Days of Wine and Roses (song)

"Days of Wine and Roses"
Song
A-side	"Can't Get Used to Losing You"

"Days of Wine and Roses" is a popular song, from the 1962 movie of the same name.

The music was written by Henry Mancini with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. They received the Academy Award for Best Original Song for their work. In 2004 it finished at #39 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.

The song is composed of two sentences, one for each stanza. They are each sung as three lines.

Recordings

The best-known recording of the song was by Billy Eckstine in 1961 and Andy Williams in 1963, but several other recording artists have also recorded the song, including Dick and Dee Dee, Shirley Bassey, Frank Sinatra, Julie London, Perry Como, Wes Montgomery (1963: Boss Guitar), Robin Gibb and Lenny Breau. Tony Bennett sang his interpretation on his prestigious The Movie Song Album (1966). Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass recorded their version of this song on their Pablo Records album Easy Living. The song has become a jazz standard.

Williams' version was recorded for Columbia Records. It was released as catalog number 42674. The song reached #9 on the adult contemporary chart and #26 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and was the featured track of an album by Williams of the same name, which peaked at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

Como's version was recorded for RCA Victor Records. The recording was made on March 19, 1963. The record was issued by RCA Victor as a track on the album, The Songs I Love.

Mancini's version was also recorded for RCA Victor. It was released as catalog number 47-8120. (#33 pop, #10 easy listening; listed by Chartmasters as one of the Top 100 songs of 1963.)

On the Cash Box chart, where all singles were combined together, the song reached a peak position of #30 in May 1963.

R&B/soul singer Miki Howard recorded a cover version for her 2008 album, Private Collection. Robin Gibb's version was released posthumously as a track on the 2014 album, 50 St. Catherine's Drive.

The phrase "days of wine and roses" is originally from the poem "Vitae Summa Brevis" by the English writer Ernest Dowson (1867–1900):

They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
  Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for a while, then closes
  Within a dream.

As Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyat was popular at the turn of the 20th century in England, it would stand to reason that Dowson's poem was inspired by E. Fitzgerald's translation of the lines:

“Drink wine. This is life eternal. This is all that youth will give you. It is the season for wine, roses and drunken friends. Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.” 

― Omar Khayyám, رباعيات خيام

Chart positions

Performer	Chart (1963)	Peak position
Andy Williams	Adult contemporary	9
	Billboard Hot 100	26
Henry Mancini	Billboard Hot 100	33
	Billboard Easy Listening	10