Pop Music

Born in Ontario, Canada, in 1941, Paul Anka had already recorded several records by the time he was 15. In 1957 the 15 year-old Anka traveled to New York City where he auditioned for Don Costa at ABC. Anka sang a love song. (The stories about the Diana who inspired the song vary. However, in his book My Way: An Autobiography, Anka says that he developed a crush for a 19-year-old girl named Diana Ayoub, who worked as a secretary in the offices of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Ottawa. He saw her at a church and she would sometimes babysit his younger siblings.)  Costa was impressed and gave him a deal and helped to make him a teen idol in the ’50s. In 1957, the song “Diana” brought Anka stardom as it went to #1 on the U.S., Canadian, and United Kingdom music charts. Anka was the first teenager at the time to have a million seller in the U.K. (he was still 15 when it charted). At the time, it was the biggest-selling single in the U.K. history. “Diana” is still one of the best-selling singles ever by a Canadian recording artist. And Anka has had a remarkably successful career to this day as a singer, songwriter, and performer.

Here are the lyrics to “Diana” by Paul Anka:

“I’m so young and you’re so old
This, my darling, I’ve been told
I don’t care just what they say
‘Cause forever I will pray
You and I will be as free
As the birds up in the trees
Oh, please stay by me, Diana

Thrills I get when you hold me close
Oh, my darling, you’re the most
I love you but do you love me
Oh, Diana, can’t you see
I love you with all my heart
And I hope we will never part
Oh, please stay by me, Diana

Oh, my darlin’, oh, my lover
Tell me that there is no other
I love you with my heart
Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh
Only you can take my heart
Only you can tear it apart
When you hold me in your loving arms
I can feel you giving all your charms
Hold me, darling, ho-ho hold me tight
Squeeze me baby with all your might
Oh, please stay by me, Diana
Oh, please, Diana
Oh, please, Diana
Oh, please, Diana”

For other songs by Paul Anka: “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” and “Lonely Boy.”

For More Golden Oldies Music

The Daily Doo Wop Rec Room has daily featured doo wop, rock and roll, R&B, or rockabilly songs that were hits during the first era of rock and roll (that is, from about 1952 until the British invasion in 1964). After a song is featured, it then goes into the juke box. You are welcome to listen to any of the 40+ selections there. Every weekend, there is a Golden Oldies Juke Box Saturday Night, and the juke box is full of song requests from the 1950s and 1960s.

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