"Eres tú" (; "It's You") is a song recorded by Spanish band
Mocedades, written by
Juan Carlos Calderón. It in the
Eurovision Song Contest 1973 held in
Luxembourg
Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
placing second which was followed by a global success.
It is one of the few musical acts from Spain to have scored a top ten hit in the United States, being the only one sung entirely in Spanish. In 2005, it was one of fourteen songs chosen to compete in ''
Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest'' placing eleventh. In 2013, it was inducted into the
Latin Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2015, "Eres tú" ranked #47 on ''Billboards 50 Greatest Latin Songs of All Time.
Mocedades also released the song in English, French, German, Italian, and Basque versions. The song was subsequently covered many times and released by different singers in different languages and genres.
Background
Conception
Juan Carlos Calderón wrote "Eres tú" and
Mocedades recorded it for their fourth studio album '. The group was composed back then by
Amaya Uranga, Roberto Uranga,
Izaskun Uranga, Carlos Zubiaga, Javier Garay, and José Ipiña.
In addition to the Spanish language original version, the group released the song in English as "Touch the Wind" with lyrics by
Mike Hawker, French as "C'est pour toi" with lyrics by and , German as "Das Bist Du" with lyrics by , Italian as "Viva Noi" with lyrics by
Paolo Limiti, and Basque as "Zu Zera" with lyrics by .
Eurovision
(TVE) the song as for the of the
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...
. For the song to participate in the contest, it was necessary to shorten it so that it fit into three minutes. TVE filmed a video clip with the group singing the song in a studio that was distributed to the other participant broadcasters as established by the contest regulations.
On 7 April 1973, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at
Grand Théâtre in
Luxembourg
Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
hosted by the (CLT), and broadcast live throughout the continent. Mocedades performed "Eres tú" seventh on the night, following 's "
Un train qui part" by
Marie and preceding 's "
Je vais me marier, Marie" by
Patrick Juvet
Patrick Juvet (21 August 1950 – 1 April 2021) was a Swiss model and singer-songwriter, who had a string of hit records in Europe. While his early career was focused on making pop records, he found international success as a disco music perf ...
. Calderón himself conducted the event's live orchestra in the performance of the Spanish entry.
At the close of voting, the song had received 125 points, placing second in a field of seventeen, after 's "
Tu te reconnaîtras" by
Anne-Marie David with 129 points. The 's "
Power to All Our Friends" by
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...
finished third with 123 points. "Eres tú" was succeeded as Spanish representative at the
1974 contest by "
Canta y sé feliz" by
Peret.
Plagiarism controversy
One of the biggest scandals at Eurovision resulted from the perceived similarity between the melody of "Eres tú" and that of 's
1966
Events January
* January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko.
* January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...
entry "
Brez besed". However, the authors of "Brez besed" neither officially complained nor filed a lawsuit, as neither was common practise at the time.
Aftermath
Its participation in Eurovision was followed by a global success. In 1974, "Eres tú" became one of the few Spanish language songs to reach the top 10 in the United States, peaking at #9 in the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and also reaching the top 10 on the
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 ...
chart. In the United States, it is still heard on
Adult Standards and
Easy Listening
Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...
radio. The
B-side of the
single released in some countries was the English-language version entitled "Touch the Wind", which featured a completely different set of lyrics by Mike Hawker, rather than a translation of the original Spanish lyrics.
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...
s generally preferred to play the original
A-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...
version. There were also several covers of the song in both English and Spanish, only one of which -– "Touch the Wind" by
Eydie Gorme -- charted, becoming a minor Adult Contemporary hit.
With "Eres tú", Mocedades is one of the five musical acts from Spain to have scored a top ten hit in the United States, and the only to have a top ten hit sung entirely in Spanish. The song was inducted into the
Latin Grammy Hall of Fame in 2013. In 2015, "Eres tú" ranked #47 on ''Billboards 50 Greatest Latin Songs of All Time.
