''Il suffira d'un signe'' is a song written, composed and performed by

Jean-Jacques Goldman Jean-Jacques Goldman (; born 11 October 1951) is a French singer-songwriter and music record producer. He is hugely popular in the French-speaking world. Since the death of Johnny Hallyday in 2017 he has been the highest grossing living French p ...

. It was released in September 1981 as the first single of his first studio album ''

Démodé ''Démodé'' is Jean-Jacques Goldman's first solo album sung in French, set in 1981. It was recorded at the Studios Pathé in Paris and the Studio Vénus in Longueville. The album has also been released under the names ''A l'envers'' and ''Je ...

''. It is the track that launched Goldman’s solo career.

Background

In 1981, Jean-Jacques Goldman had already a full musical career. His discography was linked to the band Tai Phong, with whom he recorded 3 albums, followed by a first career solo try, which was a failure. The song is a "hope hymn" according to Fabien Lecoeuvre, written at the end of the 1970s, inspired by the situation in Iran, requested by a producer who asked him to write songs for a young singer who took part in the TV program ''Le jeu de la chance''. The song went unnoticed, but the producer

Marc Lumbroso Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system o ...

liked it, met with Jean-Jacques Goldman and got him to record a demo, which he sent to Epic,

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

's label for new talents. Jean-Jacques Goldman recorded then his first album, with "Il suffira d'un signe", which lasts a little less than 6 minutes.

Release

At the beginning, the song did not do well on Hit RTL, where it entered the charts on 11 October 1981, the day of Goldman's 30th birthday, climbing 15 places in 18 weeks. However, Monique Le Marcis, director of RTL's programs, heard it and had the song played more often on the radio. "Il suffira d'un signe" managed to be a commercial success and became a #1 single on 9 May 1982 and became the song (the first of a long list of hits) that really launched Goldman’s solo career. The album version lasts almost 6 minutes, whereas the radio edit lasts 4 minutes. It is notable that on the album cover the song is called ''Il suffira d'un signe'', but on the 7" vinyl's cover it is written ''Il suffira (d'un signe)''. In 1992, Goldman reprised the song with

Carole Fredericks Carole Denise Fredericks (June 5, 1952 – June 7, 2001) was an American singer best known for her work in French music. She was the younger sister of Taj Mahal. Between 1990 and 1996 she was in the trio Fredericks Goldman Jones alongside s ...

and Michael Jones for the trio’s live album "Sur Scène". After that, this live version will be released at the end of 1992, where it will reach the 14th position at the Top 50.

References

{{authority control 1981 songs Songs written by Jean-Jacques Goldman