🎼 A Teenager’s Crush That Launched a Career
In 1956, a 15-year-old boy from Ottawa sat in his room with a guitar, consumed by feelings too big for his age. His heart was pounding for a girl named Diana Ayoub. She was older, beautiful, and far out of his league. She didn’t see him as anything more than a kid from the neighborhood.
But Paul Anka couldn’t keep it inside.
He poured his longing into a melody and scribbled down words of teenage desperation:
“I’m so young and you’re so old, this my darling I’ve been told…”
When “Diana” was released in 1957, it didn’t just become a hit. It became one of the best-selling singles in history, selling more than 10 million copies. For Anka, it wasn’t just a song—it was a confession. His first love story was written in vinyl.
And though Diana herself never returned his feelings, the world heard his heart.
💌 The Tenderness of “Put Your Head on My Shoulder”
By 1959, Anka was no longer the shy boy with a crush—he was a teen idol with screaming fans. But his songs still came from the same place: personal experience.
He had begun dating, discovering the thrill and vulnerability of young romance. One evening, inspired by the intimacy of simply holding someone close, he sat down to write “Put Your Head on My Shoulder.”
Unlike the longing of “Diana,” this song was a gentle invitation. It wasn’t about unrequited love—it was about connection. The kind of closeness teenagers everywhere dreamed about at school dances.
It became another anthem of youth, but for Anka, it was more than that. It was a snapshot of a young man learning how to love.
💍 Marriage, Family, and “(You’re) Having My Baby”
By the early 1970s, Paul Anka’s life had changed. He had married Anne de Zogheb, a former model, and together they had five daughters. Fatherhood reshaped his world.
In 1974, he wrote “(You’re) Having My Baby.”
It was tender, celebratory, and personal—a love song not just to a partner, but to the child they would share. While some critics attacked the song for being overly sentimental, Paul dismissed them. For him, it wasn’t about public approval. It was about capturing the awe of knowing life was growing inside someone you loved.
It was a diary entry in song form.
🕰️ “Times of Your Life” – A Love Song Beyond Romance
Two years later, in 1976, Paul recorded “Times of Your Life.” Though originally written for a Kodak commercial, the lyrics resonated deeply with him. Watching his children grow, he realized how fleeting every stage of life was.
“Gather moments while you may, collect the dreams you dream today…”
The song became a reminder to treasure love in all its forms—romantic, familial, and everyday. It wasn’t just a pop ballad. It was Anka reflecting on his own life, his own memories, his own fleeting moments with the people he loved.
💔 Breakups, Reflection, and the Edge of Bitterness
Not every entry in Paul Anka’s musical diary was tender. His marriage to Anne eventually fell apart, and Anka used music to process the heartbreak. Songs like “One Man Woman/One Woman Man” captured the struggle of fidelity, vulnerability, and the challenges of long-term relationships.
Anka didn’t shy away from writing about imperfection. His diary of love included not only the bliss of first kisses but also the sting of endings. And audiences connected with that honesty.
🌹 Later Love, Later Songs
As he grew older, Anka’s relationships became more complex. His later work—like “Hold Me ‘Til the Morning Comes,” recorded with Peter Cetera in 1983—spoke to a more adult kind of romance. It wasn’t about fairy tales anymore. It was about holding on to love, even if you weren’t sure it would last.
This was the wisdom of a man who had loved, lost, and still believed in love’s power. His songs aged with him, moving from puppy love to real-world complications.
✍️ Writing for Others, Writing from Himself
Even when Paul Anka wrote for other artists, his own experiences bled into the music. “She’s a Lady,” made famous by Tom Jones, came from his admiration for strong, graceful women. “My Way,” immortalized by Frank Sinatra, was inspired by Anka’s own reflections on living life on one’s own terms.
Each of these songs, though sung by others, carried pieces of Anka’s diary. They were chapters of his story, refracted through other voices.
🎤 Performing His Diary on Stage
What makes Paul Anka unique is how his songs age with his audience. Fans who danced to “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” in the 1950s later walked down the aisle to “Times of Your Life,” and some even said goodbye to loved ones with the same song at funerals.
Anka’s diary became theirs. His personal love songs became collective memories.
When he performs today, his voice lined with age, the songs carry even more weight. They aren’t just pop tunes from the past. They are lived experiences, both his and his audience’s.
❤️ A Diary Still Being Written
Now in his eighties, Paul Anka continues to sing, write, and perform. His songs remain etched into history not just because they were catchy, but because they were honest.
He never wrote from fantasy. He wrote from life—from crushes that never bloomed, from marriages that flourished and faded, from fatherhood, from heartbreak, and from hope.
That’s why Paul Anka’s love songs endure. They weren’t written for the charts. They were written for himself, as diary entries. And in singing them, he let us all read his diary out loud.