Put Your Head on My Shoulder (song)
{{Short description|1959 single by Paul Anka}}
{{For|the Beach Boys song|Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Put Your Head on My Shoulder
| cover = Put_Your_Head_on_My_Shoulder_-_Paul_Anka.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Paul Anka
| B-side = Don't Ever Leave Me
| released = August 17, 1959
| recorded = August 7, 1958
| studio = Bell Sound (New York City)
| venue =
| length = 2:37
| label = ABC-Paramount
| writer = Paul Anka
| producer = Don Costa
| prev_title = Lonely Boy
| prev_year = 1959
| next_title = It's Time to Cry
| next_year = 1959
| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|t8eYVIU5Kvs|"Put Your Head on My Shoulder"}}
}}
}}
"Put Your Head on My Shoulder" is a song written by Canadian-born singer-songwriter Paul Anka. Anka's version was recorded in August 1958 at Bell Sound Studios in New York City, twenty days before he recorded his no. 1 hit "Lonely Boy", and was released as a single on August 17, 1959, by ABC-Paramount as catalog number 4510040. It was arranged and conducted by Don Costa. The B-side was "Don't Ever Leave Me".{{Cite web|url=http://www.45cat.com/record/4510040|title=Paul Anka - Put Your Head On My Shoulder|access-date=26 April 2021|website=45cat.com}} "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" became very successful, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 (kept out of the No. 1 spot by Bobby Darin's recording of "Mack the Knife").{{Cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1959-10-19|title=The Hot 100 Chart|website=Billboard.com|date=2 January 2013|access-date=26 April 2021}} It was his third top five hit of 1959. In Canada the song reached No. 4 on the CHUM Charts.{{cite web|url=http://hitsofalldecades.com/chart_hits/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=849&Itemid=52| title=CHUM Top 20 Singles - October 12, 1959}}
Covers and foreign language versions
The song was again popular when it was covered and released as a single by The Lettermen in 1968. This version peaked at No. 44 on the Billboard Hot 100; it was more successful on the Easy Listening chart, where it peaked at No. 8.{{Cite web|url=http://www.billboard.com/artist/418513/lettermen/chart|title=The Lettermen – Chart history {{!}} Billboard|website=www.billboard.com|language=en|access-date=12 May 2017}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.billboard.com/artist/418513/lettermen/chart?page=1&f=341|title=The Lettermen – Chart history {{!}} Billboard|website=www.billboard.com|language=en|access-date=12 May 2017}}
Mexican singer Enrique Guzmán recorded a Spanish version in the 1960s titled "Tu cabeza en mi hombro". In Latin America, this cover is even more popular than the original. Chilean singer Myriam Hernández recorded this version in a duet with Anka himself in its original version.{{Citation needed|date=August 2020}}
Australian singer Derek Redfern covered the song, which peaked at number 71 on the Australian Kent Music Report in 1974.{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=248}}
American singer Leif Garrett released a cover of the song in 1978, which eventually reached number 58 on the Billboard Hot 100.{{cite web|title=Leif Garrett, "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" Chart Position|url=http://musicvf.com/song.php?title=Put+Your+Head+on+My+Shoulder+by+Leif+Garrett&id=25308|access-date=10 December 2016}}
American rapper and singer Doja Cat sampled it in her 2021 song "Freak." Freak's rhythm and tempo is similar to Anka's original version.{{cite web|title=FREAK by Doja Cat – Samples, Covers and Remixes ...|website=WhoSampled|url=https://www.whosampled.com/Doja-Cat/FREAK/|access-date=2 September 2020}}
Former-Menudo band Puerto Rican singer Robby Rosa and the Brazilian duo "Gabriela e Tatiana" recorded Portuguese versions in the 1980s, Robby's version being "Com você nos meus sonhos" and Gabriela and Tatiana's version being "Essa mão no meu ombro".{{Citation needed|date=December 2020}}
In popular culture
A mashed up version of Doja Cat's "Streets" containing the first 12 seconds of "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" became a TikTok challenge known as the "Silhouette Challenge".{{Cite web|url=https://www.vulture.com/2021/01/silhouette-challenge-tiktok-videos-watch.html|title=Best of the #SilhouetteChallenge on TikTok: WATCH - Vulture|website=Vulture|date=28 January 2021|access-date=February 21, 2021}}
Good Charlotte covered the song in the 2001 film Not Another Teen Movie, modifying the title and lyrics to "Put Your Heads on My Shoulder" to refer to conjoined twins.
In the 2004 videogame Hitman: Contracts, the song is playing on a gramophone in one of the rooms during the second mission of the game.
Charts
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| scope="col"| Chart (1959–1960)
! scope="col"| Peak |
|---|
| {{single chart|Flanders|2|artist=Paul Anka|access-date=14 May 2018|song=Put Your Head on My Shoulder}} |
| {{single chart|Wallonia|11|artist=Paul Anka|access-date=14 May 2018|song=Put Your Head on My Shoulder}} |
| Canada (CHUM Hit Parade)[http://chumtribute.com/59-10-12-chart.jpg CHUM Hit Parade, October 12, 1959]
| style="text-align:center;"|4 |
| {{single chart|Dutch100|13|artist=Paul Anka|access-date=14 May 2018|song=Put Your Head on My Shoulder}} |
| {{single chart|UKsinglesbyname|7|artist=Paul Anka|access-date=14 May 2018}} |
| {{single chart|Billboardhot100|2|artist=Paul Anka}} |
| {{single chart|Billboardrandbhiphop|12|artist=Paul Anka}} |
| {{single chart|West Germany|25|artist=Paul Anka|access-date=14 May 2018|song=Put Your Head on My Shoulder|songid=11858|year=1959}} |
Certifications
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Paul Anka|title=Put Your Head on My Shoulder|award=Silver|relyear=2004|certyear=2023|id=19361-1444-1|access-date=13 October 2023}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/paul_anka/put_your_head_on_my_shoulder.html Lyrics] at oldielyrics.com
- {{YouTube|kvazBqAlx58|Paul Anka – Put Your Head on My Shoulder}}
{{Paul Anka}}
{{The Lettermen}}
{{Leif Garrett}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Put Your Head On My Shoulder}}
Category:Songs written by Paul Anka
Category:Song recordings produced by Al De Lory
Category:Capitol Records singles