Single:
Desiderata entered the Australian singles chart* on 6 December 1971 and peaked at #4. It was #30 on the Top 100 of 1972.
Album:
The song is on the album Desiderata.
Songwriters:
Max Ehrmann, Fred Werner
Producer:
Fred Werner
Record label of Australian release:
Warner Bros
*Kent Music Report / Australian Chart Book. See About.
Songfacts:
Les Crane was a San Francisco TV talk show host and husband of Tina Louise, who played Ginger on Gilligan’s Island. The Rolling Stones made their American television debut on The Les Crane Show on 2 June 1964.
Desiderata was a poem written in 1906 and copyrighted under the title Go Placidly Amid the Noise and Haste in 1927 by Max Ehrmann, an Indiana lawyer. It was about the search for happiness in life. In the 1960s, the poem made its rounds around hippiedom as “anonymous” ancient wisdom – it was widely reprinted because most people assumed it was in the public domain. Crane read the poem on a street poster (which stated the words “Found in Old Saint Paul’s Church, Baltimore, dated 1692”) and decided to record it.
Carol Carmichael sang the “child of the universe” refrain.
Read more: www.songfacts.com/facts/les-crane/desiderata
Lyrics:
Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender,
Be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly, and listen to others –
Even the dull and ignorant, they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons – they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter,
For always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
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