奔放的旋律 (1965)

"Unchained Melody" is a 1955 song by Alex North with lyrics by Hy Zaret. North composed the music as a theme for Unchained (1955), a prison film. The version of the song in the film's soundtrack was sung by Todd Duncan. It has since become a standard and one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, with the version recorded by the Righteous Brothers in 1965 notable in its own right. According to the song's publishing administrator, over 1,500 recordings of "Unchained Melody" have been made by more than 670 singers, in multiple languages.

In 1955, three versions of the song – by Les Baxter, Al Hibbler, and Roy Hamilton – charted in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. In the United Kingdom, the versions by Hibbler, Baxter, Jimmy Young, and Liberace ranked in the top 20 simultaneously, a record for any song. The song continued to chart in the 21st century, and until 2014 it was the only song to reach number one with four different recordings in the United Kingdom.

Of the hundreds of recordings made, the Righteous Brothers' version, with a solo by Bobby Hatfield, became the jukebox standard after its release. Hatfield changed the melody in the final verse and many subsequent covers of the song are based on his version. The Righteous Brothers' recording acquired renewed attention when it was featured in the 1990 film Ghost. In 2004, it was number 27 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.

Origin of song

In 1954, Alex North was contracted to compose the score for the prison film Unchained (released in 1955). North had a melody he had written in the 1930s and composed and recorded the score when he was asked to write a song based upon the movie's theme. North asked Hy Zaret to write the lyrics. After first refusing, Zaret and North together wrote "Unchained Melody". The song eventually became known as the "Unchained Melody", though the song does not actually include the word "unchained"; Zaret had refused the producer's request to include the word "unchained" in his lyrics. Instead, Zaret chose to focus on someone who pines for a lover he has not seen in a "long, lonely time". The film centered on a man who contemplates either escaping from prison to live life on the run or completing his sentence and returning to his wife and family. The song has an unusual harmonic device as the bridge ends on the tonic chord rather than the more usual dominant chord. "Unchained Melody" is written in the key of C major.

Todd Duncan sang the vocals for the film soundtrack and performs an abbreviated version in the film. Playing one of the prisoners, he sings it, accompanied by another prisoner on guitar, while other prisoners listen sadly. With Duncan singing the vocals, the song was nominated in 1956 for 1955's Oscars, but the Best Song award went to the hit song "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing".

William Stirrat, an electrical engineer, claimed to have written the lyrics as a teenager in 1936 under the pen name "Hy Zaret", only to have North use the uncredited words in the 1955 original. The case went to court and the dispute was resolved completely in favor of the real Zaret (the one born Hyman Zaritsky), who continued to receive all royalties.