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"Un banc, un arbre, une rue" (French pronunciation: [œ̃ bɑ̃ œ̃n‿aʁbʁ yn ʁy]; "A Bench, a Tree, a Street") is a song recorded by French singer Séverine, with music composed by Jean-Pierre Bourtayre and French lyrics written by Yves Dessca [fr]. It represented Monaco in the Eurovision Song Contest 1971 held in Dublin, resulting in the country's only ever win in the contest.

Background

Conception

"Un banc, un arbre, une rue" was composed by Jean-Pierre Bourtayre with French lyrics by Yves Dessca [fr]. It is a classic French ballad, with the lyric focusing on the loss of childhood innocence, and people following their dreams. The opening lines to the chorus translate as "we all have a bench, a tree, a street / Where we cherished our dreams / a childhood that has been too short". Séverine recorded the song in four languages; French, English –as "Chance in Time"–, German –"Mach' die Augen zu (und wünsch dir einen Traum)"–, and Italian –"Il posto"–.[1]

Eurovision

Télé Monte-Carlo (TMC) internally selected "Un banc, un arbre, une rue" as its entry for the 16th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest.[2]

A promo video was release where Séverine sings the song in the empty square of Monte Carlo, first walking to a bench, then sitting down while performing the middle verses, and then ending the song by walking away out of camera focus.[3]

On 3 April 1971, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin hosted by Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), and broadcast live throughout the continent. Séverine performed "Un banc, un arbre, une rue" third on the evening accompanied by four teenage male backing singers, following Malta's "Marija l-Maltija" by Joe Grech and preceding Switzerland's "Les Illusions de nos vingt ans" by Peter, Sue & Marc. Jean-Claude Petit conducted the event's live orchestra in the performance of the Monegasque entry.[4]

By the close of voting, it had received 128 points, placing it first in a field of eighteen, and winning the contest. It received the then maximum score of 10 points from six voting nations. This song holds the record of receiving the most 10 point scores from this voting era.[5] It was succeeded as contest winner in 1972 by "Après toi" by Vicky Leandros for Luxembourg. It was succeeded as the Monegasque representative that year by "Comme on s'aime" by Peter McLane and Anne-Marie Godart.

Aftermath

Séverine performed her song in the Eurovision twenty-fifth anniversary show Songs of Europe held on 22 August 1981 in Mysen.[6]

Chart performance

Despite the existence of an English version, however, it was the original French version which reached the UK Top 10, a rare non-Anglophone hit in that market.

Weekly charts

Chart (1971) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[7] 3
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[8] 1
France (IFOP)[9] 4
Germany (Media Control) 23
Ireland (IRMA)[10] 3
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[11] 15
Norway (VG-lista)[12] 2
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[13] 5
UK Singles (OCC)[14] 9

Legacy

Paul Mauriat released an instrumental version of the song on his 1971 LP of the same title. His version was adapted in 1973 by Television Broadcasts Limited as the theme tune for their Miss Hong Kong Pageant, and has since then been familiar to generations of Hong Kong residents.[15] Also in 1971, Finnish singer Carola Standertskjöld recorded her version in Finnish, "Penkki, puu ja puistotie", Siw Malmkvist recorded a Swedish version, "På en gammal bänk" ("On an old bench"), Kirsti Sparboe recorded it in Norwegian as "På en gammel benk" (On an old bench) and Heli Lääts and Liilia Vahtramäe recorded an Estonian version "Tänav, pink ja puu" ("A Street, a Bench and a Tree").

References

  1. ^ ""Un banc, un arbre, une rue" lyrics and detailed info". The Diggiloo Thrush.
  2. ^ "National Selections: 1971". Eurovisionworld.
  3. ^ "Severine - Un Banc, Un Arbre, Une Rue (Videoclip)". YouTube. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  4. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 1971". Eurovision Song Contest. 3 April 1971. RTÉ / EBU.
  5. ^ "Official Eurovision Song Contest 1971 scoreboard". Eurovision Song Contest.
  6. ^ "Songs of Europe". Eurovision Song Contest. 22 August 1981. NRK / EBU.
  7. ^ "Séverine – Un banc, un arbre, une rue" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  8. ^ "Séverine – Un banc, un arbre, une rue" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  9. ^ "InfoDisc : Tout les Titres par Artiste - S". Infodisc. Select "Severine" from the artist drop down menu and click OK
  10. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Un banc, un arbre, une rue". Irish Singles Chart.
  11. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Severine" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  12. ^ "Séverine – Un banc, un arbre, une rue". VG-lista.
  13. ^ "Séverine – Un banc, un arbre, une rue". Swiss Singles Chart.
  14. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  15. ^ Eurovision Song Contest 1970-79 Archived 2007-10-13 at the Wayback Machine

External links

Preceded by Eurovision Song Contest winners
1971 		Succeeded by
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