"What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" is a song with lyrics written by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman and music composed by Michel Legrand for the 1969 movie The Happy Ending. The song was performed by Michael Dees and was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Original Song category. It did not win, and instead, the award went to "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head."
The same song title was used 25 years earlier by Ted Koehler and Burton Lane for their song in the 1944 film Hollywood Canteen. A recording by Ted Weems from 1938 also shares the same title.
Background
Alan Bergman remembered that after Michel Legrand created eight melodies that were not usable for the film, Marilyn Bergman suggested the opening line "What are you doing the rest of your life?" Legrand then used that phrase to finish the song's melody. Later, Marilyn Bergman explained that the phrase "What are you doing the rest of your life?" has two meanings in the film. The title refers to the marriage proposal Mary Spencer (played by Jean Simmons) received and accepted sixteen years earlier. However, in the context of Mary's current struggles, the question now becomes something Mary must ask herself.
Cover versions
- In 1972, Sarah Vaughan recorded the song "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" for the album Sarah Vaughan with Michel Legrand. Michel Legrand helped arrange and conduct the music. The song won Legrand the 1972 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist.
- Frank Sinatra recorded his own version of the song for his 1974 Reprise album, Some Nice Things I've Missed.
- In 1969, Barbra Streisand released a cover version of the song as a single to promote the album. This version was later released on the 1974 album The Way We Were.
- In 2006, Billy Childs, Gil Goldstein, and Heitor Pereira won the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist. Their version was performed by trumpeter Chris Botti and vocalist Sting on Botti's 2005 album To Love Again.