"Tous les garçons et les filles" (English: "All the Boys and Girls") is a song by French singer-songwriter

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 ...

, with Roger Samyn credited as co-writer on Hardy's original 1962

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 ...

-era recording. The song recounts the feelings of a young person who has never known love and her envy of the couples that surround her. Hardy's single, released internationally, was a massive hit in France, where it spent 15 non-consecutive weeks at number one (four separate runs) between late October 1962 and mid-April 1963.

Background

Hardy performed the song in a telecast on the evening of Sunday 28 October 1962 in a musical interlude during the results of the 1962 referendum to allow direct election of the

president of the French Republic The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the pos ...

. The record quickly became a success, selling 500,000 copies by the end of the year. In Italy the Italian version sold 255,000 while French version sold 140,000 copies. Françoise Hardy also recorded the song in English ("Find Me a Boy", 1964), Italian ("Quelli della mia età", 1962; collected in '' Françoise Hardy canta per voi in italiano'', 1963), and German ("Peter und Lou", 1963; collected in '' In Deutschland'', 1965.)

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician and producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the Rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin. Page began his career as a studio session musician in Lo ...

participated in the recording session as a session musician. The song is quoted several times by the main characters in

J.L. Carr Joseph Lloyd Carr (20 May 1912 – 26 February 1994), who called himself "Jim" or "James", was an British literature, English novelist, publisher, teacher and eccentric. Biography Carr was born in Carlton Miniott in the North Riding of Yorksh ...

's 1988 novel '' What Hetty Did''.

Charts

EP track list

SP track listing

Cover versions

The song has been covered by many artists in many languages, including: *

Lill-Babs Barbro Margareta Svensson (9 March 1938 – 3 April 2018), known by her stage name Lill-Babs, was a Swedish singer, actress and television host. From the early 1950s until her death in 2018, she was one of Sweden's best-known and popular singers ...

(in Swedish, "Vart Jag Än Går", 1963) * Sophie Blaede (1962) *

Olivia Chaney Olivia Chaney (born 1982) is an English folk singer, pianist, guitarist, harmonium player and songwriter. Her debut solo album, ''The Longest River'', was released on Nonesuch Records in 2015. Her follow-up solo album, ''Shelter'', was released ...

(in French, ''Six French Songs'', EP, 2023) *

Ginette Reno Ginette Reno (born Ginette Raynault; 28 April 1946) is a Canadian people, Canadian singer, songwriter and actress. She has received nominations for the Genie Award, Genie and Gemini Awards and is a multi-recipient of the Juno Award. She is a ...

(1962) *

Catherine Spaak Catherine Spaak (3 April 1945 – 17 April 2022) was a French-Italian actress, singer, model, and media personality. A member of the Spaak family, she was known as an iconic "It girl" in Italy during the 1960s, becoming a star of commedia all'i ...

(1962) * Aimable (on the

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

, 1963) *

Steve Perry Stephen Ray Perry (born January 22, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and frontman of the rock band Journey during their most successful years from 1977 to 1987, and again from 1995 to 1998. He wrote/co-wrote ...

(in English, "Find Me a Girl", 1963) * Eny Mara (in Portuguese, "A Idade Do Amor", 1964) *

Maurice Chevalier Maurice Auguste Chevalier (; 12 September 1888 – 1 January 1972) was a French singer, actor, and entertainer. He is best known for his signature songs, including " Livin' In The Sunlight", " Valentine", " Louise", " Mimi", and " Thank Heaven f ...

(as "Mes Chers Zazas", with new lyrics by Edmond Meunier, 1965) * Dulce Salles Cunha Braga (1965) * Mia Frye (in English, "All the Girls and Boys", 1984) *

Eurythmics Eurythmics were a British New wave music, new wave duo formed in 1980, consisting of Scottish vocalist Annie Lennox and English musician and producer Dave Stewart (Eurythmics), Dave Stewart. They were both previously in the Tourists, a band t ...

