Love is Blue
Encyclopedia
"L'amour est bleu" is a song whose music was composed by André Popp
André Popp
André Charles Jean Popp is a French composer, arranger and screenwriter.Born in Fontenay-le-Comte, Vendée, he started his career as a church organist, filling the place of his father who had been called up to serve in World War II in 1939. Popp studied music at the Saint Joseph Institute...

, and whose lyrics were written by Pierre Cour
Pierre Cour
Pierre Cour was a French songwriter who wrote songs for several generations of artists. He wrote a number of successful songs in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s...

, in 1967. Brian Blackburn later wrote English-language lyrics for it. First performed in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 by Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 singer Vicky Leandros
Vicky Leandros
Vicky Leandros is a Greek singer with a long international career. She is the daughter of singer, musician and composer Leandros Papathanasiou...

 (appearing as Vicky) as the Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...

ian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1967
Eurovision Song Contest 1967
The Eurovision Song Contest 1967 was the twelfth Eurovision Song Contest. The presenter became confused whilst the voting was taking place, and declared the United Kingdom's entry to be the winner before the last country, Ireland, had announced its votes...

, it has since been recorded by many other musicians, most notably French orchestra leader Paul Mauriat
Paul Mauriat
Paul Mauriat was a French orchestra leader, specializing in light music. He is best known in the United States for his million selling remake of André Popp's "Love is Blue", which was #1 for 5 weeks in 1968...

, whose familiar instrumental version became the only number-one hit by a French artist to top the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 in America.

The song describes the pleasure and pain of love in terms of colours (blue and grey) and elements (water and wind). The English lyrics ("Blue, blue, my world is blue …") focus on colours only (blue, grey, red, green, and black), using them to describe elements of lost love. The English version by Vicky Leandros also appeared as "Colours of Love" in some locations including the UK.

Eurovision

The song was performed second during the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest. At the close of voting, it had received 17 points, placing 4th in a field of 17, behind "Il doit faire beau là-bas
Il Doit Faire Beau Là-Bas
Il doit faire beau là-bas was the French entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1967, performed in French by Noëlle Cordier....

" (France), "If I Could Choose
If I Could Choose
"If I Could Choose" was the Irish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1967, performed in English by Sean Dunphy.The song is a ballad, in which Dunphy tells his lover how special she is to him. He explains that, while he currently lives in County Clare, he would willingly live in a desert if it...

" (Ireland) and the winning song, "Puppet on a String
Puppet on a String
"Puppet on a String" is the name of the Eurovision Song Contest-winning song in 1967 by British singer Sandie Shaw. It was her thirteenth UK single release....

" (United Kingdom). Some forty years after its original release, "L'amour est bleu", along with Domenico Modugno
Domenico Modugno
Domenico Modugno was an Italian singer, songwriter, actor, and later in life, a member of the Italian Parliament. He is known for his 1958 international hit song "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu "...

's "Nel blu dipinto di blu" (better known as "Volare") and Mocedades
Mocedades
Mocedades is a Spanish singing group from the Basque Country, probably best known for representing Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973 with the song "Eres Tú"...

' "Eres tú
Eres Tu
"Eres Tú" is Spanish for "you are". Eres Tú may refer to:*"Eres Tú ," a 1932 song by Miguel Sandoval*"Eres Tú ," a 1973 song by Juan Carlos Calderon, performed by Mocedades...

", still counts as one of very few non-winning Eurovision entries ever to become a worldwide hit.

Greek-born Leandros recorded the song both in French and English, and had a modest hit in Europe with it, but in Japan and Canada she had a big hit with this song. She also recorded it in German (as "Blau wie das Meer"), Italian ("L'amore è blu") and Dutch ("Liefde is zacht") . The song has since become a favourite of Contest fans, most notably appearing as part of a medley introducing the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2006
Eurovision Song Contest 2006
The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st Eurovision Song Contest, held at the Olympic Indoor Hall in Athens, Greece on 18 May and 20 May 2006 . The hosting national broadcaster of the contest was Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi . The Finnish band Lordi won the contest with the song "Hard Rock...

 in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

, one of only two non-winning songs to be involved (the other being "Dschinghis Khan
Dschinghis Khan (song)
Dschinghis Khan was the West German entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979, performed in German by Dschinghis Khan...

").

It was succeeded as Luxembourgian representative
Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest
Luxembourg was one of the countries to participate in the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956.From their debut to 1993 Luxembourg competed frequently in the Contest, being absent from the contest once during this period...

 at the 1968 Contest
Eurovision Song Contest 1968
The Eurovision Song Contest 1968 was the 13th Eurovision Song Contest. The contest was won by the Spanish song "La, la, la", performed by Massiel....

 by Chris Baldo & Sophie Garel with "Nous vivrons d'amour
Nous Vivrons D'Amour
"Nous vivrons d'amour" was the Luxembourgish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968, performed in French by Chris Baldo & Sophie Garel....

". Vicky Leandros went on to win the Contest five years later with the song "Après toi
Après Toi
"Après toi" was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1972 performed in French by Greek singer Vicky Leandros, representing Luxembourg. The song was co-written by Leandros' father Leandros Papathanasiou, also known as Leo Leandros, under his pseudonym Mario Panas. This was Vicky...

", again representing Luxembourg.

Mauriat version

In late 1967, Paul Mauriat
Paul Mauriat
Paul Mauriat was a French orchestra leader, specializing in light music. He is best known in the United States for his million selling remake of André Popp's "Love is Blue", which was #1 for 5 weeks in 1968...

 conducted an orchestral "easy listening
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...

" version that was a number-one hit in the USA
Hot 100 number-one hits of 1968 (USA)
These are the Billboard magazine Hot 100 number one hits of 1968.-See also:*1968 in music*List of number-one hits *Cashbox Top 100 number-one singles of 1968...

 for five weeks in February and March 1968, becoming the only performance by a French artist ever to top the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

. Its five-week run at the top was second longest of any instrumental of the Hot 100 era next to 1960's Theme From A Summer Place
Theme from A Summer Place
The "Theme from A Summer Place" is a song with lyrics by Mack Discant and music by Max Steiner, written for the 1959 film, A Summer Place, which starred Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue. It was recorded for the film by Hugo Winterhalter...

. Not surprisingly, the song spent 11 weeks atop Billboard's Easy Listening survey, and held the longest-lasting title honours on this chart for 25 years. It is the best-known version of the song in the United States. The Mauriat recording also reached number 12 on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

.

Mauriat's version was featured repeatedly in an episode of Chris Carter
Chris Carter (screenwriter)
Christopher Carl Carter is an American screenwriter, film director and producer. He is the creator of The X-Files and Millennium.- Ten Thirteen Productions :...

's television series Millennium
Millennium (TV series)
Millennium is an American television series created by Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files. Millennium aired on the Fox Network from 1996 to 1999. The series was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, though most episodes were ostensibly set in or around Seattle, Washington...

titled "A Room With No View," which originally aired on April 24, 1998 on the Fox Network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

. During the episode, the omnipresent melody is used by a kidnapper to brainwash a group of youths. His version is also briefly heard in The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

episodes "There's No Disgrace Like Home
There's No Disgrace Like Home
"There's No Disgrace Like Home" is the fourth episode of The Simpsons first season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 28, 1990. In the episode, Homer becomes ashamed of his family after a catastrophic company picnic and decides to enroll them in therapy. The...

" and "The Blue and the Gray
The Blue and the Gray (The Simpsons)
"The Blue and the Gray" is the thirteenth episode of the twenty-second season of the animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 13, 2011.-Plot:...

."

Legacy

"L'amour est bleu"/"Love Is Blue" is noted as one of the most-covered and biggest-selling Eurovision Songs ever, and remains a widely familiar melody due in part to its continued recurrence in pop-culture mediums. Orietta Berti, Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...

, Claudine Longet
Claudine Longet
Claudine Georgette Longet is a French singer and recording artist who was popular during the 1960s and 1970s. She is also an actress and a dancer.Born in Paris, France, Longet was married to pop singer Andy Williams from 1961 until 1975...

, The Dells
The Dells
The Dells are an R&B and crossover musical group. Their successful recordings spanned more than four decades. Formed in 1952 after attending high school together, the Dells' repertoire has included doo-wop, jazz, soul, disco and contemporary rhythm and blues...

