"A Tout le Monde" is a song by American heavy metal band

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wit ...

, featured on their 1994 studio album ''

Youthanasia ''Youthanasia'' is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Megadeth, released on November 1, 1994, through Capitol Records. It is stylistically similar to their previous album, ''Countdown to Extinction'' (1992). The title is a pl ...

''. It was released as a single in February 1995 through

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

. The song was later remade and reissued as "À Tout le Monde (Set Me Free)", featuring

Cristina Scabbia Cristina Adriana Chiara Scabbia (; born 5 June 1972) is an Italian singer, best known as one of the two vocalists of gothic metal band Lacuna Coil. Scabbia used to write an advice column in the popular rock magazine ''Revolver'', alongside mus ...

Lacuna Coil Lacuna Coil is an Italian gothic metal band from Milan. Since their formation in 1994, the group has had two name changes, being previously known as Sleep of Right and Ethereal, and they have recorded nine studio albums, two extended plays, two ...

, on Megadeth's 2007 studio album ''

United Abominations ''United Abominations'' is the eleventh studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth. Released on May 15, 2007, ''United Abominations'' is the first Megadeth release distributed through Roadrunner Records and, with the exception of the ban ...

''. The song's chorus, "''à tout le monde, à tous mes amis, je vous aime, je dois partir''", translated into English is, "to the whole world, to all my friends, I love you, I have to go", which prompted controversy after accusations that it was pro-suicide.

Music and lyrics

The music video for "A Tout le Monde" was banned by

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

, who claimed it was pro-suicide. However, in an interview conducted around 1994, Megadeth frontman

Dave Mustaine David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is the co-founder, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter of the thrash metal band Megadeth, as well as their sole consistent member. Mustaine has releas ...

stated:

It's not a suicide song. What it is, it's, you, it's when people have a loved one that dies and they end on a bad note, you know, they wish that they could say something to them. So this is an opportunity for the deceased to say something before they go. And it was my impression of what I would like to say to people, if I had say, 3 seconds to do so in life before I died I'd say to the entire world, to all my friends, I love you all, and now I must go. These are the last words I'll ever speak, and they'll set me free. I don't have to say I'm sorry, I don't have to say I'm going to miss you, or I'll wait for ya. You know, I'll just say I loved you all, good, bad, indifferent, I loved you all.

Title

The song's title, "''A tout le monde''", is French for "''To all the world''" or "''To everyone''". The song's chorus, "''à tout le monde, à tous mes amis, je vous aime, je dois partir''", translated to English is respectively: "To everyone, to all my friends, I love you, I have to leave". The original release of the song does not feature a

grave accent The grave accent () ( or ) is a diacritical mark used to varying degrees in French, Dutch, Portuguese, Italian and many other western European languages, as well as for a few unusual uses in English. It is also used in other languages using t ...

on the letter "à" anywhere within the title, liner notes, lyrics or cover art. This was later rectified on the 2007 version.

Track listing

;US promotional edition ;Dutch edition

2007 version

The song was remade in 2007 on the album ''

'' as "À Tout le Monde (Set Me Free)", sung as a

duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...

between Mustaine and

, singer of Italian metal band

. The guitars for the song are all in

standard tuning In music, standard tuning refers to the typical Musical tuning, tuning of a string instrument. This notion is contrary to that of scordatura, i.e. an alternate tuning designated to modify either the timbre or technical capabilities of the desired i ...

(bringing the song to

F-sharp minor F-sharp minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative major is A major and its parallel major is F-sharp major (or enharmonically G-flat major). T ...

), whereas the original was recorded a half-step down in

E♭ tuning Guitar tunings are the assignment of pitches to the open strings of guitars, including acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and classical guitars. Tunings are described by the particular pitches that are made by notes in Western music. B ...

(which put the song in

F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature consists of four flats. Its relative major is A-flat major and its parallel major is F major. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-sharp mi ...

). The new version is also slightly faster, and the guitar solo performed by

Glen Drover Glen Drover (born May 25, 1969) is a Canadian heavy metal guitarist from Ottawa, Ontario. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of Megadeth and King Diamond, along with his brother Shawn Drover who also performed with Megadeth. Histor ...

is musically 4 bars longer than the original by

Marty Friedman Marty Friedman (born December 8, 1962) is an American guitarist, best known for his tenure as the lead guitarist for thrash metal band Megadeth from 1990 to 2000. He is also known for playing alongside Jason Becker in Cacophony from 1986 until ...

. "À Tout le Monde (Set Me Free)" was the first single released from the album, with a new music video made for it. The song's title has been revised in order to distinguish it from the original, although this alteration does not appear on some pressings of the album. The title also features the aforementioned grave accent on the letter "à", which was omitted on the original version.

Reception

On June 11, 2007, the video for the single won its sixteenth victory in the context of the one-on-one video show, ''L'Ultime Combat des Clips'', aired Monday to Thursday on the French-Canadian music channel,

Musique Plus Elle Fictions (stylized ELLE Fictions) is a Canadian French language specialty channel owned by Remstar Media Group. The channel broadcasts general entertainment programming targeting young adult women. It was first established in 1986 as the mu ...

. Winning sixteen consecutive times earned them a star in the show's

hall of fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

. Despite the accolades, both the original music video for "A Tout le Monde" and its remake remain banned by MTV, possibly for lyrical content that they deem to be pertaining to committing suicide. The duet version did, however, air on

MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. The channel launched initially as an all-music video service, once the original MTV had started to sh ...

's ''

Headbangers Ball ''Headbangers Ball'' is a music television program that consisted of heavy metal music videos airing on MTV and its global affiliates. The show began on MTV on April 18, 1987, playing heavy metal music videos from both well-known and more obs ...

'' upon release.

Personnel

'' version: *

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

–

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

David Ellefson David Warren Ellefson (born November 12, 1964) is an American musician, best known for his long tenure as the bassist for thrash metal band Megadeth. Ellefson initially became an accomplished bassist and honed his songwriting skills while leadin ...

– bass *

Nick Menza Nicholas Menza (July 23, 1964 – May 21, 2016) was an American musician best known as the drummer for thrash metal band Megadeth from 1989 to 1998. He recorded drums on four of Megadeth's albums: ''Rust in Peace'' (1990), ''Countdown to Extin ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

'' version: *Dave Mustaine – lead vocals, rhythm guitar *

– lead guitar *

James LoMenzo James LoMenzo (born January 13, 1959) is an American heavy metal bass guitarist. He was a member of the band White Lion, performing with them from 1984 to 1991. He was later the bassist for Black Label Society, Slash's Snakepit, and Megadeth. ...

– bass *

Shawn Drover Shawn Drover (born May 5, 1966) is a Canadian drummer, best known for his work with the American heavy metal band Megadeth. He began playing the drums at the age of 13. In 1993 he founded the power metal band Eidolon with his brother Glen. H ...

– drums, percussion *

– guest vocals

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:A Tout le Monde 1990s ballads 2000s ballads 1994 songs 1995 singles 2007 songs 2007 singles Capitol Records singles Franglais songs Heavy metal ballads Megadeth songs Music videos directed by Wayne Isham Songs about death Songs written by Dave Mustaine Male–female vocal duets Macaronic songs pt:À Tout le Monde (Set Me Free) ru:À Tout le Monde (Set Me Free)