"L'Aziza" is the name of a 1985 song recorded by French singer

Daniel Balavoine Daniel Xavier-Marie Balavoine (; 5 February 1952 – 14 January 1986) was a French singer and songwriter. He was hugely popular in the French-speaking world in the early 1980s; he inspired many singers of his generation such as Jean-Jacques Gol ...

and released 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 ...

from his album ''Sauver l'amour'' in October 1985. The song was very successful, particularly after the singer's death, topping the chart in France for two months.

Song information

The song was entirely composed by Balavoine, and was produced by the famous composer Léo Missir. 'L'Aziza' means 'My dear' in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

, although all the lyrics are sung in French. In this song, Balavoine pays tribute to his

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Moroccan wife Corinne, and denounces

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

. In France, "L'Aziza" became a standard song throughout the years. The song was remixed the same year of the album release and came out as a 7". It features on Balavoine's best of ''Balavoine sans frontières'', released about twenty years after the singer's death. The music video was directed by Oliver Chavarot.

Cover versions

"L'Aziza" was also recorded in 2000 by Khaled for the compilation album ''Balavoine: Hommages...'' on which various artists covered Balavoine's songs. The song was also covered in France by Star Academy 5 for its album ''Chante Daniel Balavoine'', on which it features as fifth track.''Chante Daniel Balavoine'', track listing and chart
Lescharts.com
(Retrieved July 10, 2008) The B-side, "Tous les cris, les S.O.S.", was covered by many artists, including

Jeanne Mas Jeanne Mas is a French pop singer. She is well known in France, Switzerland, Canada and Belgium for a number of hit singles released in the 1980s. Her first success was "Toute première fois" in 1984. This song was simultaneously released in the ...

in 1987,

Marie-Denise Pelletier Marie Denise Pelletier (born 3 April 1960) is a francophone Canadian singer. She served as President of Artisti, a copyright collective for music artists operated by Quebec's l'Union des artistes (UDA). Biography While studying literature and c ...

, Lena Kann in 1998 (#14 in France) and

Les Enfoirés Les Enfoirés (, 'The Tossers' or 'The Bastards') is the name given to the singers and performers in the yearly charity concert for the Restaurants du Cœur The Restaurants du Cœur (literally ''Restaurants of the Heart'' but meaning ''Restau ...

in 2008.

Chart performances

"L'Aziza" entered the French Singles Chart at #40 on November 23, 1985, and gained a few places every week, but when the singer's death was announced in the media, the single jumped straight to #1 and stayed there for eight consecutive weeks, with huge weekly sales. Thereafter, it dropped rather quickly and remained for 14 weeks in the top ten and for 26 weeks in the top 50."L'Aziza", French Singles Char
Lescharts.com
(Retrieved July 10, 2008) It was certified Platinum by SNEP in 1985 for selling 1 million copies in France.

Track listings

; 7" single # "L'Aziza" — 4:21 # "Tous les cris, les S.O.S." — 5:04

Certifications and sales

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aziza 1985 singles Daniel Balavoine songs SNEP Top Singles number-one singles Songs written by Daniel Balavoine Barclay (record label) singles 1985 songs Songs against racism and xenophobia