Never on Sunday (song)
"Never on Sunday", also known by its original Greek title "Ta Pediá tou Pireá" ("Τα Παιδιά του Πειραιά", The Children of Piraeus), is a popular song written by Manos Hatzidakis and first sung by Melina Mercouri in the film of same name, directed by Jules Dassin and starring Mercouri. The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1960, a first for a foreign-language picture. The film score to the movie was first released on 1 October 1960 by United Artists Records. The song has since been recorded by numerous artists, and has  gained various degrees of success throughout the world. The opening of the song bears some resemblance to that of Poinciana. Background. "Never on Sunday" was written by Manos Hadjidakis as "Ta Pedia tou Pirea" (The Children of Piraeus). His original Greek lyrics, along with the foreign translations in German, French, Italian and Spanish do not mention "Never on Sunday" (as found in the English lyrics), but rather tell the story of the main female character of the film, Illya (Mercouri). Illya is a jolly woman who sings of her joyful life in her port town of Piraeus ("If I search  the world over/I'll find no other port/Which has the magic/Of my Port Piraeus"). Although she earns her money as a prostitute, she longs to meet a man someday who is just as full of "joie de vivre" as she is herself. In 1960, the song was nominated and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, a first for a foreign-language picture since the Academy began to recognize achievements in this category in 1934. Recordings. The song has been recorded in a number of languages since its release: