"Dominique" is a 1963French language popular song, written and performed by the Belgian female singer Jeannine Deckers, better known as Sœur Sourire or The Singing Nun. The song is about Saint Dominic, a Spanish-born priest and founder of the Dominican Order, of which she was a member. The English-version lyrics of the song were written by Noël Regney. In addition to French and English, Deckers recorded versions in Dutch, German, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean and Portuguese. It was a top selling record in 11 countries in late 1963 and early 1964.
Commercial performance
"Dominique" reached the Top 10 in 11 countries in late 1963 and early 1964, topping the chart in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It reached the Top 5 in Norway, Denmark, Ireland and South Africa, with the song making it into the lower reaches of the Top 10 in the Netherlands, West Germany, and the United Kingdom. The song reached and stayed at No. 1 on Top 40 radio station WABC in New York City for the four weeks of 19 November through 10 December. On WLSChicago, the song was No. 1 for the three weeks 15–29 November 1963. On both the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and "Easy Listening chart", "Dominique" was No. 1 for the four weeks 7–28 December 1963. The song won the Grammy Award for Best Gospel or Other Religious Recording in 1964. It was also a nominee for Grammy Award for Record of the Year, and Sœur Sourire was a nominee for Best Female Vocal Performance. It was the second foreign language song to hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 1963, the first being "Sukiyaki" by Kyu Sakamoto. For the next ten years or so, although there were a number of hits with most of the vocals in a language other than English, no other purely foreign language song reached the Billboard Hot 100's top 40 until the Spanish language hit "Eres tú " in 1974. "Dominique" outsold Elvis Presley during its stay on the Billboard Hot 100; it was the second to last No. 1 hit before the British Invasion.
The song
"Dominique" became a worldwide hit in 1963 and was the first, and only, Belgian number-one hit single in the American Billboard charts. It is remembered chiefly for its refrain, which goes: A literal English translation is: The lyrics of the chorus of Regney's English-language translation are:
Chart history
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Chart
Rank
South Africa
5
US Cash Box
11
All-time charts
Cover versions
Mary Ford recorded an English-language version that was released in November 1963 by Calendar Records.
Sister Adele also recorded a cover version of the song in 1963, which was released on Diplomat Records.
Spike Jones recorded a version that combined "Dominique" with "When the Saints Go Marching In", merging both the melodies and the styles of the two songs.
A variation including "When the Saints Go Marching In" is the Regimental March of the 5th Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment.
Tommy Roe recorded an English version of the song for his U.S. album release, "Something for Everybody" in 1964.
Sandler and Young revived the song in late 1966, a version that appeared on the Billboard easy listening chart. The performance was a medley including other religious-themed songs including "Deep River" and "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen".
The Czech singer Judita Čeřovská covered this song in 1964 under the name "Dominiku".
Soundtrack appearances
In the 1966 film The Singing Nun, about Deckers, Debbie Reynolds, playing the title role, sings an English-language version of the song.
The song was referenced in The Simpsons episode "Bart's Friend Falls in Love", where Milhouse van Houten visits his girlfriend in an all-girls convent school. A nun playing guitar and singing "Dominique" passes along, followed by several equally happy little girls. The nun's character voice was provided by cast member Maggie Roswell, who knew none of the song's actual French lyrics and instead made up her own.
In 1999, it was sung in Everybody Loves Raymond by Robert and Raymond when they learn Debra's sister is becoming a nun.
The song also featured in an episode of Welsh sitcom High Hopes
In 2009, the song was used in the third series premiere of British teen drama Skins.
In 2009, it was also used in Mad Men in the episode "The Color Blue", when Don Draper walks into Suzanne Farell's apartment for the second time.
In 2012, the song is featured prominently in US anthology series , the events of which take place in 1964. The original Belgian French version of the song is playing over and over in the common room of the insane asylum, and the inmates are punished if they disrupt or stop the song from playing.
In season 2 of episode 20 of Just the Ten of Us, it is sung by Heather Langenkamp, who played Marie Lubbock. It originally aired 28 April 1989.
In the season 3 episode of the science fiction series Dark Matter, entitled "All the Time in the World", it is sung by Anthony Lemke and Zoie Palmer. Lemke, who is fully bilingual, plays a character who is caught in a time loop similar to "Groundhog Day" and spends his time learning French from the spaceship's android.