(bonus track on the album '' Be Yourself Tonight'' and, in some countries, B-side of the single "It's Alright - (Baby's Coming Back)"); sung in French by

Annie Lennox Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician Dave Stewart w ...

* The Paquitas (accompanists of

Xuxa Maria da Graça Xuxa Meneghel ( , ; born Maria da Graça Meneghel on 27 March 1963) is a Brazilian TV host, actress, singer, and businesswoman. Nicknamed "The Queen of Children", Xuxa built the largest Latin and South American children's ente ...

) (in Portuguese, "Alguem para amar", 1991) * Janusz Laskowski (in Polish, "Och jak bardzo cię kocham", album ''Nigdy nie byłem w Casablance'', 1994) *

Laurent Voulzy Lucien Voulzy (, born 18 December 1948), better known as Laurent Voulzy (), is a French singer-songwriter, composer, and musician. Life and career Voulzy was born in Paris, France. He originally led the English-pop-influenced Le Temple de Vénu ...

and

Carla Bruni Carla Bruni-Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (born Carla Gilberta Bruni Tedeschi; ; 23 December 1967) is an Italian and French singer, songwriter and fashion model who served as the List of spouses or partners of the president of France, first lady of Fran ...

singing with the Enfoirés (album ''Les Enfoirés à l'Opéra comique'', 1995) *

Marie Myriam Marie Myriam (born Myriam Lopes, 8 May 1957, Luluabourg, Belgian Congo, (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) is a French singer. Career Representing France, she won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1977 with '' L'oiseau et l'enfant'' ("The ...

(1996) *

Gigliola Cinquetti Gigliola Cinquetti (; born Giliola Cinquetti on 20 December 1947) is an Italian singer, songwriter and television presenter. Life and career Gigliola Cinquetti was born into a wealthy family in Verona, Italy. At the age of 16, she debuted at ...

("Quelli della mia età", 1999) * Saint Etienne ("Find Me a Boy", album '' The Misadventures of Saint Etienne'', music for the film ''Les Folies de Margaret (The Misadventures of Margaret)'', released in Japan in 1999) *

The Dresden Dolls The Dresden Dolls is an American musical duo from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 2000, the group consists of Amanda Palmer (lead vocals and piano; additional: keyboards, harmonica, ukulele) and Brian Viglione (drums and backing vocals; add ...

* Thanh Lan in French and Vietnamese * Zona Zul (album ''Beira'', 2006) *

Cœur de pirate Béatrice Mireille Martin (; born 22 September 1989), better known by her stage name Cœur de pirate (; French for ''Pirate's Heart''), is a Canadian singer-songwriter and pianist. A francophone from Montreal, she sings mostly in French and has ...

* Elastic No-No Band (2007 live recording, released in 2012 compilation ''Not Like Most Folkies, Part 2: Early Covers'') * Raymond & Maria - released in single ''Ingen vill veta var du köpt din tröja'' * Pomme (Live for Sourdoreille in 2019)

Movie soundtracks

"Tous les garçons et les filles"

* '' Metroland'',

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, 1997 **CD, '' Metroland'',

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

, 1998 (UK). * '' The Dreamers (Innocents: The Dreamers)'', France, Italy, United Kingdom, 2003 ** CD, '' The Dreamers'',

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

(9812084), 2003 (UK) * '' The Statement (Crime contre l’humanité)'', Canada, France, United Kingdom, 2003 * ''Se devo essere sincera'', Italy, 2004 * '' Attenberg'', Greece, 2011

"Find Me a Boy"

* '' The Misadventures of Margaret'', United Kingdom, 1998 ** Performed by Françoise Hardy and performed by Saint EtienneCD, '' The Misadventures of Saint Etienne'', released only in Japan, 1999, it served as the soundtrack -All These Sleepless Nights-

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tous Les Garcons et les filles (song) Françoise Hardy songs Eurythmics songs Cœur de pirate songs 1962 singles 1985 singles 1962 songs Songs written by Françoise Hardy Disques Vogue singles Music videos shot in France