Songfacts®:

• Also known as "The Love Theme From The Godfather" or "Speak Softly Love" after its opening line, the instrumental version is know as "The Godfather Theme," and as might be expected, this is a song that featured in a film, although one that had little love in it except of the family kind.
  
  The Godfather is a novel by Italian-American Mario Puzo (1920-99). A time-serving author in an albeit unheralded genre, he published his most famous work in 1969, and the novel was adapted faithfully for the big screen in 1972 for what is universally acclaimed as one of the best films ever made. The hero, if one may call him that, is Michael Corleone, who was portrayed by the A-list actor Al Pacino. After murdering two fellow gangsters in cold blood at a restaurant, he is packed off to Sicily where he meets the love of his life. Alas, if Michael is beyond the reach of American justice, he is not beyond the reach of the mob, and his new wife is killed by a bomb that was intended for him. After returning to the States, Michael remarries; this return is facilitated by da family, who persuade a dying man to confess to the double murder he committed.
• Italian composer Nino Rota's music has lyrics by Larry Kusik, and was originally recorded by crooner Andy Williams. Unsurprisingly, the score was nominated for an Academy Award, but it had to be removed when it transpired that Rota had used the same melody (albeit at a different tempo) in a score for a 1958 film, Fortunella. To be eligible for an Oscar, a theme song must be entirely original. >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  Alexander Baron - London, England, for above 2