"" (; translated: "I am the sun-child" or "I'm a child of the sun") was the in the
Eurovision Song Contest 1979
The Eurovision Song Contest 1979 was the 24th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Jerusalem, Israel, following the country's victory at the with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta. Organised by the Euro ...
Anne-Marie David
Anne-Marie David (born 23 May 1952) is a French singer. She has represented both Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest, Luxembourg and France in the Eurovision Song Contest, France at the Eurovision Song Contest, winning in Eurovision Song ...
. David had won Eurovision six years earlier, representing at the 1973 contest with "".
The song was written by Eddy Marnay, and composed by
Hubert Giraud
Hubert Yves Adrian Giraud (3 March 1920 – 16 January 2016) was a French composer and lyricist.
Career
Giraud began his career playing the harmonica with Django Reinhardt's jazz group, the Quintette du Hot Club de France. In 1941, he was recr ...
, both Eurovision veterans; Marnay previously wrote "", a winner of the 1969 contest, as well as "" for the 1970 contest, which placed last; Giraud wrote "", which won the 1958 contest, as well as compose the entries of France in and , Monaco in and , and Luxembourg in .
David also recorded the song in
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
and
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
, as "" and "" respectively.
Composition
The song is a dramatic
chanson
A (, ; , ) is generally any Lyrics, lyric-driven French song. The term is most commonly used in English to refer either to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval music, medieval and Renaissance music or to a specific style of ...
ballad, with David describing a youthful love affair with a stranger. The stranger is welcomed by the narrator's father and given lodging and work. Passion develops between the two: "every burning hot winter our love made the earth tremble", but one day men come for the stranger. "He tried to escape but it was too late, the trap was already closing around him" and he is taken away "with his hands above his head". The song ends with the protagonist calling for her lover's return.
At the Eurovision Song Contest
The song was performed eleventh on the night, following 's Milk and Honey with " Hallelujah" and preceding 's Micha Marah with " Hey Nana". At the close of voting, it had received 106 points, coming third in a field of nineteen.
It was succeeded as French representative at the 1980 contest by Profil with "".
Critical reception
Critics' reviews of the song varied. The Reading Evening Post's Albert Watson wrote the song was "quite beautiful" and a favourite to win the contest. Concurringly,
Der Bund
''Der Bund'' (English: ''The Union'') is a Switzerland, Swiss German-language daily newspaper published in Bern.
Established in 1850 and associated with the cause of Classical liberalism, liberalism, it was among the leading quality newspaper ...
's television critic praised the song for offering the contest a true chanson. In contrast, Russell Kyle of the
Evening Times
The ''Glasgow Times'' is an evening tabloid newspaper published Monday to Saturday in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Called ''The Evening Times'' from 1876, it was rebranded as the ''Glasgow Times'' on 4 December 2019.ommercialfailure", labelling the single "rubbish".