Que reste-t-il de nos amours ?

"Que reste-t-il de nos amours ?"
Single by Lucienne Boyer
B-side"Colombe"
Released1942
Recorded1942
GenreJazz, Chanson
Length3:17
LabelColumbia Records
Songwriter(s)Charles Trenet
French publication's cover containing the musical score and lyrics edited in 1942.

"Que reste-t-il de nos amours ?" (French pronunciation: [kə ʁɛstə t‿il də noz‿amuʁ], What Remains of Our Loves?) is a French popular song, with music by Léo Chauliac and Charles Trenet and lyrics by Charles Trenet.[1][2] A version of the song with English lyrics entitled "I Wish You Love" is recognizable by the opening line "I wish you bluebirds, in the spring".

History

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This song was first recorded by the French female singer Lucienne Boyer in 1942 (78 rpm, Columbia Records: BF 68). Second recorded by the French crooner Roland Gerbeau in February 1943 (78 rpm, Polydor Records: 524.830). Charles Trenet recorded his own version in July 1943 (78 rpm Columbia Records: DF 3116).

"I Wish You Love"

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The song is best known to English-speaking audiences as "I Wish You Love", with new lyrics by American composer and lyricist, Albert Askew Beach (1924-1997): "I Wish You Love" was introduced in 1957 by Keely Smith as the title cut of her solo debut album, I Wish You Love, and was one of Smith's signature songs. Smith's debut album otherwise consisted of standards. She later recalled: "[when] we sat down to select the songs [the record producer] Voyle Gilmore...played a bunch of standards [then] said: 'I want to play you a really pretty French song [...] it won't mean nothing and you won't do it in the album but I just thought I'd play it for you' and he played 'I Wish You Love'. So, at the end of him playing all these songs [...] I said: 'Babe, I'll sing any 11 songs y'all want me to but I want to sing 'I Wish You Love'."[3]

Other recordings

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It has since become a musical standard, with many other recordings:

  • Gloria Lynne's 1963 recording for the Everest label reached No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964 and the top ten on the Easy Listening chart,[4] and #3 on Cashbox Magazine's R&B chart (Billboard did not publish standard R&B listings during 1964).[5]
  • Dalida recorded the song in 1972.
  • Rony Verbiest recorded the song in 2001.
  • An Italian version entitled "Che cosa resta" was recorded by Franco Battiato in 1999.
  • An Arabic version entitled "Shou Byeb'a" was recorded by Carla Chamoun in 2020.

Other notable recordings

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Use in film

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The song was heard in several films:

References

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  1. ^ https://mgonline.gema.de/werke/detail.do?title=QUE+RESTE-T-IL+DE+NOS+AMOURS&dbkey=1963480[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "Universal Music - les plus grandes chansons du siècle - Vol.2 (Long box 3 CD)". Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved January 22, 2007.
  3. ^ "The Mr Lucky Interview: Crazy For Keely Smith". MrLucky.com. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
  4. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 151.
  5. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 368.
  6. ^ "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
  7. ^ "allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
  8. ^ "Eartha Kitt Love for Sale". Discogs. 1966.
  9. ^ "Dusty Springfield Live at the BBC". YouTube.
  10. ^ "www.allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
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