"La mer" is French for "the sea", and is the name of a song by Charles Trenet, published in 1939 and first recorded by him in 1946.
"La Mer" is a song written by French composer, lyricist, singer and showman Charles Trenet (1913 – 2001). Trenet wrote the lyrics of "La Mer" on a train in 1943 while travelling along the French Mediterranean coast, returning from Paris to Narbonne. He supposedly wrote the song in ten minutes, on toilet paper supplied by SNCF. He was assisted with the tune by Leo Chauliac. It was originally published by Raoul Breton.
It was not until 1946 that Trenet recorded the song, since neither he nor the people around him believed the song to be anything special or particularly original. When he released "La Mer" in 1946 it became an unexpected hit, and has remained a chanson classic ever since.
English lyrics, unrelated to the French lyrics, were later written by Jack Lawrence and entitled "Beyond the Sea". This became a hit for Bobby Darin in 1959. The song has been recorded by more than 400 other artists in many languages. "La Mer" is perhaps his best known work outside the French-speaking world, with over 400 recorded versions.
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