Amoureuse

{{Short description|1972 single by Véronique Sanson}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}} {{Infobox song | name = Amoureuse | cover = Amoureuse.jpg | alt = cover art | type = single | artist = Véronique Sanson | album = Amoureuse | B-side = 'Mariavah' | released = March 1972 | recorded = | studio = | venue = | genre = | length = 3:39 | label = Elektra / Warner Music Group | writer = Véronique Sanson | producer = Michel Berger | prev_title = 'Le printemps est là' | prev_year = 1969 | next_title = Besoin de personne | next_year = 1972 }}

{{Infobox song | name = Amoureuse | image = Amoureuse kiki dee New Zealand vinyl.png | alt = side-A label | caption = New Zealand single of the Kiki Dee recording | type = single | artist = Kiki Dee | album = Loving and Free | B-side = 'Rest My Head' | released = 31 August 1973 | recorded = | studio = | venue = | genre = Easy listening | length = 4:09 (album version) | label = The Rocket Record Company | writer = *Véronique Sanson *Gary Osborne | producer = Elton John, Clive Franks | prev_title = Lonnie and Josie | prev_year = 1973 | next_title = Hard Luck Story | next_year = 1974 | misc = {{External music video|header=Live music video|{{YouTube|k0RJFG6nTT4|"Amoureuse": on ''Top Pop''}}}} }}

"'''Amoureuse'''" is a French language composition by Véronique Sanson introduced on her 1972 album of the same name.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.veronique-sanson.net/discographie/discographie.html |title=Track listing of the original album on Véronique Sanson's official website|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212032855/http://veronique-sanson.net/discographie/discographie.html|archivedate=12 December 2013}}</ref> Rendered in English the song became a hit single for Kiki Dee and – as '''"Emotion"''' – for Helen Reddy.

==Background and first recordings== The original song title "Amoureuse" – which does not feature in its lyrics – is the French equivalent of the English adjective ''amorous'' and is also a feminine noun meaning "woman in love", ''lover''. Sanson's lyric describes the contradictory feelings of passion and fear of a woman involved in a new love affair. Sanson was inspired to write the song while driving "up the Champs-Élysées in my little Autobianchi A112" at six a.m.: "It was a feeling of freedom... I was constantly monitored... and I wrote this song because I knew I was going to get yelled at by my parents [upon arriving home]."<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.lejdd.fr/Culture/Musique/Actualite/Interview-de-Veronique-Sanson-sur-la-reedition-d-Amoureuse-510485| title=Véronique Sanson - "J'ai laissé tomber mon orgueil"| work=lejdd.fr| accessdate=19 October 2013| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020114049/http://www.lejdd.fr/Culture/Musique/Actualite/Interview-de-Veronique-Sanson-sur-la-reedition-d-Amoureuse-510485| archivedate=20 October 2013}}</ref> "Amoureuse" had its first major impact out of France via a cover version for the Quebec market by France Castel (fr) which reached #1 on the French-language chart for Canada in December 1972: the track was featured on Castel's 1973 album release ''Je le vois dans ma soupe''.

The earliest English rendering of the song was by lyricist Gary Osborne, who from the age of 15 had written English lyrics for a number of French-language songs beginning with "Adiós Amor" in 1967.<ref>{{cite book| first=David| last=Buckley| title=Elton: the biography| publisher=Chicago Review Press| location=Chicago| year=2009| page=167| isbn=978-1556527944}}</ref> While faithfully rendering Sanson's lyrics in the chorus, Osborne in the verses introduced the concept of an initial sexual encounter into the song. The first evident recording of this version was by Sanson herself with UK and US single releases in respectively September 1972 and November 1972.<ref name="Foreign discography on Véronique Sanson's official website">{{cite web| url=http://www.veronique-sanson.net/discographie/internationale.html| title=Foreign discography on Véronique Sanson's official website| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140525232503/http://veronique-sanson.net/discographie/internationale.html| archivedate=25 May 2014}}</ref>