The success of "Eres tú" was not limited to just pop or Spanish music radio. In 1976, a guitar instrumental by country singer
Sonny James
Jimmie Hugh Loden (May 1, 1928February 22, 2016), known professionally as Sonny James, was an American country music singer and songwriter best known for his 1957 hit, " Young Love", topping both the ''Billboard'' Hot Country and Disk Jockey s ...
reached #67 on the
Hot Country Singles chart. In 1977, Tex-Mex country singer
Johnny Rodriguez –who had earlier success with mixing English and Spanish lyrics in his songs– recorded a cover version and released it to country radio. The song peaked at #25 in the fall of 1977 on the
Hot Country Singles chart.
"Eres tú" was one of fourteen songs chosen by Eurovision fans and a
European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...
(EBU) reference group, from among the 992 songs that had ever participated in the contest, to participate in the fiftieth anniversary competition ''
Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest'' held on 22 October 2005 in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
. It was the only Spanish entry featured, as well as one of three entries featured that did not actually win the contest the year it competed. The song was featured with footage of Mocedades' Eurovision performance with Amaya Uranga, Carlos Zubiaga, and José Ipiña appearing live on stage towards the end. The song placed eleventh with 90 point, being eliminated in the first round. On 31 March 2015, "Eres tú" was performed by
Rosa López in the contest sixtieth anniversary show ''
Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits''.
Chart history
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Sales
Song in other languages
By Mocedades
*"Eres tú" (Spanish)
*"Touch the Wind" (English)
*"Das bist du" (German)
*"C'est pour toi" (French)
*"Viva noi" (Italian)
*"Zu zara" (Basque)
By other groups
*"Dicht bij jou" (Dutch)
*"Rør Ved Mig" (Danish)
*"Touch the Wind" (English)
*"I mitt liv" (Norwegian)
*"Rör vid mig" (Swedish)
*"Správný tón" (Czech)
*"Eres tú" (Morat; Spanish, Colombia)
*"Runoni kaunein olla voit" (Finnish)
*"Sinä vain" (Finnish)
*"Co gai rung mo" (Vietnamese)
*"That's You" (English)
*"Will My Love Be You" (English)
*"C'est pour toi" (French)
*"Jy's vir my" (Afrikaans)
*"É você" (Brazilian Portuguese)
*"Du bist wie die Sonne" (German)
*"Waar naartoe" (Dutch)
*"Selline sa oled" (Estonian)
*"" (Korean)
Legacy
Cover versions
* 101 Strings — "Eres tú"
*
Acker Bilk — "Eres tú"
* Aida Vedishcheva — "" (Russian)
* Al estilo de Mocedades — "Eres tú"
* Alvaro Clemente — "Eres tú"
* Amaya Uranga & Juan Carlos Calderón — "Eres tú"
* Anacani — "Eres tú"
*
Andrés Calamaro — "Eres tú"
* An & Jan (Rot) — "Dicht bij jou" (Dutch)
* Atalaje — "Eres tú"
* Austin Kelley & Mantovani — "Eres tú"
* Bedevilers — "Eres tú" (punk rock)
*
Bert Kaempfert — "Touch the Wind" (English)
*
Bertín Osborne — "Eres tú"
*
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...
— "Eres tú" (included in his 1975 album ''
Bingo Viejo'')
* Bo Doerek — "Eres tú"
* Bres Bezed — "Eres tú"
* Bullerfnis — "Rør ved mig" (Danish)
* Byron Lee and the Dragonaries — "Eres tú"
* Calito Soul — "Eres tú"
*
Camila Mendes — "Eres tú" (''
Riverdale'')
* Cerveza Mahou — "Eres tú"
*
Charo
María Rosario Pilar Martínez Molina Baeza, professionally known by her stage name Charo, is a Spanish-born actress, singer, comedian, and flamenco guitarist who rose to international prominence in the 1960s on American television, as well ...
