"Cash City" is a 1990 song recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter

Luc De Larochellière Luc or LUC may refer to: Places * Luc, Hautes-Pyrénées, France, a commune * Luc, Lozère, France, a commune * Le Luc, France, a commune * Luč, Baranja, Croatia, a settlement People and fictional characters * Luc (given name) * Luc (surname) ...

. Written De Larochellière, this pop song was released in 1991 as the first

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from his second album ''Sauvez mon âme'' which won the

Félix Award The Félix Award (french: Trophée Félix or Prix Félix) is an award, given by the ''Association du disque, de l'industrie du spectacle québécois'' (ADISQ) on an annual basis to artists working in the music and humor industry in the Canadian p ...

for best album of the year. In Quebec, it was a hit, as the other singles from the album were also, but was De Larochellière's only charting single in France.

Background and lyrics

De Larochelière explained that eight months passed between the single's release in France and the moment he started promoting it in the country, which led him to come regularly after his concerts in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

; however, he said he felt then he was used as a commercial product and disliked the fact that the marketing plan was out of his control. Lyrically, "Cash City" describes with irony a society marked by ostensible

consumerism Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. With the Industrial Revolution, but particularly in the 20th century, mass production led to overproduction—the supp ...

, insatiable search for money and importance of appearances.

Critical reception

Agnès Gaudet of ''

Le Journal de Montréal ''Le Journal de Montréal'' is a daily French-language tabloid newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Quebec and is also the largest French-language daily newspaper in North America. ...

'' considers "Cash City" and "Sauvez ma vie" as songs "both joyful and engaged". A review in Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' describes "Cash City" as "the kind of song that could have easily fit in the folky repertoire of

John Mellencamp John J. Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his catchy brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrument ...

in his '' Lonesome Jubilee'' period" and added that "the use of

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

gives it the right atmosphere for both the EHR and AC formats". De Larochelière said that in Africa, where he toured, the song was popular and people knew the lyrics by heart.

Chart performance

In Quebec, Larochelière's home-country, "Cash City" spent seven weeks at number one on the airplay chart. In France, it debuted at number 48 on the chart edition of 23 November 1991, then performed the biggest jump of the week to reach number 25 and eventually peaked at number 11 twice, in its eighth and 13th weeks; it stayed in the top 20 for 11 weeks and in the top 50 for 20 weeks. It entered the

European Hot 100 Singles The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by '' Billboard'' and '' Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately ...

at number 88 on 11 January 1992 and remained for ten non consecutive weeks on the chart, with a peak at number 60 in the third week.

Cover versions

In 2006, De Larochellière recorded a new version of "Cash City" 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 ...

with French singer

Francis Cabrel Francis Christian Cabrel (; born 23 November 1953) is a French singer-songwriter, composer and guitarist. Considered one of the most influential French musical artists of all time, he has released a number of albums falling mostly within the real ...

for his album ''Voix croisées''. In 2012, Garou covered "Cash City" on his album ''

Rhythm and Blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

'', a version which André Péloquin of ''Voir'' considered as recorded with a

twang Twang is an onomatopoeia originally used to describe the sound of a vibrating bow string after the arrow is released.Hensleigh Wedgwood, ''A Dictionary of English Etymology: Q - Z'' (1865), p. 433. By extension it applies to the similar vibrati ...

recalling

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

and

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

Track listings

* 7" single, 7" single (Luc De Larochellière – "Cash City") (accessdate: 31 October 2021). # "Cash City" — 4:33 # "La machine est mon amie" — 3:59 * CD single, CD single (Luc De Larochellière – "Cash City") (accessdate: 31 October 2021). # "Cash City" — 4:33 # "La machine est mon amie" — 3:59

Personnel

* Artwork — FKGB * Photography (first edition) — Flomen * Photography (second edition) — J.F. Gratton

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cash City 1990 songs 1991 singles Luc De Larochellière songs Songs about consumerism