The Sanson/Osborne version of "Amoureuse" was then recorded in April 1973 by Kiki Dee who credits Tony King, vice president of Rocket Records, with suggesting that she record "Amoureuse"<ref>{{cite interview |last=Dee |first=Kiki |subject-link=Kiki Dee |title=Kiki Dee Interview |work=Graham Rogers |publisher=BBC Wiltshire |date=22 September 2013 }}</ref> for her album ''Loving and Free'' produced by Elton John: issued as a single 31 August 1973, Dee's "Amoureuse" made a belated chart entry in November 1973 to rise to a UK chart peak of #13 that December,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=12818 |title=Osborne credited |publisher=Songfacts.com |date= |accessdate=7 June 2012|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016012217/http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=12818|archivedate=16 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/artist/Gary+Osborne |title=Osborne on Discogs |publisher=Discogs.com |accessdate=7 June 2012 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130820121836/http://www.discogs.com/artist/Gary%2BOsborne |archivedate=20 August 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Chartstats">{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artists/|title=The Official Charts Company|website=Official Charts |accessdate=2 February 2010}}</ref> besting an attempted cover version by Polly Brown issued 21 September 1973.

Almost a year after her UK success with "Amoureuse", the track would afford Dee a chart hit in Australia with a #12 peak in the autumn of 1974. In the US, "Amoureuse" served as the B-side for the February 1975 Kiki Dee Band release "Step by Step", the non-charting follow-up single to "I've Got the Music in Me".

"Amoureuse" was re-issued in the UK as the B-side of the 1976 Kiki Dee single "Loving & Free": the single became a double-sided hit reaching #13 on the UK chart and #4 in Ireland. A 1984 reissue of Dee's "Amoureuse" reached #77 on the UK chart.<ref name="Chartstats"/>

=="Emotion" - Patti Dahlstrom version also recorded by Helen Reddy== {{Infobox song | name = Emotion | image = Emotion Helen Reddy Canadian single.webp | alt = side-A label | caption = Canadian single of the Helen Reddy recording | type = single | artist = Helen Reddy | album = Free and Easy | B-side = I've Been Wanting You So Long | released = January 1975 | recorded = | studio = | venue = | genre = Easy listening | length = 2:54 | label = Capitol | writer = *Véronique Sanson *Patti Dahlstrom | producer = Joe Wissert | prev_title = Angie Baby | prev_year = 1974 | next_title = Bluebird | next_year = 1975 }}

Artie Wayne, an exec with the Warner Music Group whose Elektra label handled Sanson's U.S. releases, sent a copy of Sanson's ''Amoureuse'' album to his friend Texas singer/songwriter Patti Dahlstrom suggesting Dahlstrom put English lyrics to the title cut. Dahlstrom would recall: "I was mesmerised by the music to 'Amoureuse', but I don’t speak French and had no idea what the lyrics meant. I carried the melody in my head for weeks and then one day the first line – 'Lonely women are the desperate kind' – just fell out as my key turned in the lock, and the lyric to 'Emotion' wrote itself very quickly."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pattidahlstrom.com/biography.htm |title=Patti Dahlstrom |publisher=Patti Dahlstrom |date= |accessdate=9 January 2012|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110020344/http://pattidahlstrom.com/biography.htm|archivedate=10 November 2013}}</ref>

Dahlstrom's English rendering of "Amoureuse" was introduced on the singer's own album ''The Way I Am'' which was recorded in August 1973: the track re-entitled Sanson's composition as "Emotion", that word being prominently featured in Dahlstrom's lyrics which expressed the viewpoint of a woman whose relationship with an inconsiderate lover is redeemed by the passion of their periodic trysts.<ref name="Artie Wayne"> {{cite web|url=http://artiewayne.wordpress.com/2006/10/29/play-me-something-bubblegummy-chewy-chewy-yummy-yummy-yummy/ | title=Artie Wayne|accessdate=2 February 2010|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113070744/http://artiewayne.wordpress.com/2006/10/29/play-me-something-bubblegummy-chewy-chewy-yummy-yummy-yummy/|archivedate=13 November 2012| date=29 October 2006}}</ref> "Emotion" was issued as a single off ''The Way I Am'' in October 1973 but did not chart.

Patti Dahlstrom was also a friend of Paul Williams whose own compositions were regularly recorded by Helen Reddy, and Reddy recorded "Emotion" for inclusion on her 1974 ''Free and Easy'' album from which an abridged edit was issued as a single in January 1975 to peak at #22, Reddy's first Top Twenty shortfall since before "I Am Woman" in 1972. "Emotion" did reach #1 on the Easy Listening chart, the sixth of Reddy's eight Easy Listening #1's and her last consecutive.<ref name="Artie Wayne"/>

