"À ma place" is a 2001 pop song recorded as a duet by French singers
Zazie
Isabelle Marie Anne de Truchis de Varennes (born 18 April 1964), better known by her stage name Zazie, is a French singer-songwriter and former fashion model. Her greatest hits include " Je suis un homme", " À ma place" and "Speed". She co-produ ...
and
Axel Bauer
Axel Bauer (born 7 April 1961) is a French singer, composer, guitarist, and actor, born in Paris. A figure of the French rock scene, he was discovered in 1983 with the song "Cargo". Several times awarded a gold record, he has sold three million re ...
. It was the second single off Bauer's album ''Personne n'est parfait'' and was released on 7 May 2001. It became a smash hit in France and Belgium (Wallonia) where it reached the top five.
Song information
The song was written and composed by both singers. It deals with the difficulties that can be met by a couple to understand each other. According to Elia Habib, the story of the song "
scillatesbetween passion and insanity". The music video and the cover single are very refined and the song looks like a "dramatic script meticulously directed".
[Elia Habib, ''Muz hit. tubes'', 2002, p. 535,536 ()]
The music video was directed by Didier Le Pêcheur who had previously directed five music videos for Zazie at the time.
"À ma place" was not included on Zazie's studio album, but only on Bauer's ''Personne n'est parfait'' on which it appears in an extended version, then on Bauer's best of ''La Désintégrale''. In 2003, the live version performed during Zazie's tour was added on her live album ''Ze live!!'' and in the collector edition of ''La Désintégrale''. The song, as well as the music video (on the DVD), were also available on Zazie's 2008 greatest hits ''
Zest of''.
Chart performance and awards
In France, the single debuted at No. 33 on 12 May 2001, then climbed directly to the top ten and remained in it for 17 weeks, including a peak at number four for two consecutive weeks. It totalled 30 weeks in the top 50 and 32 weeks in the top 100 and earned a
Gold disc
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
. In Belgium (Wallonia), it debuted at No. 32 on 4 August 2001 and reached number one four weeks later. It remained for 12 weeks in the top ten and 25 weeks in the
Ultratop 50
Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organization of ...
.
To date, "À ma place" is the most successful single of both singers in terms of chart positions.
The song was awarded 'Francophone song of the year' at the 2002
NRJ Music Awards
An NRJ Music Award (commonly abbreviated as an NMA) is an award presented by the French radio station NRJ to honor the best in the French and worldwide music industry. The awards ceremony, created in 2000 by NRJ in partnership with the televisi ...
and was thus included on the compilation ''NRJ Music Awards 2002''.
Track listings
; CD single
; Digital download (since 2005)
Charts
Certifications and sales
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:A ma place
2001 singles
Zazie songs
Axel Bauer songs
Ultratop 50 Singles (Wallonia) number-one singles
Male–female vocal duets
Songs written by Zazie
2001 songs