"Solitaire" is a 1981 song sung and written by Martine Clémenceau. The English version was later released in March 1983 as the lead single of American singer

Laura Branigan Laura Ann Branigan (July 3, 1952 – August 26, 2004) was an American singer. Her signature song, the platinum-certified 1982 single " Gloria", stayed on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for 36 weeks, then a record for a female artist, peaking a ...

's second studio album, '' Branigan 2'' (1983). It was lyricized in English by

Diane Warren Diane Eve Warren (born September 7, 1956) is an American songwriter. She has won an Academy Honorary Award, Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, two Golden Globe Awards and three consecutive ''Billboard'' Music Awards for Songwriter of the Year from 19 ...

and produced by

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975) is an American musician who achieved international fame as the guitarist and lead singer of the rock duo the White Stripes. As the White Stripes disbanded, he sought success with his solo career, subse ...

and Robbie Buchanan.

History

The song originated as a 1981 recording in French by Martine Clémenceau for whom "Solitaire" was a modest hit with a French chart peak of #50 on the French pop charts where it remained for 22 weeks. Written by Clémenceau herself, the French version of "Solitaire" concerned a recluse who shuts himself away from a world moving toward nuclear war. The English lyrics of "Solitaire" reinvent the song's narrative, with the playing of the card game

solitaire Solitaire may refer to: Film and television *'' Le Solitaire'', a 1987 French film * ''Solitaire'' (1991 film), a Canadian drama film * ''Solitaire'' (2008 film), a drama film *''Solitaire'', 2016 Lebanese comedy film with Bassam Kousa *"Solit ...

employed as a metaphor for the singer enduring the neglect of her lover. "Solitaire" would launch the hitmaking career of

, who had recently been employed as a staff writer by Branigan's producer

; Warren gave White the completed lyrics for "Solitaire" the day after he asked her to give the song an English rendering.

Laura Branigan version

Released as the lead single from the '' Branigan 2'' album, "Solitaire" debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 the week Branigan's breakthrough single " Gloria" fell off the chart. With a peak position of number seven, "Solitaire" became Branigan's second consecutive top-10 entry. It also reached numbers 16 and 28 on ''Billboard''s

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

and

Dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

charts, respectively. Internationally, the single charted at number eight in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and number 12 in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. The verses begin low and restrained, with the melody's theme repeated in ever-higher variations throughout the pre-chorus and chorus, climaxing in three high, sustained belts of "Solitaire". The song's rangy melody and dramatic refrain appealed to Branigan and producers Jack White and Robbie Buchanan, who extended the original arrangement to revolve back to one last refrain, giving Branigan a triumphant, sustained final note in keeping with the new lyrics by Warren, which have Branigan turning the tables on a neglectful lover and getting on with a life she had put on hold for him. The note is a mere two seconds shy of the world record for longest note held by a female singer in a pop song, which is held by

Donna Summer Donna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the "Queen of Disco", while her music ...

in " Dim All the Lights" (which was covered by Branigan in 1995).

Promotion

Branigan promoted the song with appearances on ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'' (AB) is an American Music television, music performance and dance television series that aired in various iterations from 1952 to 1989. It was hosted by Dick Clark who also served as the program's Television producer, pr ...

'', '' Solid Gold'' and ''

The Merv Griffin Show ''The Merv Griffin Show'' is an American television talk show starring Merv Griffin. The series had runs on two different networks on NBC (1962–1963) and CBS (1969–1972) but is most known for its run on first-run syndication from 1965 to 1 ...

'', among others. The song's dramatic, theatrical style and range was a vocal showcase, and it was not uncommon for talent show contestants such as those on ''

Star Search ''Star Search'' (later known as ''Ed McMahon's Star Search'') is an American television show that was produced by T.P.E./ Rysher Entertainment from 1983 to 1995, hosted by Ed McMahon, and created by Al Masini. A relaunch was produced by 29 ...

'' to tackle "Solitaire". It was a favorite of a young

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...

, who performed the song in a rare televised clip. "Solitaire" was promoted with an elaborately produced music video depicting the song's narrative: after her neglectful boyfriend leaves her, Branigan is shown recording at a studio and apparently occupied with the trappings of fame and career but spending her free time lonely. When her remorseful ex attempts a reconciliation, she shakes her head and walks away, pausing to flip a pack of cards toward him. He stoops down to pick them up. The rest of the video shows both of them spending time alone with flashbacks of their time together. An Atlantic 12″ featured an extended version of the song that ran 5:16 in length; Hot Tracks, a popular DJ remix service of the time, produced their own extended remix as well, which ran to 7:02 and clocked in at 140 BPM. The song was re-released by Atlantic in the United States as an "Oldies Series" single in the mid-1980s, backed with "Gloria". In Europe, the song saw limited release as a 12″ single backed with "Gloria". In addition to ''Branigan 2'', which went out of print in 2004, the single version of "Solitaire" appears on 1995's '' The Best of Branigan'' (re-released in 2007), 2002's '' The Essentials: Laura Branigan'', and 2006's ''The Platinum Collection''. Diane Warren not only added English lyrics to Martine Clemenceau's song but she cowrote the magnificent 'Silent Partners' released by Laura in 1984.

Track listings

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Other versions

In 1982 "Solitaire" had been rendered in German as "Immer Mehr" and recorded by

Milva Maria Ilva Biolcati, (; 17 July 1939 – 23 April 2021), known as Milva (), was an Italian singer, stage and film actress, and television personality. She was also known as ''La Rossa'' (Italian for "The Redhead"), due to the characteristic co ...

; in 1983, in the wake of the Branigan version, another German rendering retaining the title "Solitaire" was recorded by Séverine using the backing track from the Branigan recording. Also in 1983, Hungarian female singer Kati Kovács recorded her rendition of the song, using the lyrics from the Branigan version, that appeared on the album ''Super Hits''. The Argentine singer Julia Zenko also included it on her first album, Vital, from 1983.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solitaire (Laura Branigan Song) 1981 songs 1983 singles Atlantic Records singles Laura Branigan songs Songs written by Diane Warren