— "Eres tú"
* Collage — "Selline sa oled" (Estonian)
*
Daniela Castillo — "Eres tú"
* Dansk top — "Rør Ved Mig" (Danish)
* David and the High Spirits — "Eres tú"
*
Eydie Gormé — "Eres tú"
*
Eydie Gormé — "Touch the Wind" (1973 B-side)
* El Chaval De La Peca — "Eres tú"
*
El Consorcio — "Eres tú"
* El Frenillo de Gaugin — "Eres tú" (punk rock)
* El ser y ser — "Eres tú" (rap)
* Ennio Emmanuel — "Eres tú" (Spanish)
* Estela Raval — "Eres tú" (Argentine Spanish)
* Ex Masters — "San joe taigie mie" (Surinamese)
*
Floyd Cramer
Floyd Cramer (October 27, 1933 – December 31, 1997) was an American pianist who became famous for his use of melodic "whole-step" attacks. He was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His signatur ...
— "Touch the Wind" (English)
* Gé Korsten — "Touch the Wind" (English)
* Gebroeder Brouwer — "Eres tú" (Trumpet instrumental)
* GrupoSarao — "Eres tú"
*
Hella Joof & Peter Frödin — "Rør ved mig" (Danish)
* Howard Morrison Chor — "Eres tú"
* III of a Kind Philippines — "Eres tú"
*
Ilanit — "Eres tú"
*
Il Divo, "Eres tú" (2015).
* Inger Lise Rypdal — "I mitt liv" (Norwegian)
* Inger Öst — "Rör vid mig" (Swedish)
* Jimmy Mitchell — "Eres tú" (Spanish with Texan accent)
*
Johnny Mathis
John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer. Starting his 69-year career with singles of standard (music), standard music, Mathis is one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century and became highly popular as ...
and Juan Carlos Calderón — "Touch the Wind" (English with Spanish chorus)
* Johnny Reimar — "Rør ved mig" (Danish)
* Johnny Rodriguez — "Eres tú"
* Josh Santana — "Eres tú" (Philippines 2009)
* Juan Carlos Calderón — "Eres tú" (composer version)
* Justo Lamas — "Eres tú"
* Karel Gott, Spravny Ton — "Eres tú" (Czech)
* Kathy Kelly — "Eres tú"
* Katri Helena — "Runoni kaunein olla voit" (Finnish)
* Katri Helena — "Sinä vain" (Finnish)
*
The Kelly Family — "Eres tú" on
Honest Workers (1991)
* Khanh Hà — "Cô gái rừng mơ" (Vietnamese)
* Korean Choir — "Eres tú"
* La Academia 4ta Generación — "Eres tú"
*
La Década Prodigiosa — "Eres tú"
* Lady Lu — "Eres tú"
* Landscape — "Touch the Wind" (English)
* Lecia & Lucienne — "Rør ved mig" (Danish)
* Lettermen — "Eres tú"
* Liceo Panamericano — "Eres tú"
* Little Angels of Korea — "Eres tú"
*
Lola Ponce — "Eres tú"
* Luis Chacón — "Eres tú"
*
Luis Miguel
Luis Miguel Gallego Basteri (; born 19 April 1970) is a Mexican singer and record producer. Born in Puerto Rico to an Italian mother and a Spanish father, he is often referred to as Honorific nicknames in popular music, ''El Sol de Mexico'' ...
— "Eres tú" (produced by Calderón)
*
Lupita D'Alessio — "Eres tú"
*
Luz Casal — "Eres tú"
*
Mantovani Orchestra — "Eres tú"
* Mariachi Vargas — "Eres tú"
* Mona — I mitt liv (Norwegian)
*
Nana Mouskouri
Ioanna "Nana" Mouskouri ( ; born 13 October 1934) is a Greek singer and politician. Over the span of her career, she has released an estimated 450 albums in at least thirteen languages, including Greek language, Greek, French language, French, ...
