"" (; "A Day, a Child") is a song recorded by French singer
Frida Boccara, with music composed by
Emil Stern and lyrics by
Eddy Marnay. It in the
Eurovision Song Contest 1969 held in
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, and became one of the four winning songs.
Boccara recorded the song in five languages: French, English, German, Spanish, and Italian.
Background
Conception
"" was written by composer
Emil Stern and lyricist
Eddy Marnay. The song is a classical
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...
, describing the wonders of the world as seen by a child.
Boccara recorded the song in five languages: French, English –as "Through the Eyes of a Child"–, German –"Es schlägt ein Herz für dich", translated: "A Heart Beats for You"–, Spanish –"Un día, un niño", translated: "A Day, a Child"–, and Italian –"Canzone di un amore perduto", translated: "Song of a Lost Love"–.
Eurovision
The (ORTF) internally selected 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 ...
.
On 29 March 1969, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at the
Teatro Real in Madrid hosted by (TVE), and broadcast live throughout the continent. Boccara performed "" fourteenth on the night, following 's "
Primaballerina" by
Siw Malmkvist and preceding 's "
Desfolhada portuguesa" by
Simone de Oliveira.
Franck Pourcel conducted the live orchestra in the performance of the French entry.
At the close of voting, the song had received 18 points, the same number of points as 's "" by
Salomé, the 's "
Boom Bang-a-Bang" by
Lulu
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* LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer
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* Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a C ...
, and the 's "
De troubadour" by
Lenny Kuhr. As there was no tiebreaker rule in place at the time, all four countries were declared joint winners.
The song was succeeded as (joint) contest winner in by 's "
All Kinds of Everything" by
Dana. It was succeeded as French representative that year by "
Marie-Blanche" by
Guy Bonnet.
Aftermath
"" was included in Boccara's first studio album of the same name. Boccara performed her song in the Eurovision twenty-fifth anniversary show ''
Songs of Europe'' held on 22 August 1981 in
Mysen.
Chart history
Weekly charts
Legacy
Cover versions
*
ABBA
ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...
's
Agnetha Fältskog covered the song in
Swedish on her 1970 solo album ''
Som jag är'', under the title "Sov gott, min lilla vän" (translated: "Sleep Well, My Little Friend").
* An instrumental version of the song by
Paul Mauriat was used as a theme for the Philippine television drama anthology ''
Lovingly Yours, Helen'' in 1981.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jour, un enfant
Eurovision songs of France
Eurovision songs of 1969
Songs in French
Songs written by Eddy Marnay
Eurovision Song Contest-winning songs
Philips Records singles
1969 songs