"La Maritza" is a song by

Sylvie Vartan Sylvie Vartan (; born Sylvie Georges Vartanian; hy, Սիլվի Ժորժ Վարդանյան. on 15 August 1944) is an Armenian-Bulgarian-French singer and actress. She is known as one of the most productive and tough-sounding yé-yé artists. ...

from her 1968 album ''Sylvie Vartan'' (also known as ''La Maritza''). It was also released as an EP 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 ...

Background and writing

The song was written by

Jean Renard Jean Renard (born 12 July 1932) is a Belgian boxer. He competed in the men's bantamweight event at the 1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the ...

and

Pierre Delanoë Pierre Delanoë (16 December 1918 – 27 December 2006), born Pierre Charles Marcel Napoléon Leroyer in Paris, France, was a French lyricist who wrote thousands of songs for dozens of singers, including Dalida, Edith Piaf, Charles Aznavour, Pet ...

Sylvie Vartan, who was born in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

, sings her nostalgia for her homeland, especially the

Maritsa River Maritsa or Maritza ( bg, Марица ), also known as Meriç ( tr, Meriç ) and Evros ( ell, Έβρος ), is a river that runs through the Balkans in Southeast Europe. With a length of ,Read in line
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Commercial performance

In France the song was released on an EP (''La Maritza / Un p'tit peu beaucoup / Jolie poupée''). In Wallonia (French Belgium) the EP charted as a double A-side "La Maritza / Un p'tit peu beaucoup". It spent 19 weeks in the singles chart, peaking at no. 4. The song "La Maritza" also reached at least in the top 4 in Finland in 1970 (according to the chart, courtesy of INTRO, published by U.S. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine in its "Hits of the World" section).

Track listings

7-inch EP "La Maritza / Un p'tit peu beaucoup / Jolie poupée" (RCA Victor 87.074 M in France, RCA Victor TP-455 in Portugal) :A. "La Maritza" (3:42) :B1. "Un p'tit peu beaucoup" (2:30) :B2. "Jolie poupée" 7-inch single "La Maritza / Un p'tit peu beaucoup" RCA Victor 3 10372 (Spain) :A. "La Maritza" (3:42) :B. "Un p'tit peu beaucoup" (2:30)

Charts

; "La Maritza" / "Un p'tit peu beaucoup"

Cover versions

Sylvie Vartan herself recorded the song also in Italian (under the title "La Maritza") and in German (under the title "Lied ohne Wiederkehr"). Also the song has been covered, among others, by

Seija Simola Seija Saara Maria Simola (25 September 1944 Helsinki – 21 August 2017 Vantaa), married Franzén, was a Finnish singer. She began her career musical in the mid-1960s in the band Eero Seija & Kristian Trio, and her debut solo album was released in ...

(in Finnish under the title "Maritza"),

Bart Kaëll Bart Kaëll (born 2 August 1960 in Oudenaarde) is the stage name of Bart Marcel Emilienne Gyselinck, a Flemish singer and TV host. Career Kaëll studied music in Antwerp, after finishing school he landed a job as a singer and in 1982 he took pa ...

(in Dutch under the title "Maritza"),

Elisa Tovati Elisa Tovati born Elisa Touati is a French singer, actress and television personality. Early years Elisa Tovati was born in 1976 to parents of Russo-Moroccan Jewish origins in Paris, France. She showed interest in theatre early in her life, an ...

and Nawel Ben Kraïem, Jitka Molavcová and

Hana Hegerová Hana Hegerová (20 October 1931 – 23 March 2021) was a Slovak singer and actress. Often referred to as the Queen of Czechoslovak chanson, she gained popularity primarily as a singer of chansons. Outside of her homebase, Hegerová has attained ...

(in Czech under the title "Co mi dáš"). In 2012, the song was covered by symphonic metal band Therion on their cover album

Les Fleurs du Mal (Therion album) ''Les Fleurs du Mal'' is a cover album and the fifteenth full-length album by Swedish symphonic metal band Therion. It was released on 28 September 2012 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the band. Named after the 1857 volume of poetry ''Les ...

. The song has been streamed over 1,7 million times at Spotify and is one of the most popular Therion songs at this platform. In 2014, this song has also been covered b
Scarecrow
a Finnish

horror punk Horror punk is a music genre that mixes punk rock and 1950s-influenced doo-wop and rockabilly sounds with morbid and violent imagery and lyrics which are often influenced by horror films and science fiction B-movies. The genre was pioneered by ...

band. It was released on their 2014 7-inch EP "Amores de Vampiros".

's version reached at least the top 6 in Finland in 1970 (according to the chart, courtesy of INTRO, published in the "Hits of the World" section of the 21 January 1978 issue of U.S. ''

'').

References

External links

Sylvie Vartan — ''La Maritza / Un p'tit peu beaucoup / Jolie poupée'' (EP)
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maritza 1968 songs 1968 singles French songs Sylvie Vartan songs RCA Victor singles Songs written by Pierre Delanoë Songs written by Jean Renard (songwriter) Maritsa