, Ed Ames
Ed Ames
Ed Ames is an American popular singer and actor. He is best known for his pop and adult contemporary hits of the 1960s like "When the Snow is on the Roses" and the perennial "My Cup Runneth Over." He was part of a popular 1950s singing group called The Ames Brothers.-Early life:Born in Malden,...

, Johnny Mathis
Johnny Mathis
John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...

, Marty Robbins
Marty Robbins
Martin David Robinson , known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist...

, Al Martino
Al Martino
Al Martino was an American singer and actor. He had his greatest success as a singer between the early 1950s and mid 1970s, being described as "one of the great Italian American pop crooners", and also became well known as an actor, particularly for his role as singer Johnny Fontane in The...

, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...

, Lawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk was an American musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted The Lawrence Welk Show from 1955 to 1982...

, Chara
Chara (singer)
, better known by her stage name Chara, is a Japanese singer-songwriter, actress and video jockey. She debuted in 1991 with the single Heaven...

, Michèle Torr, and Future Bible Heroes
Future Bible Heroes
Future Bible Heroes is one of several musical groups led by Stephin Merritt, best known for his work with The Magnetic Fields. He shares vocal duties with Claudia Gonson, who sings on the entirety of 2002's Eternal Youth...

 are among the artists who have covered it.
  • At the end of The Simpsons
    The Simpsons
    The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

     episode, "The Blue and The Gray
    The Blue and the Gray (The Simpsons)
    "The Blue and the Gray" is the thirteenth episode of the twenty-second season of the animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 13, 2011.-Plot:...

    " (aired 13 February 2011) the song appears while Marge and Homer share a kiss.

  • Martino's English-language version also was the title song of one of his albums in 1968. It peaked at #57 on the Billboard Hot 100
    Billboard Hot 100
    The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

     and #3 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary
    Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
    The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...

     charts.

  • Jeff Beck
    Jeff Beck
    Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...

     recorded a "rock
    Rock music
    Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

    " interpretation of Mauriat's version in 1968. It reached number 23 on the UK Singles Chart
    UK Singles Chart
    The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

    . He also recorded a unrelated but similarly titled song called "Love Is Green" in 1976 for the Wired album.

  • Mitzi Gaynor
    Mitzi Gaynor
    -Life and career:Gaynor was born as Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber in Chicago, Illinois to Pauline Fisher, a dancer, and Henry von Gerber, a violinist, cellist, and music director. The family first moved to Detroit and when she was eleven to Hollywood, California.She trained as a ballerina...

     sang it on her television special in 1968.

  • This song was performed in Spanish
    Spanish language
    Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

     by two great singers of the sixties: the well-known Spanish singer Raphael
    Raphael (singer)
    For the French singer Raphael see Raphaël HarocheMiguel Rafael Martos Sánchez , often simply referred to as Raphael, is a worldwide acclaimed Spanish singer and television, film and theatre actor...

     – who performed it in one of his films in 1968 – and the Spanish female singer Karina, who recorded her version in the 1970s. Also, the version by Paul Mauriat's orchestra stayed in the Mexican hit parade from 1968 to 1971.

  • In 1968, Gábor Szabó
    Gábor Szabó
    Gábor Szabó was a Hungarian jazz guitarist, famous for mixing jazz, pop-rock and his native Hungarian music.-Biography:...

     covered the song for his album Bacchanal

  • In 1969 The Dells
    The Dells
    The Dells are an R&B and crossover musical group. Their successful recordings spanned more than four decades. Formed in 1952 after attending high school together, the Dells' repertoire has included doo-wop, jazz, soul, disco and contemporary rhythm and blues...

     had a top-thirty hit with their soul
    Soul music
    Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

     medley, "I Can Sing a Rainbow
    I Can Sing a Rainbow
    "I Can Sing a Rainbow" is a popular song written by Arthur Hamilton. It was featured in the 1955 film Pete Kelly's Blues where it was sung by Peggy Lee...

    /Love Is Blue."

