Depending on who you ask, Tony Bennett’s “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” is either an overplayed cliché or the ultimate ode to the windswept beauty of the city.
This weekend, city residents will get the opportunity to pledge allegiance either way with a city-wide sing-along of the 1962 classic. The idea is to make some joyful noise for the medical professionals battling COVID-19 while boosting shelter-in-place morale, Italian balcony-style.
The event was thought up by Charlotte Mailliard Shultz, San Francisco’s Chief of Protocol, and Mayor London Breed has thrown her support behind it. “By taking a moment to join together in song to celebrate our frontline health workers and everyone working to make a difference during this pandemic, we can recognize how connected we are to one another,” Breed said, “not just here in San Francisco, but all over the world.”
Bennett’s very first performance of “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” took place in December 1961 inside the Fairmont Hotel’s Venetian Room. Endorsing Saturday’s event, Bennett just released a brand new rendition of the song for people to sing along with.
