Mein Herz weiß genau, was es will

"Mein Herz weiß genau, was es will"
Song by Connie Francis
Published	1960
Released	1988
Recorded	October 18, 1960
Genre	Rock and roll, Schlager music
Length	2:30
Label	MGM Records
Composer	Howard Greenfield, Jack Keller, Ralph Maria Siegel
Producer	Arnold Maxin, Jesse Kaye

Mein Herz weiß genau, was es will is a German recording made by U. S. entertainer Connie Francis.

Background: First German Recording

In her autobiography Who's Sorry Now?, published in 1984, Francis mentioned that in the early years of her career the language barrier in certain European countries made it difficult for her songs to get airplay, especially in Germany. Following this observation, it was decided that Francis would record a German version of her U. S. # hit Everybody's Somebody's Fool, entitled Die Liebe ist ein seltsames Spiel with lyrics written by veteran lyricist Ralph Maria Siegel. The song peaked at # 1 in Germany for two weeks, as it did in many other countries, and Francis would have six more # 1 hits on the German charts.^[1]

Main article: Die Liebe ist ein seltsames Spiel

Second German Recording

Proven to be right in her assumption that the German markets could only be cracked in the country's own language, Francis attempted to record her second U. S. # 1 hit, My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own in German as well.

Main article: My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own

Again provided with German lyrics by Ralph Maria Siegel, the German version became Mein Herz weiß genau, was es will (which translates to My heart knows exactly what it wants) and was recorded on October 18, 1960 at the tail end of the same session which produced Francis' subsequent U. S. Hits Where the Boys Are, Breakin' in a Brand New Broken Heart and Many Tears Ago as well as Happy New Year, Baby (which would remain unreleased until 1984) and On the outside looking in (unreleased until 1996).^[2]

But owing to a lack of correct pronunciation, Mein Herz weiß genau, was es will would remain unreleased until 1988 when it appeared for the first time ever on anthology of Francis' complete German, Dutch and Swedish recordings.^[3]

My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own was subsequently provided with an alternate set of German lyrics – also by Ralph Maria Siegel - entitled So wie es damals war (which translates to Just like it was before) and recorded by Siw Malmkvist as well as Trixie Kühn, Gina Dobra, Nana Gualdi, and Charlotte Marian. Neither version did chart.

References

1. ^ http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connie_Francis#deutsch
2. ^ Ron Roberts: Connie Francis 1960 – 1962, supplement to 5 CD Boxed Set Kissin', Twistin', Goin' Where The Boys Are, Bear Family Records BCD 16 826 AH, Hambergen (Germany) 1996
3. ^ Richard Weize: Connie Francis, companion book to 8-LP-Boxed Boxed Set Connie Francis in Deutschland, Bear Family Records BFX 15 305, Hambergen/Vollersode (Germany) 1988