Je te dis vous is an album recorded by the French singer Patricia Kaas. It was released in 1993 and achieved success in many countries.
Background and writing
The name of the album is ironic in the French language because it uses both the familiar and formal second-person pronouns. By using both the familiar and formal in the same short declaration, it shows a tension in the speaker's voice between the admiration of one that she respects formally, and someone that she dearly loves on a familiar level. The album was produced in Pete Townshend's Eel Pie Studio in London, England by Robin Millar, who had already worked for Sade and the Fine Young Cannibals. In the U.S. and United Kingdom it appeared under the name of Tour de charme. The songs "Je te dis vous", "Je retiens mon souffle" and "Fatiguée d'attendre" were not written by Kaas, but were based on an idea of her, as indicated in the album's booklet. On the album Kaas sang her first song in German: the song "Ganz und gar" came from the pen of the Germansinger and songwriterMarius Müller-Westernhagen. The album also featured three tracks in English, including a cover of the James Brown number "It's a Man's World". The British rock musician Chris Rea accompanied Kaas on the tracks "Out of the Rain" and "Ceux qui n'ont rien" on guitar. The album was supported by a tour in 1994 and recorded in a live version on the 1995 album Tour de charme. In France, there were two successful singles from this album : "Entrer dans la lumière", written by Didier Barbelivien, and "Il me dit que je suis belle", composed by Jean-Jacques Goldman under the pseudonym of Sam Brewski. With the latter, Kaas achieved her second top five single in France. A remix of "Reste sur moi", a song composed by Marc Lavoine, reached the top 20 of the U.S. dance charts. This LP was released as Tour de Charme in the USA and the United-Kingdom, and shows a slightly different track-listing:
Hôtel Normandy was dropped and replaced by a previously unreleased track: A Saint-Lunaire.
Ganz und Gar and Out of the Rain were dropped from this version.
Critical reception and chart performance
This album marked the definitive breakthrough of the singer in the international music scene, selling three million copies in 47 countries. Currently Je te dis vous is considered one of the best albums of modern chanson, displaying the key qualities of the genre. Je te dis vous is currently Kaas' most successful album in the German-speaking world, only just missing out on the German top 10, but spending 36 weeks in the top 100. In Switzerland, Kaas's album featured on the chart for 25 weeks, from 18 April to 3 October 1993. It debuted at #10 and climbed to #2 two weeks later. It remained for two consecutive weeks at this position, but was unable to dislodge Aerosmith's album Get A Grip. It appeared for 14 weeks in the top ten, then dropped slowly on the chart and finally achieved double platinum status. It was the ninth best-selling album of 1993. In France, the album was charted for many months, from 15 April 1993 to 8 January 1995. It went straight to #1 and stayed there for five weeks. It totaled about 40 weeks in the top ten. It was her third album to go Diamond, 11 months after its appearance. The album had moderate success in the Netherlands. It featured for five weeks on the albums chart and went to #98 on 24 July 1993, reaching its peak position, #83, two weeks later.
