"A Tout le Monde" is a song by American heavy metal band Megadeth, featured on their 1994 studio album ''

Youthanasia ''Youthanasia'' is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Megadeth, released on November 1, 1994, through Capitol Records. It is stylistically similar to their previous album, ''Countdown to Extinction'' (1992). The title is a pl ...

''. It was released as a single in February 1995 through Capitol Records. The song was later remade and reissued as "À Tout le Monde (Set Me Free)", featuring

Cristina Scabbia Cristina Adriana Chiara Scabbia (; born 5 June 1972) is an Italian singer, best known as one of the two vocalists of gothic metal band Lacuna Coil. Scabbia used to write an advice column in the popular rock magazine ''Revolver'', alongside mus ...

of Lacuna Coil, on Megadeth's 2007 studio album ''

United Abominations ''United Abominations'' is the eleventh studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth. Released on May 15, 2007, ''United Abominations'' is the first Megadeth release distributed through Roadrunner Records and, with the exception of the ban ...

''. The song's chorus, "''à tout le monde, à tous mes amis, je vous aime, je dois partir''", translated into English is, "to the whole world, to all my friends, I love you, I have to go", which prompted controversy after accusations that it was pro-suicide.

Music and lyrics

The music video for "A Tout le Monde" was banned by MTV, who claimed it was pro-suicide. However, in an interview conducted around 1994, Megadeth frontman

Dave Mustaine David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is the co-founder, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter of the thrash metal band Megadeth, as well as their sole consistent member. Mustaine has relea ...

stated:

It's not a suicide song. What it is, it's, you, it's when people have a loved one that dies and they end on a bad note, you know, they wish that they could say something to them. So this is an opportunity for the deceased to say something before they go. And it was my impression of what I would like to say to people, if I had say, 3 seconds to do so in life before I died I'd say to the entire world, to all my friends, I love you all, and now I must go. These are the last words I'll ever speak, and they'll set me free. I don't have to say I'm sorry, I don't have to say I'm going to miss you, or I'll wait for ya. You know, I'll just say I loved you all, good, bad, indifferent, I loved you all.

Title

The song's title, "''A tout le monde''", is French for "''To all the world''" or "''To everyone''". The song's chorus, "''à tout le monde, à tous mes amis, je vous aime, je dois partir''", translated to English is respectively: "To everyone, to all my friends, I love you, I have to leave". The original release of the song does not feature a grave accent on the letter "à" anywhere within the title, liner notes, lyrics or cover art. This was later rectified on the 2007 version.

Track listing

;US promotional edition ;Dutch edition

2007 version

The song was remade in 2007 on the album ''

'' as "À Tout le Monde (Set Me Free)", sung as a duet between Mustaine and

, singer of Italian metal band Lacuna Coil. The guitars for the song are all in

standard tuning In music, standard tuning refers to the typical tuning of a string instrument. This notion is contrary to that of scordatura, i.e. an alternate tuning designated to modify either the timbre or technical capabilities of the desired instrument. Viol ...

(bringing the song to F-sharp minor), whereas the original was recorded a half-step down in

E♭ tuning Guitar tunings are the assignment of pitches to the open strings of guitars, including acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and classical guitars. Tunings are described by the particular pitches that are made by notes in Western music. B ...

(which put the song in

F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature consists of four flats. Its relative major is A-flat major and its parallel major is F major. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-sharp mi ...

). The new version is also slightly faster, and the guitar solo performed by Glen Drover is musically 4 bars longer than the original by

Marty Friedman Marty Friedman (born December 8, 1962) is an American guitarist, best known for his tenure as the lead guitarist for thrash metal band Megadeth from 1990 to 2000. He is also known for playing alongside Jason Becker in Cacophony from 1986 unti ...

. "À Tout le Monde (Set Me Free)" was the first single released from the album, with a new music video made for it. The song's title has been revised in order to distinguish it from the original, although this alteration does not appear on some pressings of the album. The title also features the aforementioned grave accent on the letter "à", which was omitted on the original version.

Reception

On June 11, 2007, the video for the single won its sixteenth victory in the context of the one-on-one video show, ''L'Ultime Combat des Clips'', aired Monday to Thursday on the French-Canadian music channel, Musique Plus. Winning sixteen consecutive times earned them a star in the show's hall of fame. Despite the accolades, both the original music video for "A Tout le Monde" and its remake remain banned by MTV, possibly for lyrical content that they deem to be pertaining to committing suicide. The duet version did, however, air on MTV2's '' Headbangers Ball'' upon release.

Personnel

'' version: *

– lead vocals, rhythm guitar *

–

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featu ...

David Ellefson David Warren Ellefson (born November 12, 1964) is an American musician, best known for his long tenure as the bassist for thrash metal band Megadeth. Ellefson initially became an accomplished bassist and honed his songwriting skills while leadi ...

– bass *

Nick Menza Nicholas Menza (July 23, 1964 – May 21, 2016) was an American musician best known as the drummer for thrash metal band Megadeth from 1989 to 1998. He recorded drums on four of Megadeth's albums: ''Rust in Peace'' (1990), ''Countdown to Extin ...

– drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

'' version: *Dave Mustaine – lead vocals, rhythm guitar * Glen Drover – lead guitar *

James LoMenzo James LoMenzo (born January 13, 1959) is an American heavy metal bass guitarist. He was a member of the band White Lion, performing with them from 1984 to 1991. He was later the bassist for Black Label Society, Slash's Snakepit, and Megadeth. ...

– bass * Shawn Drover – drums, percussion *

– guest vocals

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:A Tout le Monde 1990s ballads 2000s ballads 1994 songs 1995 singles 2007 songs 2007 singles Capitol Records singles Franglais songs Heavy metal ballads Megadeth songs Music videos directed by Wayne Isham Songs about death Songs written by Dave Mustaine Male–female vocal duets Macaronic songs pt:À Tout le Monde (Set Me Free) ru:À Tout le Monde (Set Me Free)