"J'ai demandé à la lune" ("I asked the moon" in English) is the most popular song from the 2002 album ''

Paradize ''Paradize'' is a 2002 album recorded by France, French band Indochine (band), Indochine. It was its ninth studio album and was released on 14 May 2002. It achieved great success in francophone countries and even topped the albums chart in Belgi ...

'' which allowed Indochine to reconnect with the media that had abandoned the band a decade earlier. Indochine had gone through a vast amount of criticism before the release of the song. Written by Mickaël Furnon, the singer of

Mickey 3D Mickey 3D is a French rock group from Montbrison, Loire; it was founded in 1997 when Mickaël Furnon alias ''Mickey'' and Aurélien Joanin alias ''Jojo'' parted from the local group 3Dk. They have fronted for the group Louise Attaque, which ha ...

, the song was released as the second single from this album in March 2002, and quickly became a national success, selling over a million units. The album similarly achieved commercial success a few months later.

Background and music video

During the recording of the album, Indochine's singer

Nicola Sirkis Nicolas Henri Didier Sirchis (; born 22 June 1959), better known by his stage name Nicola Sirkis, is the frontman and singer of the French rock band Indochine (band), Indochine. He is the only remaining member of the original line-up of the band ...

asked Pauline, the 8 yo daughter of his friend Rudy Léonet to perform the background vocals. The music video shows Sirkis walking towards the camera with a baby, then a young child in his arms, and finally Pauline appears alongside him and sings a duet with Sirkis.

Chart performance

The song was listed on the French SNEP Singles Chart, and debuted at number 14 on 13 April 2002 and reached number one for one week on 20 July. The single remained in the top ten for 20 weeks, in the top 50 for 27 weeks and on the charts (top 100) for 31 weeks."J'ai demandé à la lune", in French Singles Char
Lescharts.com
(Retrieved April 19, 2008) It finally achieved

Diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...

status on 6 November 20022002 French certification
Disqueenfrance.com
(Retrieved April 19, 2008) and was the fifth best-selling single of the year.2001 French Singles Char
Disqueenfrance.com
(Retrieved April 19, 2008) As of August 2014, the song was the 25th best-selling single of the 21st century in France, with 515,000 units sold. In Belgium (Wallonia), the single charted for 36 weeks. It first stabilized in the low positions, then entered the top ten in its 12th week and stayed there for 17 consecutive weeks, peaking at number one for five weeks. After falling off the top five, it almost did not drop."J'ai demandé à la lune", in Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Char
Ultratop.be
(Retrieved April 19, 2008) The single was ranked fifth on the 2002 End of the Year Chart.2002 Belgian (Wallonia) Singles char
Ultratop.be
(Retrieved April 19, 2008) In Switzerland, "J'ai demandé à la lune" debuted at a peak of number four on 21 July 2002. It stayed for many weeks at the bottom of the chart (top 100)"J'ai demandé à la lune", in Swiss Singles Char
Hitparade.ch
(Retrieved April 19, 2008) and became the 39th hit of the year in the country.2002 Swiss Singles Char
Hitparade.ch
(Retrieved April 19, 2008)

Cover versions

In 2004, the song was covered by

on the live album ''Live à Saint-Étienne''. There is also a longer version, which was available on a CD sold in December 2002 for the benefit of the association

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF; pronounced ), also known as Doctors Without Borders, is a humanitarian medical non-governmental organisation (NGO) or charity of French origin known for its projects in conflict zones and in countries affected by endemic diseases. M ...

. The song is also covered by Vox Angeli, a choir composed of children, and features as the first track on the 2008 album of the same name. The song is also covered by

Scala & Kolacny Brothers Scala & Kolacny Brothers is a Belgian women's choir conducted by Stijn Kolacny, and arranged and accompanied by Steven Kolacny on the piano. They have made five studio albums (in multiple languages) starting with ''On The Rocks'' in 2002. Mos ...

In 2011, the single was partly re-written by Mickaël Furnon under the title "On demande pas la lune" for the annual Les Enfoires charity concert. This version peaked at number 30 on the French Singles Chart, and at number nine on the Belgian (Wallonia) Ultratop 40. In 2021, Québecois singer-songwriter

Ghostly Kisses Ghostly Kisses is the musical project of French-Canadian singer-songwriter Margaux Sauvé. She is based in Quebec. She is signed to the British record label Akira Records. The name 'Ghostly Kisses’ was inspired by the William Faulkner poem ''Une b ...

(real name Margaux Sauvé) released her version of the song in partnership with composer pianist Louis-Étienne Santais.

Track listings

* CD single # "J'ai demandé à la lune" — 3:29 # "Punker" — 2:50 # "Glory Hole" — 3:27

Charts and sales

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

"J'ai demandé à la lune", lyrics

"J'ai demandé à la lune", music video
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jai demande a la lune 2002 singles Indochine (band) songs Ultratop 50 Singles (Wallonia) number-one singles SNEP Top Singles number-one singles French rock songs