"Can't Speak French" is a song performed by British-Irish all-female pop group

Girls Aloud Girls Aloud are a British-Irish pop music, pop girl group that was created through the ITV (TV network), ITV talent show ''Popstars: The Rivals'' in 2002. The line up consisted of members Cheryl (singer), Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, N ...

, taken from their fourth studio album and serving as the third and final single from the album '' Tangled Up'' (2007). The song was written by

Miranda Cooper Miranda Cooper (born 1975) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer and television presenter. Miranda Cooper has worked in the music industry since 1996 when she gained her first recording contract. She worked as a professiona ...

Brian Higgins Brian Michael Higgins (born October 6, 1959) is an American former politician who was the U.S. representative for , from 2005 until 2024. The district, numbered as the 27th district from 2005 to 2013 and as the 26th from 2013 to 2024, included ...

and his production team

Xenomania Xenomania is an English songwriting and production team founded by Brian Higgins and based in Kent. Formed by Higgins with his Creative Director Miranda Cooper and Business Director Sarah Stennett of First Access Entertainment, Xenomania has w ...

, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania. Described as "a swirling, slower cut with great jazzy guitar changes," Higgins said it was "the easiest Girls Aloud single they made." Upon its release in March 2008, "Can't Speak French" charted within the top ten on the UK Singles Chart, continuing their five-year streak of top ten hits. The music video sees Girls Aloud seduce guests at a dinner party in elaborate costumes inspired by

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette (; ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last List of French royal consorts, queen of France before the French Revolution and the establishment of the French First Republic. She was the ...

and 18th century

French fashion Fashion in France is an important subject in the culture and country's social life, as well as being an important part of its economy. Fashion design and production became prominent in France since 15th century. During the 17th century, fashi ...

s. "Can't Speak French" was promoted through numerous live appearances and has since been performed on all of Girls Aloud's subsequent tours. The "sultry" song received praise from most contemporary musics, cited as an example of Xenomania's creativity.

Background and composition

"Can't Speak French" is a

mid-tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given composition, and is often also an indication of the composition's character or atmos ...

pop song with a number of influences. It juxtaposes

jazz guitar Jazz guitar may refer to either a type of electric guitar or a guitar playing style in jazz, using Guitar amplifier, electric amplification to increase the volume of acoustic guitars. In the early 1930s, jazz musicians sought to amplify their ...

and a swing beat against a 1980s-inspired synthesiser. The lyrics "find the girls at their glummest, desperately trying to impress a guy who turns their " dust to gold" but doesn't realise it." Producer Brian Higgins said it was "perhaps the easiest Girls Aloud single they made." The song begins with a verse (sung by

Nadine Coyle Nadine Elizabeth Louise Coyle (born 15 June 1985) is an Irish singer. In 2002, she was selected as a member of Girls Aloud, a Pop music, pop girl group created through ITV (TV network), ITV's reality competition show ''Popstars: The Rivals''. T ...

and

Kimberley Walsh Kimberley Jane Scott ( Walsh; born 20 November 1981) is an English singer, dancer, television presenter and actress. She rose to fame in late 2002 when she auditioned for the reality series ''Popstars: The Rivals'' on ITV (TV network), ITV. Th ...

), a bridge (sung by Coyle,

Sarah Harding Sarah Harding (born Sarah Nicole Hardman; 17 November 1981 – 5 September 2021) was an English singer, model and actress. Her professional career began in 2002 when she successfully auditioned for the ITV (TV channel), ITV reality series ''Po ...

and

Nicola Roberts Nicola Maria Roberts (born 5 October 1985) is an English singer and songwriter. In 2002, Roberts was selected as a member of Girls Aloud, a Pop music, pop girl group created through ITV (TV network), ITV's reality competition show ''Popstars: Th ...

), and a chorus. It then leads to a middle 8 sung by

Cheryl Cole Cheryl Ann Tweedy (born 30 June 1983) is an English singer and television personality. She rose to fame as a member of Girls Aloud, a Pop music, pop girl group created through ITV (TV network), ITV's reality competition show ''Popstars: The R ...

and an

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

section before repeating the chorus. "Can't Speak French" was slightly remixed by Jeremy Wheatley for single release.