  • In 1970, composer Saluri Rajeshwara Rao used the music for the Telugu language
    Telugu language
    Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...

     song "Ee reyi teeyanidi" picturized on actors Haranadh and Vanisri
    Vanisri
    Vanisri or Ratna Kumari , also known as Vanisree or Vanishree, is a popular Telugu actress in the mid 1960s to the late 1970s. Her portfolio also includes Kannada and Tamil films.-Early life:...

     in the Indian film Chitti Chellulu. This song was remade for the Indian Telugu Johnny by composer Ramana Gogula
    Ramana Gogula
    Ramana Kumar Gogula is a music director in Telugu films. He formed his own rock-and-roll band in Vizag at the age of 17. Since then, he has traveled around the world as a software professional and music director. His most famous albums are the musical scores to the movies Thammudu,adavilo anna,...

     and picturized on actor Pawan Kalyan
    Pawan Kalyan
    Pawan Kalyan ; is an Indian film Actor, Director, Screenwriter and Action choreographer in Telugu cinema...

    .

  • In 1990, composer Bappi Lahiri
    Bappi Lahiri
    Bappi Lahiri or Alokesh Lahiri , born 27 November 1952, is a music director in the Hindi film industry. He pioneered the use of disco music in Indian cinema and sang some of his own compositions. He was popular in the 1980s with films like Disco Dancer, Namak Halaal and Sharaabi among others.-Early...

     used the music for the Hindi
    Hindi
    Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

     language song "Hum Dono Akele Hon" in the Indian film Aaj Ke Shahenshah (1990). Lahiri sang the song himself as a duet with another playback singer Anuradha Paudwal
    Anuradha Paudwal
    Anuradha Paudwal is a popular playback singer in Bollywood in India.She has sung songs in Hindi, Marathi and Nepali.- Biography :She studied at Xavier's College in Mumbai. She was married to the late Arun Paudwal, who worked with music director S. D. Burman as his assistant...

     and picturized on actors Chunkey Pandey and Kimi Katkar
    Kimi Katkar
    Kimi Katkar was a successful model and popular actress of Bollywood from the 1980s to the early 1990s.-Career:Kimi Katkar made her acting debut in the 1985 film, Patthar Dil as a supporting actress. Later that year, she starred in Tarzan , where she played the lead opposite Hemant Birje...

    .

  • Jackie Mittoo
    Jackie Mittoo
    Jackie Mittoo was a Jamaican keyboardist, songwriter and musical director. He was a founding member of The Skatalites and was a mentor to many younger performers, primarily through his work as musical director for the Studio One record label.-Biography:He was born Donat Roy Mittoo in Browns Town,...

    , one of the most prolific keyboardist, also covered this song with Coxsone's Jamaican studio band The Soul Vendors on Evening Time album (1968). Jackie was recorded some of the most popular reggae riddims of all time like Rockfort Rock, Real Rock
    Real Rock
    "Real Rock" is a 1967 instrumental reggae song by Sound Dimension, one of the house bands of producer Coxsone Dodd's famous Studio One. It is significant for giving rise to perhaps the most popular reggae riddim of all time, having been versioned hundreds of times by artists ranging from The Clash...

     and so many.

  • Sonny Bradshaw
    Sonny Bradshaw
    Cecil "Sonny" Bradshaw C.D. , known as the "dean of Jamaican music", and the "musician's musician", was a Jamaican bandleader, trumpeter, broadcaster, and promoter who was a major figure in Jamaican music for more than sixty years.-Biography:Bradshaw was born in 1926 in Kingston, the only child of...

    , Jamaica's "dean of Jamaican music" covered Paul Mauriat's version in 1968 with his "Sonny Bradshaw Seven". Available on the "Sixties" Trojan Box Set series
    Trojan Box Set series
    The Trojan Box Set series is a range of various artist triple CD box sets, periodically released by the British reggae record label Trojan Records since 1998. The series covers a wide variety of reggae subgenres, styles and themes....

    .

  • The Mandarin Chinese language version of this song appears with 2 names. One is "憂鬱的愛情", lyrics by Deng Deng, covered by female singer Sun Yi Hua on her 1969/70 LP 忘不了的你. The other is "失去的愛情", lyrics by Xin Fan, covered by Betty Chung on her 1968 LP Wild Flame. Also, the English
    English language
    English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

     lyrics version was covered by The Chopsticks (a female duo made up of Sandra Lang (仙杜拉) & Amina (亞美娜)) in their 1970 LP 《Some Day》issue, and by another female singer, Felicia Wong (王愛明), in her 1974 LP 《Felicia's Folk Album II》issue.

Sources and external links

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