Wikipedia

Les Champs-Élysées (song)

"Les Champs-Élysées" is a 1969 song by American-French singer Joe Dassin. It is a French-language cover of "Waterloo Road", a single released the previous year by English rock band Jason Crest.[1]

"Les Champs-Elysées"
Single by Joe Dassin
from the album Joe Dassin (Les Champs-Élysées)
LanguageFrench
B-side"Le Chemin de papa"
Released11 May 1969
Length2:40
LabelCBS Records
Songwriter(s)Pierre Delanoë, Michael Wilshaw, Michael Deighan
Producer(s)Jacques Plait
Joe Dassin singles chronology
"Me que me que"
(1969) 		"Les Champs-Elysées"
(1969) 		"C'est la vie, Lily"
(1970)
Music video
"Les Champs-Elysées" on YouTube
"Waterloo Road"
Digital reissue cover
Single by Jason Crest
B-side"Education"
Released28 February 1968
LabelPhillips
Songwriter(s)Michael Anthony Deighan, Michael Wilshaw
Jason Crest singles chronology
"Here We Go Round (The Lemon Tree)"
(1967) 		"Waterloo Road"
(1968) 		"Place in the Sun"
(1969)

Composition

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"Les Champs-Élysées" is based on the English-language song "Waterloo Road", written by Michael Antony Deighan and Mike Wilsh, and released by English rock band Jason Crest in 1968.[1] For Dassin's version of the song, Pierre Delanoë adapted the lyrics into French, and Jean Musy arranged the song.[2][3]

Release and reception

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"Les Champs-Élysées" was released by CBS Records as a 7" single in 1969, with "Le Chemin de papa" as the B-side. The single was also included on Dassin's 1969 studio album Joe Dassin (Les Champs-Élysées).[4] Dassin later recorded versions of the song in English, German, Italian and Japanese.[1]

While Jason Crest's "Waterloo Road" had been unsuccessful,[1] Dassin's "Les Champs-Élysées" was a success in multiple European countries, selling 600,000 copies in France.[5] The song also earned Dassin the 1969 Grand Prix du Disque from the Académie Charles-Cros.[6]

Music Video

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An animated music video for "Les Champs-Élysées" was released on YouTube on 15 June 2024 and was also premiered at the 2024 Annecy International Animation Film Festival. The music video was directed by Florent Grattery and with animation created with Caribara Animation.[7]

Track listing

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7" single (CBS 4281)

  1. "Les Champs-Élysées" (2:40)
  2. "Le Chemin de papa" (2:22)

Charts

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Chart (1969) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[8] 4
France (CIDD)[9] 10
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[10] 11
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[11] 16
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[12] 5
West Germany (GfK)[13] 31

Other versions

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In the same year (1969) the song was covered by Slovene (then Yugoslav) singer Majda Sepe under the title Šuštarski most (Shoemakers bridge in Ljubljana). This cover was itself later covered by a Slovenian punk cover band Odprava zelenega zmaja.

"Les Champs-Élysées" was covered by American punk icons NOFX on their 1997 album So Long and Thanks for All the Shoes.

In 2018, the song was remade by Paul Pogba and Benjamin Mendy to honor Chelsea Football Club and France National Football Team star N'Golo Kante, known as "he is small, he is kind, he stopped Leo Messi". The adaptation achieved great popularity in France during the French team's title run in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and also among Kante's teammates.[14][15][16][17][18]

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The entire song plays under the closing credits of Wes Anderson's film The Darjeeling Limited (2007).

The melody of Les Champs-Élysées was later used for the television commercial of CJ CheilJedang's dessert brand Petitzel Eclair in 2016, with lyrics sung by I.O.I.

The refrain of the song, accompanied by a yellow bouncing ball over the lyrics, was played during breaks in NBCSN's coverage of the 2018 Tour de France.

The song is performed in the ninth episode (titled "Evil Patrol") of the third season of the DC Comics television show Doom Patrol in 2021 by Riley Shanahan (Ultimax the Brain) and Jonathan Lipow (Monsieur Mallah).

The song, accompanied by a yellow bouncing ball over the lyrics, was played during breaks in events held at the Stade de France during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. The song was also played during the closing ceremony as well.[19][20][21] During the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Paralympics at the Place de la Concorde, the song was also played as the host nation, France, was introduced in the Parade of Nations.[22]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Hunter-Tilney, Ludovic (29 April 2019). "Waterloo Road — how an obscure English song from the 1960s became an anthem for the gilets jaunes protesters". The Financial Times. Archived from the original on 19 September 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  2. ^ "Veteran French Lyricist Pierre Delanoe Dies". Billboard. 29 December 2006. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  3. ^ ""Les Champs Elysées", "Papy fait de la résistance"... Mort de Jean Musy, compositeur aux 200 musiques". Actu Paris (in French). 28 April 2024. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  4. ^ "Joe Dassin - Les Champs-Élysées". Ultratop (in French). Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  5. ^ Boeuf, Thierry (24 April 2022). "Paris Collector : "Les Champs Elysées" de Joe Dassin". France Bleu (in French). Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  6. ^ "Le chanteur Joe Dassin disparaissait il y a 30 ans déjà". Le Point (in French). 20 August 2010. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  7. ^ Billington, Alex (18 June 2024). "Watch: Wonderful Animated Music Video for 'Les Champs-Elysées'". First Showing.
  8. ^ "Joe Dassin – Les Champs-Élysées" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  9. ^ "Hits of the World". Billboard. Vol. 82, no. 9. 28 February 1970. p. 64. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  10. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Joe Dassin" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
  11. ^ "Joe Dassin – Les Champs-Élysées" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  12. ^ "Joe Dassin – Les Champs-Élysées". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  13. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Joe Dassin – Les Champs-Élysées" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 2020-02-28. To see peak chart position, click "TITEL VON Joe Dassin"
  14. ^ Rachmanda, Kenchal (18 July 2018). "N'golo Kante song". YouTube. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  15. ^ "The Whole Nation of France Singing N'Golo Kante Song!". YouTube. 10 September 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  16. ^ So Foot (17 December 2022). "N'« Il est petit, il est gentil » : la véritable histoire de notre chanson sur N'Golo Kanté". So Foot (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  17. ^ Par Pierre, Maturana (1 November 2018). "Le seul homme sur Terre qui n'aime pas N'Golo Kanté". So Foot (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  18. ^ Rueil, Malmaison (26 May 2021). "N'Golo Kante, the quiet and unassuming superstar". France24. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  19. ^ "What music is at the Paris 2024 Olympics Closing Ceremony and who are the musicians?".
  20. ^ "Olympics Closing Ceremony: All the Highlights as Paris Hands over Games to L.A., from Phoenix Rocking Out to Tom Cruise's Epic Stunts". 11 August 2024.
  21. ^ https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/live-updates/64da62fd-b6e8-4c08-9bbc-e9f01f036484 [bare URL]
  22. ^ Lena, Smirnova (28 August 2024). "Vibrant Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony calls for "inclusion revolution" through sport under lights of historical French square". Olympics.com. International Olympic Committee.
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