White Sox fans.
“Lost [now Yankees first baseman] Anthony Rizzo, it’s a sobbing sound. And what do those white socks mean, a fan!”
He also mentioned Sean “Diddy” Combs in one verse, as he said it was “timely”.
“Instead of fear or dread // No blue, no red // No shit from Didi // It’s true there’s a lot to do but we’ll get through it in our power.”
Anka, 83, originally wrote “My Way” for Frank Sinatra — based on the music of a French song, “Comme d’Habitude” — after learning the Hoboken, NJ native was thinking about retiring. .
The iconic song was released in 1969, where it peaked at number 27 on the US Billboard charts.
The Canadian-born singer turned California native — who has more than 239,000 TikTok followers — wrote it over the course of eight to 10 hours over five days in Los Angeles, Buffalo, NY, and Chicago.
Although Anka, whose parents were of Lebanese descent, is not of Italian heritage, he said people often mistake him for Italian or Jewish. He lived in Italy for several years when he was young.
This is not the first time that Anka has rewritten her famous song. He did this for Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Chicago parade, which will be held on State Street on Monday and broadcast on ABC7, the Windy City’s most-watched television station, is organized by the United Citizens Committee of Italian Americans.
Father of six children, who is currently on a nationwide tourSaid his fiancee Michelle Nigro and 19-year-old son will join him in the parade, his first to participate in the parade.
Anka said he did not want to get into the politics of renaming Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day, but added, “We took their land, and I support that injustice that happened years ago.”