— "Touch the Wind" (English)
* Pandora — "Eres tú"
* Patricia Y Los Stars — "Eres tú"
* Patti Donelli @ USC-Pgh — "Touch the Wind" (English)
*
Percy Faith — "Touch the Wind" (English)
*
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an American singer, actor, and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, from 1943 until 1987 ...
— "Eres tu" (April 29, 1974)
*
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an American singer, actor, and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, from 1943 until 1987 ...
— "That's You" (English)
*
Perpetuum Jazzile — "Brez besed"/"Eres tú" (ironic medley of Eres tu with the song Calderón was accused of copying)
*
Petula Clark
Sally "Petula" Clark (born 15 November 1932) is a British singer, actress, and songwriter. She started her professional career as a child actor, child performer and has had the longest career of any British entertainer, spanning more than 85 y ...
— "Will My Love Be You" (English)
* Pistas — "Eres tú" (Panflute)
*
Ray Conniff
Joseph Raymond Conniff (November 6, 1916 – October 12, 2002) was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s.
Biography
Conniff was born November 6, 1916, in Attleboro, Massachusetts, United S ...
— "Eres tú"
* Reggae Chico Man — "Eres tú"
* Rika Zarai — "C'est pour toi" (French)
* Rina Hugo — "Jy's vir my" (Afrikaans)
* Roberto Delgado — "Eres tú" (Instrumental)
* Rob's Band — "Eres tú"
* Romantica de Xalapa — "Eres tú"
* Sandy Caldera — "Eres tú"
* Self Help Marines — "Eres Tu" — steel band instrumental version*
* Sonny James — "Eres tú"
* Soul Sanet — "Eres tú"
* Stef Meeder — "Tweedle dee", "Eres tú" (instrumental medley)
*
Las Supremas de Móstoles — "Eres tú"
* Sweethearts — "Rør ved mig" (Danish)
* TBC — "Rør ved mig" (Danish Rap)
*
Thalía
Ariadna Thalía Sodi Miranda (; born 26 August 1971), known mononymously as Thalía, is a Mexican singer, songwriter and actress. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Pop", she is considered one of the most ...
— "Tómame o déjame"
* The Mockers — "Eres tú"
* Tish Hinojosa — "Eres tú"
* Trigo Limpio Nueva Era — "Eres tú" (live)
* Volkana — Eurovision medley including "Eres tú"
* Wheeler St James — "Touch the Wind" (English)
* Willeke Alberti — "Waar naartoe" (Dutch)
* Zereno — "Eres tú"
* Verda Sümer & İstanbul Gelişim Orkestrası — "Eski dostlar ne oldu" (Turkish)
In other media
* The theme from the song's chorus, with new English lyrics, was used by Yamaha Music in Australia for its advertisements during the 1970s and 80s.
* A guitar instrumental version of "Eres tú" was used in a
Bank of New Zealand television campaign in the 1990s.
* In the 1995 movie ''
Tommy Boy'', there's a scene in which
Chris Farley
Christopher Crosby Farley (February 15, 1964 – December 18, 1997) was an American actor and comedian. He was a member of Chicago's Second City Theatre and later a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' for fiv ...
and
David Spade sing the original Spanish version of "Eres tú" while presumably returning to Ohio.
* The cast of Dutch series ', about a Spanish hotel run by 1970s expatriates, performed the song as "Er is toe" ("Dessert is Ready").
* In the web series ''
Jake and Amir'', Amir sings this song to Jake after getting back from a trip to Mexico.
Notes
References
Sources and external links
Official Eurovision Song Contest 1973 site.Detailed info and lyrics, "Eres tú".The Diggiloo Thrush
Official Mocedades site*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eres Tu
1973 songs
1973 singles
1974 singles
Eurovision songs of 1973
1973 controversies
Congratulations Eurovision songs
Eurovision songs of Spain
Songs written by Juan Carlos Calderón
Latin Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Philips Records singles
Sony Music singles
Syco Music singles
Columbia Records singles
Mercury Records singles
Songs in Spanish