Release

"Can't Speak French" was one of many options for a third single; others included "Close to Love", "Girl Overboard", and "Control of the Knife". The single was confirmed on 15 January 2008 on the official site. Promotion for "Can't Speak French" was initially put on hold, so that

Cheryl Cheryl is a feminine given name with multiple origins. The name might have originated as a combination of the name Beryl with the prefix ''Cher-'' from the French ''chérie'', meaning ''darling'' (from the past participle of the verb ''chérir'' ...

could sort through her marital problems with Chelsea and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

player

Ashley Cole Ashley Cole (born 20 December 1980) is an English football coach and former player. As a player, he played as a left-back, most notably for Arsenal and Chelsea. Cole is considered by many critics and fellow professional players as one of the ...

, but later resumed. Their new

ITV2 ITV2 is a Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the fiv ...

television series, ''

Passions of Girls Aloud ''The Passions of Girls Aloud'' is a four-part television series starring girl group Girls Aloud. The series premiered on ITV2 on 14 March 2008. Premise Filmed in the autumn of 2007, the show was based around four of the members achieving some ...

'', also premiered on 14 March, with the Passions Mix of "Can't Speak French" being used as the programme's theme. The single was released as a digital download on 14 March 2008 and on two CD single formats on 17 March 2008. The first disc included a previously unreleased track entitled "Hoxton Heroes", which was co-written by Girls Aloud and the majority of the vocals being provided by Cheryl Cole. The second disc included the French version of the track, "Je Ne Parle Pas Français", as well as an acoustic cover of

Robyn Robin Miriam Carlsson (; born 12 June 1979), known professionally as Robyn (), is a Swedish singer, songwriter, record producer, and DJ. Her 1995 debut album ''Robyn Is Here'' produced two Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 top 10 single ...

's "

With Every Heartbeat "With Every Heartbeat" is a song by Swedish record producer Kleerup and Swedish singer-songwriter Robyn. It was first released on 10 January 2007 in Sweden and later on 30 July 2007 in the United Kingdom. It was released as the second single ...

" from the

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

programme

Live Lounge The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio stations BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra. It was originally hosted by Simon Mayo, and later by Jo Whiley on her weekday mid-morning, and later weekend lunchtime radio shows, then by Fearne Cott ...

and the Tony Lamezma Passions Mix. A shortened radio edit of the Tony Lamezma remix was released as a digital exclusive. Three cover arts were made available on its release. The UKCD1 Cover Art is the one shown up on the infobox for this page, while the other two, the UKCD2 and the Digital EP covers feature different shots from the single's photoshoot Girls Aloud also held a competition on their official website for a signed poster. Fans submitted their own original verse for "Can't Speak French", with five winners being announced throughout the week of the single's release.

B-side

The single's B-side "Hoxton Heroes" was first mentioned in a November interview with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''.

, a songwriter and member of the

production house, said "We've written a song called Hoxton Hero s Me and the girls got on an amazing rant, taking the piss out of the whole indie scene."

stated, "They say we're a manufactured band, but they're just as manufactured." The song was considered too controversial to go on the album. However,

said the song "wasn't aggressive enough." On 31 January 2008, it was confirmed on Girls Aloud's official website that "Hoxton Heroes" would appear as a B-side, alongside a French version of the single. A 30-second clip of "Hoxton Heroes" was posted on Girls Aloud's official Myspace on 6 February. Some indie music fans have attacked Girls Aloud for the song. Heatworld.com exclusively streamed a clip of "Je Ne Parle Pas Français" on 26 February. In 2012, Girls Aloud fans selected "Hoxton Heroes" to be one of ten songs included on the deluxe edition bonus disc of their greatest hits collection ''

Ten Ten, TEN or 10 may refer to: * 10, an even natural number following 9 and preceding 11 * one of the years 10 BC, AD 10, 1910, 2010, 2110 * October, the tenth month of the year Places * Mount Ten, in Vietnam * Tongren Fenghuang Airport (IATA c ...

''.

