"Danke Schoen" ( , ) is a pop song of German origin. Bert Kaempfert, who composed the melody, recorded it as an instrumental, in 1959 and later in 1962, under the title "Candlelight Cafe". Kurt Schwabach wrote the German lyrics. The song gained international fame in 1963 when singer Wayne Newton recorded an American version, with English lyrics by Milt Gabler. The song achieved renewed popularity when it was featured in the 1986 American comedy film Ferris Bueller's Day Off, lip-synced by the main character, Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick). Newton's version Wayne Newton's first version was released when he was 21 years old. The song was originally intended for singer Bobby Darin as a follow-up to his hit single "18 Yellow Roses" in the spring of 1963, but after seeing Newton perform at the Copacabana, Darin decided to give the song to Newton and transposed the key of the recording to fit Newton's voice. It has been featured in many television commercials and motion pictures, such as Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Meet the Parents, Matchstick Men, Vegas Vacation, Fools Rush In as well as the French-American comedy Crime Spree. In 2015 it was used in a television commercial for Bank of America, and in 2017 in a trailer for the video game Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. In 2016 the song was used in a series of commercials for Australian insurer AAMI. The Newton version peaked at No. 13 on Billboards pop chart, and No. 3 on its easy listening chart. Personnel According to the AFM contract sheet, the following musicians appeared at the recording session. Jimmie Haskell - session leader, arrangements Leon Russell Jimmy Bond Hal Blaine Carol Kaye Glen Campbell Tommy Tedesco Louis Blackburn Kenneth Shroyer Roy Caton Virgil Evans Donald “Ritchie” Frost Emil Richards Tibor Zelig Jerome Reisler Harold Dicterow William Kurasch Other versions Connie Francis recorded the song in French, Japanese, Spanish and Italian, keeping the original title line "Danke schoen" in all versions except the Italian recording, which was released as Grazie a te. Brenda Lee recorded "Danke Schoen" for her 1964 album By Request, produced by Owen Bradley. Martha and The Vandellas recorded a version for their 1963 album Heat Wave. Rio Romeo recorded "Danke Schoen" in 2023 for their Valentine's day album, titled "Rio Romeo's Valentine." Linguistic details In German, the phrase is equivalent to the English expressions 'thank you very much' or