In 2009, Véronique Sanson stated in an interview to the French magazine ''Platine'' that Dahlstrom's version remains her favorite version of "Amoureuse",<ref>[https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GqqJ4j7q6bc/SZR6F5-4iSI/AAAAAAAAAkU/H6Xv-UoQzgI/s1600-h/VSPlatine5.jpg VSPlatine5.jpg (image)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213043402/http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GqqJ4j7q6bc/SZR6F5-4iSI/AAAAAAAAAkU/H6Xv-UoQzgI/s1600-h/VSPlatine5.jpg |date=13 December 2013 }}</ref> although Dahlstrom's "Emotion" is lyrically distinct from the Osborne translation.<ref>Asked "Y a-t-il eu deux textes anglais?" Sanson responds: "Non, c'est juste qu'Helen Reddy a préféré prendre en titre un mot anglais du texte que garder 'Amoureuse' qui n'était pas un mot anglais. Cependant, je suis certaine que le texte était le même."</ref>

==Other versions== {{sources|section|date=March 2021}} With its original French lyrics "Amoureuse" has also been recorded by many singers in France, Belgium and Québec, including Hart-Rouge (album ''La fabrique'' / 1994), Lucid Beausonge (fr) (album ''Ils chantent Véronique Sanson'' / 1996), Réjane Perry (fr) (album ''Atlas, Les plus belles chansons françaises, 1972'' / 1996), Les Enfoirés (Jean-Louis Aubert, Hélène Ségara, Natasha St-Pier, Christophe Willem) (album ''Les Enfoirés font leur cinéma'' / 2009), Lara Fabian (album ''Toutes les femmes en moi'' / 2009), and Caroline Néron (album ''Le destin'' /2010).

Olivia Newton-John recorded "Amoureuse" with the Gary Osborne-penned lyrics for her 1973 album ''Music Makes My Day'' and would remake the song as a duet with Elaine Paige for Paige's 2010 duets album ''Elaine Paige and Friends''. In 1998 Barbara Dex reached #10 on the Ultratip chart with her version of ''Amoureuse'' with Osborne's lyrics: the track was also included on Dex's album ''Strong''. "Amoureuse" with Osborne's lyrics has also been recorded by Linda Martin (album ''You Needed Me''/ 1998)<ref>{{Discogs release|9304786|Linda Martin – You Needed Me|type=album}}</ref> and Deborah Sasson (album ''Romance''/ 1984),<ref>{{Discogs release|3710598|Deborah Sasson – Romance|type=album}}</ref> among others.

Shirley Bassey recorded "Emotion" for her 1975 album Good, Bad but Beautiful.

Véronique Sanson recorded "Amoureuse" with German lyrics by Michael Kunze (released b/w "Regen am Morgen (Besoin de Personne)"), and also recorded a Spanish version entitled "Enamorada".<ref name="Foreign discography on Véronique Sanson's official website" /> The German-language rendering of "Amoureuse" with lyrics by Michael Kunze was also recorded by Katja Ebstein, appearing on her 1977 album ''Liebe'' under the title "Für einen Tag mit dir".

Daniela Davoli had a 1978 single release of an Italian rendering of "Amoureuse" entitled "Diverso amore mio" ("Other than my love"), written by lyricist Cristiano Magioglio, which was that same year recorded by Véronique Sanson (single "Povero maledetto" (Le maudit) / "Diverso amore mio" (Amoureuse)).<ref name="Foreign discography on Véronique Sanson's official website" />

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{in lang|fr}} [http://www.veronique-sanson.net/chansons/amoureuses.html Véronique Sanson's official website : Covers of "Amoureuse"] * {{in lang|fr}} [http://www.veronique-sanson.net/chansons/versions_etrangeres.html Véronique Sanson's official website : "Amoureuse" lyrics in all languages] * {{in lang|fr}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20140525232503/http://veronique-sanson.net/discographie/internationale.html Véronique Sanson's official website : Foreign discography] * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MKDcsk_Ab4 Sanson performing the French language original in 1972] * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MckMXLNKODc Kiki Dee's version in English on Top of the Pops, 1973 given a country music twist] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110719185324/http://www.kikidee.info/l_amoureus.html Comparison of the lyrics in original French and the Osbourne English versions]

Category:1972 singles Category:1973 singles Category:1975 singles Category:Helen Reddy songs Category:Kiki Dee songs Category:Capitol Records singles Category:Elektra Records singles Category:The Rocket Record Company singles Category:Warner Music Group singles Category:Songs with lyrics by Gary Osborne Category:Song recordings produced by Joe Wissert Category:1972 songs Category:Pop ballads