Reception

Critical response

The song received mostly positive reviews from critics. On a positive note, ''

'' called the song "a prime example of Xenomania's ability to throw wildly disparate musical elements together." According to

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, the song "achieves the kind of effortlessly sultry cool which the

Sugababes The Sugababes are an English girl group composed of Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan, and Siobhán Donaghy. The lineup changed three times before returning to the original lineup in 2011. Formed in 1998 by Ron Tom, the manager of All Saints, ...

have spent a career striving for." Talia Kraines of

BBC Music BBC Music is the arm of the BBC responsible for the music played across its services. The current director of music is Lorna Clarke. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio operational division; however, its remit also includes music used i ...

also called the song "sultry" and described it as "mid-tempo fun." John Murphy of

musicOMH ''MusicOMH'' (stylized as ''musicOMH'') is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B. History ''MusicOMH'' was founded an ...

relentlessly praised the song: "The tempo is taken down a slight notch, a swing beat kicks in backed by some squelchy synths, and there's yet another chorus that stays in your head forever, aided by the gloriously silly lyric of "I can't speak French, so I'll let the funky music do the talking". It's possibly the best thing they've ever done." Another reviewer for

felt that the "mid-paced groove isn't all that funky," but "creeps up when you're not looking, lodging itself in your head." Less impressed was Sarah Walters of the ''

Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 20 ...

'', who stated that she was "undecided whether this is a bad joke or a stroke of genius" and described the chorus as "pure idiocy."

Chart performance

"Can't Speak French" debuted at number 49 on the UK Singles Chart on 24 February 2008, four weeks before the single's physical release. It rose to number 35 the following week, before entering the top twenty in its third week and climbing to number sixteen in its fourth week on the chart. After the CD formats and digital bundles were released, the song peaked at number nine, becoming the band's eighteenth consecutive top ten single. Overall, the single spent ten weeks in the UK's top forty and a total of twenty-five weeks in the UK's top 75. Digital sales also helped the song debut on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are ...

at number thirty-five. It rose two spots the following week, and three more to number thirty the week after. Two weeks later, it climbed to number thirteen. Despite falling to number fifteen, it rebounded and achieved a new peak of number twelve.

Music video

The official music video for "Can't Speak French" was shot towards the end of January 2008 in London. American

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

Petro directed the music video for the

production company A production company, production house or production studio is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television show, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and video ...

Draw Pictures. It premièred on

Yahoo! Music Yahoo Music was a brand under which Yahoo provided music services including Internet radio, a digital music store, music streaming service, media player software, and original programming. Yahoo Music was sold to Rhapsody in early 2008. Pro ...

on 14 February, with the TV premiere on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

's "Freshly Squeezed" on 16 February. However, the music video appeared on some music channels such as The Box on 13 February. The music video features Girls Aloud in elaborate costumes inspired by

and 18th century

s. They crash a sophisticated dinner party and seduce the male guests. They dance provocatively and flirt with the men. Throughout the video, individual shots of each girl in front of a coloured wall are interpolated. The "Can't Speak French" music video is available on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

as well as Girls Aloud's live DVD '' Tangled Up: Live from The O2 2008''.

Live performances

"Can't Speak French" was performed live for the first time at

BRMB BRMB is a British radio station based in Aston, Birmingham, which is owned and operated by Murfin Music International. It broadcasts on 89.1FM in Aston and surrounding areas, on DAB throughout Birmingham, and online via the station's website a ...

's Live at the Local event on 31 October 2007. The song's first television performance was on ''

The Friday Night Project ''The Sunday Night Project'' is a British comedy-variety show by Princess Productions that first aired on Channel 4 in February 2005 under the title ''The Friday Night Project''. Originally broadcast on Friday nights, the show moved to Sunday n ...

'' Christmas special on 21 December 2007, which was co-hosted by Girls Aloud. During promotion for the single, Girls Aloud appeared on ''

Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway ''Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway'' (referred to simply as ''Saturday Night Takeaway'', ''Takeaway'' or ''SNT'') is a British television variety show, presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially known as Ant & Dec), ...

'',

BBC Switch BBC Switch was the brand for BBC content aimed at UK teenagers. The brand was launched on Saturday 20 October 2007 on BBC Two and ceased broadcasting on 18 December 2010. It included a block of television programmes on BBC Two, an online portal ...

's ''

Sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

'', ''

The Paul O'Grady Show ''The Paul O'Grady Show'' was a British comedy chat show presented by comedian Paul O'Grady, first shown on 11 October 2004. The programme was a teatime chat show consisting of a mixture of celebrity guests, comic stunts, musical performances ...

'', and '' T4''. The song was performed at a number of live concerts such as a set at London

gay nightclub A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ+) clientele; the term ''gay'' is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBTQ+ communities. Gay bars once ...

