Amoureuse

I love the word amoureuse. It speaks to me of sensuality and beauty, of fragrant night air and the arousing touch of lovers.

It's a word that also serves as the title for a song recorded in 1973 by Kiki Dee. It's a song that I consider one of the most beautiful ever recorded.

. . . Daylight comes as we both know it must.
Soon my fantasies will turn to dust.
But I would give him anything he asked,
if my first love could be my last.

I should have told him
I'd do anything if I could hold him
for just another day.
His love is something I would not regret.
When I am far away
I feel the rainfall of another planet.

Notes Wikipedia:

"Amoureuse" is the title of a French language composition by Véronique Sanson introduced on her 1972 album of the same name. . . . The English rendering of the song by Gary Osborne, which is faithful to the French original, was recorded by Sanson herself and issued as a single in the U.S. in January 1973. The Sanson/Osborne version of "Amoureuse" was covered later that year by two British vocalists: Polly Brown and Kiki Dee, with Dee's version becoming a UK hit peaking at #13 in December 1973.

Almost a year after its UK success "Amoureuse" afforded Dee a Top 20 hit in Australia reaching #12 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 followup 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 and 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.

Another English language version of the song – entitled "Emotion" – was a hit for Helen Reddy in 1975. To listen to "Emotion" by Helen Reddy, click here.


See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Two from Helen
Remembering Dusty
Pet Sounds
Ever Faithfull
Time of the Tigress
Judith Durham's Magical Moment
Rockin' with Wanda
"I've Been Changed, Yes, Really Changed . . ."
Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson
Dionne Warwick: "Being Human is What It's All About"
Buffy Sainte-Marie: Singing It and Praying It; Living It and Saying It
Wendy Matthews
Scaling the Heights
"The Wonder You Bring . . ."

Opening image: "And the Kiss" by Joseph Radoccia.