| Piano | |
| Language: | Italian |
| English Title: | Softly, as I Leave You |
| Composer: | Tony De Vita (music) |
| Lyricist: | Giorgio Calabrese (Italian lyrics) Hal Shaper (English lyrics) |
| Softly, as I Leave You | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Matt Monro |
| B-Side: | Is There Anything I Can Do |
| Released: | 1962 |
| Genre: | Traditional pop |
| Label: | Parlophone |
| Prev Title: | Gonna Build a Mountain |
| Prev Year: | 1961 |
| Next Title: | When Love Comes Along |
| Next Year: | 1962 |
| Softly, as I Leave You | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Frank Sinatra |
| Album: | Softly, as I Leave You |
| B-Side: | Then Suddenly Love |
| Released: | 1964 |
| Genre: | Traditional pop |
| Label: | Reprise |
| Prev Title: | My Kind of Town |
| Prev Year: | 1964 |
| Next Title: | I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day |
| Next Year: | 1964 |
"Softly, as I Leave You" is a popular Italian song, originally titled Piano, composed by Tony De Vita with Italian lyrics by Giorgio Calabrese, and English lyrics by Hal Shaper.
It was originally an Italian success by Mina, entitled "Piano" ("Softly"). Mina published a recording of the song first as a single in 1960 and later on an EP and on three LPs. English songwriter Hal Shaper noticed the song and in November 1961 wrote English lyrics to the melody, calling it "Softly, as I Leave You."
When he performed the song live in Las Vegas, Elvis Presley prefaced with a story about the origins of the song. Presley said the song originated when a man was dying and his wife was sitting by his bedside. As she began to doze off, he felt himself beginning to die and he wrote the words to the song on a notepad. However, Presley insiders claim that his explanation for the song was merely an example of Presley's flair for storytelling, so his explanation is most likely apocryphal. Presley said he heard the story "from some people in Florida." Elvis doesn't actually sing this song; he speaks the words while his backing tenor Sherrill Nielsen sings it. Presley's one recorded version of this song was a bootleg made by a fan in the Las Vegas Hilton show on 13 December 1975. RCA was able to release it commercially in March 1978[1] and it now appears on the boxed set Walk A Mile In My Shoes: The Essential 70's Masters.