"L'amour s'en va" (; "Love goes away") is a song composed, written, and performed by French singer-songwriter and actress

Françoise Hardy Françoise Madeleine Hardy (; 17 January 1944 – 11 June 2024) was a French singer-songwriter, actress, and author. She was known for singing melancholic, sentimental ballads. Hardy rose to prominence in the early 1960s as a leading figure in F ...

. It in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1963 The Eurovision Song Contest 1963 was the eighth edition of the Eurovision Song Contest and took place in London, United Kingdom. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster BBC, British Broadcasting Corporation ...

, she recorded it in other languages, gained chart success in Belgium, won France's prestigious award

Grand Prix du Disque Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation), ...

, and over time it has become one of Hardy's signature songs.

Background

Conception

had had her breakthrough as an 18-year-old in late 1962 with the

yé-yé ''Yé-yé'' () or ''yeyé'' () was a style of pop music that emerged in Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe in the early 1960s. The French term ''yé-yé'' was derived from the English "yeah! yeah!", popularized by British beat music ban ...

hit "

Tous les garçons et les filles "Tous les garçons et les filles" (English: "All the Boys and Girls") is a song by French singer-songwriter Françoise Hardy, with Roger Samyn credited as co-writer on Hardy's original 1962 yé-yé-era recording. The song recounts the feelings ...

" and she would go on to become one of the

Francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

world's most successful and popular artists of the 1960s – as well as an influential

fashion icon A fashion icon or fashion leader is a influential person who introduces new styles which spread throughout fashion culture and become part of fashion. They initiate a new style which others may follow. They may be famous personalities such as ...

. She wrote and composed the song "L'amour s'en va". This is a slow-paced ''

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 ...

'', a style popular in France and Europe in the 1960s. Under the song's title which means "love goes away", Hardy sings about a relationship which is conducted in the knowledge that love is a fleeting thing – however this does not seem to matter to either of the lovers involved, as they "chase after it". In addition to the French language original version, she recorded an Italian version as "L'amore va", with lyrics by

Vito Pallavicini Vito Pallavicini (22 April 1924 – 16 August 2007) was an Italian lyricist. Biography Born in Vigevano, Pallavicini started his career as a journalist, founding in 1950 the local weekly magazine ''L'informatore vigevanese''.Giannelli, Enzo. ...

, and a German version as "Die Liebe geht", with lyrics by

Ernst Bader Ernst Bader (7 June 1914 – 10 August 1999) was a German actor, composer and songwriter (lyricist) best known for his hit recordings " Tulips from Amsterdam" and "Milord". In 2021, " Bongo Cha Cha Cha", a song he co-wrote for Caterina Valent ...

Eurovision

(TMC) internally selected "L'amour s'en va" 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 ...

. On 23 March 1963, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at the

BBC Television Centre Television Centre (TVC), formerly known as BBC Television Centre, is a building complex in White City, London, White City, West London, which was the headquarters of BBC Television from 1960 to 2013, when BBC Television moved to Broadcasting H ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

hosted by the

British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public broadcasting, public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved in ...

(BBC) and broadcast live throughout the continent. Hardy performed "L'amour s'en va" fifteenth on the evening, following 's " Waarom?" by

Jacques Raymond Jacques Raymond (born Jozef Remon on 13 October 1938) is a Belgian singer. He represented Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1963 with the Dutch song " Waarom?". In the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest, he teamed up with Lily Castel to sing ...

and preceding 's "

À force de prier À, à ( a-grave) is a letter of the Catalan, Emilian-Romagnol, French, Italian, Maltese, Occitan, Portuguese, Sardinian, Scottish Gaelic, Vietnamese, and Welsh languages consisting of the letter A of the ISO basic Latin alphabet and a grav ...

" by

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, ...

Raymond Lefèvre Raymond Lefèvre (20 November 1929 – 27 June 2008) was a French easy listening orchestra leader, arranger and composer. Biography and career Born on 20 November 1929 in Calais, France, Raymond Lefèvre is best known for his interpretation o ...

conducted the event's live orchestra in the performance of the Monegasque entry. At the close of voting, the song had received 25 points, placing fifth in a field of sixteen. It was succeeded as Monegasque entry at the by " Où sont-elles passées" by

Romuald Romuald (; 951 – traditionally 19 June, c. 1025/27 AD) was the founder of the Camaldolese order and a major figure in the eleventh-century "Renaissance of hermit, eremitical asceticism".John Howe, "The Awesome Hermit: The Symbolic Signifi ...

Aftermath

The song is included in a compilation album of French-language Eurovision Song Contest entries, titled "Eurovision: Les plus belles chansons françaises", released in 2000.

Charts

"L'amour s'en va" entered Belgium's two main charts in 1963, the official French-Belgian on 1 April until 1 September spanning twenty-four weeks, and the official Flemish-Belgian on 1 June 1963 where it spanned four weeks. The song was also a big hit in Sweden being number 1 at the best selling chart of the music paper "Show Business", number 1 at ''

Tio i Topp ''Tio i Topp'' ( English: ''Ten at the Top'') was a Swedish record chart and radio program broadcast by Sveriges Radio P3 between the years of 1961 and 1974. It was launched to combat pirate radio charts and was the first official Swedish record c ...

'' and peaked at number 2 on the best selling chart Kvällstoppen.

Weekly charts

References

External links

*
Radio France Internationale, biography Françoise Hardy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amour Sen Va Françoise Hardy songs Eurovision songs of Monaco Eurovision songs of 1963 1963 songs Disques Vogue singles 1963 singles Songs written by Françoise Hardy Number-one singles in Sweden