G-A-Y G-A-Y is a long-running gay nightclub brand, based at the Heaven nightclub in Charing Cross, London, owned by Jeremy Joseph. G-A-Y also operates a sister gay bar on Soho's Old Compton Street, and previously operated another club at Goslett ...

and the 2008

V Festival V Festival, often referred to as V Fest or simply V, was an annual music festival held in the United Kingdom during the third weekend in August. The event was held at two parks simultaneously which shared the same bill; artists performed at one ...

. The song was showcased on 2008's

Tangled Up Tour The Tangled Up Tour was the fourth concert tour by English-Irish girl group Girls Aloud. It supported their fourth studio album '' Tangled Up''. Tour dates were announced in November 2007. Girls Aloud performed twenty-four shows at arenas acros ...

, featured in a

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

-inspired section alongside "

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

" and " Love Machine" while black-and-white video footage of Paris at night was shown on the video screens. For 2009's

Out of Control Tour The Out of Control Tour was the fifth concert tour by British-Irish girl group Girls Aloud. It supported their fifth studio album ''Out of Control (Girls Aloud album), Out of Control''. Initially, just ten dates in bigger arenas were announced ...

, the song was only included as part of a greatest hits medley.

Cover versions

Florence and the Machine Florence and the Machine (stylised as Florence + the Machine) are an English indie rock band formed in London in 2007 by lead vocalist Florence Welch, keyboardist Isabella Summers, guitarist Rob Ackroyd, drummer Christopher Lloyd Hayden and harp ...

recorded a cover of the song in 2008.

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Can't Speak French". UK CD1 (Fascination / 1762720) # "Can't Speak French" (Jeremy Wheatley Radio Edit) – 3:19 # "Hoxton Heroes" (Girls Aloud, Cooper, Higgins, Powell, Owen Parker) – 3:00 UK CD2 (Fascination / 1764167) # "Can't Speak French" (Jeremy Wheatley Radio Edit) – 3:19 # "Je Ne Parle Pas Français" (translation by Jérôme Attal) – 3:41 # "Can't Speak French" (Tony Lamezma's Passions Remix) – 6:11 # "With Every Heartbeat" (

cover) (

Kleerup Andreas Kleerup (born 1979), professionally known as Kleerup, is a Swedish electropop musician. Career Kleerup began his music career as a songwriter, going on to tour with Teddybears and Robyn. In 2007, Kleerup released his debut single "With ...

) – 3:58 # "Can't Speak French" (video) – 3:19 iTunes Exclusive digital download # "Can't Speak French" (Tony Lamezma Mix Radio Edit) – 4:00 # "Can't Speak French" (Jeremy Wheatley Radio Edit) – 3:19 ''The Singles Boxset'' (CD18) # "Can't Speak French" (Jeremy Wheatley Radio Edit) – 3:19 # "Hoxton Heroes" – 3:00 # "Je Ne Parle Pas Français" – 3:41 # "Can't Speak French" (Tony Lamezma's Passions Remix) – 6:11 # "With Every Heartbeat" (Live Lounge cover) – 3:58 # "Can't Speak French" (Tony Lamezma Mix Radio Edit) – 4:00 # "Can't Speak French" (video) – 3:19 Digital EP # "Can't Speak French" (radio edit) – 3:19 # "Hoxton Heroes" – 3:00 # "Je Ne Parle Pas Français" – 3:40 # "Can't Speak French" (Passions remix) – 6:06 # "With Every Heartbeat" (Radio One Live Lounge) – 3:59 # "Can't Speak French" (Tony Lamezma Mix radio edit) – 4:00

Credits and personnel

*Guitar: Nick Coler *Keyboards:

, Tim Powell, Nick Coler *Mastering: Dick Beetham for 360 Mastering *Mixing: Jeremy Wheatley, Richard Edgeler (assistant) *Production: Brian Higgins,

, Jeremy Wheatley (additional) *Programming: Brio Taliaferro *Songwriting: Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, Tim Powell, Jody Lei, Carla Marie Williams *Vocals:

*Published by

Warner/Chappell Music Warner Chappell Music, Inc. is an American music publishing company and a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group. Warner Chappell Music's catalog consists of over 1.4 million compositions and 150,000 composers, with offices in over 40 countries. ...

and Xenomania Music

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

Girls Aloud's official website
{{Authority control Songs about language 2007 songs 2008 singles Fascination Records singles Girls Aloud songs Music television series theme songs Song recordings produced by Xenomania Songs written by Brian Higgins (producer) Songs written by Carla Marie Williams Songs written by Miranda Cooper Songs written by Nick Coler Songs written by Tim Powell (producer)