Ella, elle l'a
| Ella, elle l'a | |
|---|---|
| France Gall | |
| publication | August 24, 1987 |
| length | 4:51 |
| Genre (s) | pop |
| Author (s) | Michel Berger |
| Award (s) | Golden Lion from Radio Luxembourg |
| album | Babacar |
Ella, elle l'a ("Ella, she has it") is a song by the French singer France Gall from 1987. It was written by her husband at the time, the composer and singer Michel Berger .
History of origin
Ella, elle l' a pays homage to the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald , who made her first appearance on November 21, 1934 in the famous Apollo Theater at the Wednesday Amateur Shows and became one of the most famous representatives of jazz. Ella Fitzgerald was still alive when France Gall's song became a hit.
The French text does not give the listener any concrete information about Ella Fitzgerald, but leaves it at vague hints. The title line of the text contains a play on words , because "elle l'a" is also pronounced like "Ella". This creates the impression that the name is repeated twice in the title, and “she has it” becomes a synonym for Ella Fitzgerald. Not even the surname is mentioned in the lyrics , the reference to the history of the black people ("l'histoire du peuple noir") is the most concrete. The pop song in the medium tempo praises the charisma of the jazz singer , but otherwise does not go beyond listing Fitzgerald's attributes. So it is said: Ella, she has it, that certain something that the others don't have, that puts us in a strange state ... She has that tiny extra soul, this indescribable charm, this little fire (“Ella, elle l'a / ce je-n'sais-quoi / que d'autres n'ont pas / qui nous met dans un drôle d'état… Elle a ce tout petit supplément d'âme, cet indéfinissable charme, cette petite flamme “). There are also largely no jazzy hints in the instrumentation; In the coda , brass sections are used unobtrusively.
The song was part of a recording session for the LP Babacar , which took place in the Lark Recording Studios of Carimate ( Como province ) and at Studio Gang , Paris , until March 1987.
Publication and Success
The single Ella, elle l'a / Dancing brave (Apache 248 287-7) was decoupled from the LP Babacar, which was released on April 3, 1987, and was released on August 24, 1987. It was also released as a 12 ″ maxi single with identical content (Apache 248 287-0). The album sold over a million copies in France alone. The single reached number one in the German charts for four weeks and won a gold record for more than 500,000 copies sold. For number-one hit , she was also in Austria , in France, the song reached number two and was awarded the Silver Record, in Switzerland fifth and Sweden fourth.
Ella, elle l'a was awarded the Golden Lion by Radio Luxembourg in 1988 .
Cover versions
The most successful cover version comes from the Belgian Kate Ryan (May 2008), who received gold for this in Sweden and eight times platinum in Spain. This version came up to number 2 in the Netherlands and Sweden , in Germany this cover version was able to position itself to position 10. The song appeared on the album Free . There are other versions by Hélène Ségara (March 2011) and Jenifer Bartoli (June 2013). In the song Brillis by the German singer Shirin David , released in August 2019, the melody of Ella elle l'a is used.