Shangri-La (1946 song)

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“Shangri-La”
Single by The Lettermen
from the album Hurt So Bad
B-side "When Summer Ends"
Released 1969
Format 7" single
Length 2:34
Label Capitol
Writer(s) Matt Malneck, Carl Sigman, Robert Maxwell
The Lettermen singles chronology
"Hurt So Bad"
(1969)
"Shangri-La"
(1969)
"Traces/Memories Medley"
(1969)

"Shangri-La" is a popular song. It was written by Carl Sigman (lyricist), Matt Malneck, and Robert Maxwell in 1946. The term comes from "Shangri-La," the hidden valley of delight in James Hilton's 1933 novel "Lost Horizon." The term "Shangri-La," especially in the 1930s and 1940s, was slang for heaven or paradise, and the song is about the joy of being in love.

The most popular recorded versions were by The Four Coins in 1957 (which reached #11 on the Billboard charts) and by The Lettermen in 1969. In between the two versions, it was Maxwell's version that charted during 1964.

Jackie Gleason used the song on his 1950s-60s TV variety show as the intro to the skit appearances of his popular millionaire character Reginald van Gleason III.