"La Folie" is a 1981 song by

The Stranglers The Stranglers are an English rock band who emerged via the punk rock scene. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 19 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have origina ...

. The title track from ''

La Folie La Folie () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Calvados department The following is a list of the 528 communes of the Calvados department of France. ...

'', it was released as the follow-up to "

Golden Brown "Golden Brown" is a song by the English rock band the Stranglers released as a 7-inch single on EMI's Liberty Records, Liberty label in 1982, noted for its distinctive harpsichord instrumentation. It was the second single released from the band ...

" in April 1982, and peaked at number 47 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. Sung in French by

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

Jean-Jacques Burnel Jean-Jacques Burnel (born 21 February 1952) is an English musician, producer and songwriter, best known as the bass guitarist and co-lead vocalist with the English rock band The Stranglers. He is the last founding member to remain in the band. ...

, it was Burnel who convinced his bandmates of the song's potential as a single, despite

Hugh Cornwell Hugh Alan Cornwell (born 28 August 1949) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and writer, best known for being the lead vocalist and lead guitarist for the punk rock and new wave band the Stranglers from 1974 to 1990. Since leaving the ...

feeling that "

Tramp A tramp is a long-term homeless person who travels from place to place as a vagrant, traditionally walking all year round. Etymology Tramp is derived from a Middle English verb meaning to "walk with heavy footsteps" (''cf.'' modern English ''t ...

" was the better choice. The song makes allusions to Japanese necrophiliac murderer and cannibal

Issei Sagawa also known as Pang or The Kobe Cannibal, was a Japanese murderer, cannibal, and necrophiliac known for the killing of Renée Hartevelt in Paris in 1981. Sagawa murdered Hartevelt then mutilated, cannibalized, and performed necrophilia on her c ...

. The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was filmed on the

Montmartre Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...

References

{{authority control 1982 singles The Stranglers songs 1981 songs Songs written by Hugh Cornwell Songs written by Jean-Jacques Burnel Songs written by Dave Greenfield Songs written by Jet Black Liberty Records singles