"Comment ça va" (French for "How is it going?") is a 1983

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

song by Dutch

boy band A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform Love song, love songs marketed towards girls and young ...

The Shorts. The song deals about a boy who meets a French girl, but they can not understand each other because they speak different languages. It was originally written in English by Dutch composer Eddy de Heer, but

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

insisted on a Dutch version which was written by

Jack Jersey Jack (Willem) de Nijs, artist name Jack Jersey (18 July 1941 — 26 May 1997), was a Dutch singer, composer, arranger, lyricist and record producer of light music (popular music) who worked for national and international artists. He had his own pr ...

who also produced this song. The Dutch version was released as a single, but was neglected by the official Dutch radio stations. After 10,000 singles were sold, with only airplay on pirate radio, the official radio stations started playing the song and it went to the number one spot in the

Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 ( nl, Nederlandse Top 40) is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veronica ...

. It quickly became an international hit, selling about 4 million singles, with versions in English, German, French and Spanish.

Ingela "Pling" Forsman Ingela Birgitta "Pling" Forsman (born 26 August 1950 in , Sweden) is a Swedish lyricist in popular music. As a student Forsman attended the Adolf Fredrik's Music School in Stockholm. 1981–2009, 33 of her songs have competed in the Swedish M ...

wrote lyrics in Swedish, also named "Comment ça va", which was recorded by

Kikki Danielsson Ann-Kristin "Kikki" Danielsson (born 10 May 1952) is a Swedish country, dansband and pop singer. Sometimes, she also plays the accordion and she has also written some lyrics. She has gained notice for yodeling in some songs. Danielsson gained he ...

and released on the album ''

Singles Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar ( ...

'' in 1983, and as a

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 ...

with "Du skriver dina kärlekssånger" as

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

. With her recording, Kikki Danielsson scored a hit in the

Nordic region The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Swed ...

in mid 1983, peaking at #3 on the Norwegian singles chart. Norwegian singer Bente Lind also recorded a Norwegian version of the song in 1983. It was first performed in Hungary in the mid 1980s by the Fáraó Band (in Hungarian, only keeping in French the refrain: Comment ça va; Comme ci, comme ci, comme ça), then, after its high popularity, by other artists, for example György Korda and Klári Balázs.

Chart performance

The Shorts

Kikki Danielsson

Sales and certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comment ca va 1983 singles Dutch pop songs Dutch-language songs Macaronic songs Dutch Top 40 number-one singles Kikki Danielsson songs 1983 songs Songs about Paris EMI Records singles

Chart performance

The Shorts

Kikki Danielsson

Sales and certifications

See also

References