"Fascination" is a popular

waltz The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...

song with music (1904) by

Fermo Dante Marchetti Fermo Dante Marchetti (born Dante Pilade Marchetti; 28 August 1876 – 11 June 1940) was an Italian composer and songwriter, best known for the music for the song " Fascination". He was born in Massa Carrara, Tuscany, Italy, and died in Paris, F ...

and lyrics (1905) by

Maurice de Féraudy Maurice de Féraudy (born in Joinville-le-Pont on December 3, 1859 – died in Paris May 12, 1932) was a French songwriter, stage and film director, and actor at the Comédie-Française. He was the father of actor Jacques de Féraudy. Life and car ...

. It was first published in Hamburg (Anton J. Benjamin) and Paris (Édition F. D. Marchetti) in 1904 in a version for piano solo ('Valse Tzigane'). As a song with de Féraudy's words, it was first performed by the French music-hall singer Paulette Darty, in 1905, and published the same year.

Recordings

With its English lyrics, by

Dick Manning Dick Manning (born Samuel Medoff (Самуил Медов), June 12, 1912 – April 11, 1991) was a Russian-American songwriter, best known for his many collaborations with Al Hoffman. Manning composed the first full-length musical to be broad ...

, "Fascination" was recorded by diverse artists including:

Dick Jacobs Dick Jacobs (29 March 1918 – 20 May 1988) was an American musician, conductor, arranger, orchestrator, music director and an artists-and-repertoire director for several record labels (Coral, Decca, Brunswick and Springboard). He h ...

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, alternatively billed as Nat "King" Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and Traditional pop, pop ...

and David Carroll, all of whose versions made the charts. In 1957, two of the more popular recordings of "Fascination" were released, Dinah Shore went to number 15 on the Billboard Most Played By Jockeys chart, while a recording by

Jane Morgan Jane Morgan (born Florence Catherine Currier; May 3, 1924) is an American former singer and recording artist of traditional pop. Morgan initially found success in France and the UK before achieving recognition in the US, receiving six gold re ...

was released by

Kapp Records Kapp Records was an independent record label started in 1954 by David Kapp, brother of Jack Kapp (who set up American Decca Records in 1934). David Kapp founded his own label after stints with Decca and RCA Victor. Kapp licensed its records to L ...

as catalog number 191, which proved to become her

signature song A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, handwritten or styliz ...

. It first reached the Billboard magazine charts on 9 September 1957. On the Disk Jockey chart, it peaked at number 7; on the Best Seller chart, at number 12; on the composite chart of the top 100 songs, it reached number 11. Brazilian singer

Elis Regina Elis Regina Carvalho Costa (March 17, 1945 – January 19, 1982), known professionally as Elis Regina (), was a Brazilian singer of Bossa nova, Música popular brasileira, MPB and jazz music. She is also the mother of the singers Maria Rita and ...

, for CBD Phonogram /

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

(1970–1980).

The original French words

Je t'ai rencontré simplement Et tu n'as rien fait pour chercher à me plaire Je t'aime pourtant D'un amour ardent Dont rien, je le sens, ne pourra me défaire. Tu seras toujours mon amant Et je crois en toi comme au bonheur suprême. Je te fuis parfois, mais je reviens quand même C'est plus fort que moi… je t'aime ! Lorsque je souffre, il me faut tes yeux Profonds et joyeux Afin que j'y meure, Et j'ai besoin pour revivre, amour, De t'avoir un jour Moins qu'un jour, une heure, De me bercer un peu dans tes bras Quand mon cœur est las, Quand parfois je pleure. Ah ! crois-le bien, mon chéri, mon aimé, mon roi, Je n'ai de bonheur qu'avec toi.

Song in other media

*Likely derivations of the song include "

Are You Lonesome Tonight? "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" (sometimes stylized as Are You Lonesome To-night?) is a song written by Roy Turk and Lou Handman in 1926. It was recorded several times in 1927, first by Charles Hart, but also with successful versions by Vaughn De ...

", "

La Vie en Rose ; ) is the signature song of popular French singer Édith Piaf, written in 1945, popularized in 1946, and released as a single in 1947. The song became very popular in the United States in 1950, when seven versions reached the ''Billboard'' cha ...

", and "

I Could Have Danced All Night "I Could Have Danced All Night" is a song from the musical ''My Fair Lady'', with music written by Frederick Loewe and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner,

." *''

La dame de chez Maxim's LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smit ...

'' (1933 Alexander Korda film), sung by

Florelle Florelle (born Odette Élisa Joséphine Marguerite Rousseau, 9 August 1898 – 28 September 1974) was a French soprano singer and actress. She gained fame as Polly Peachum in the French film ''The Threepenny Opera'', after which she had numerou ...

(Odette Rousseau) as La Môme Crevette *In the 1933 film ''

The House on 56th Street ''The House on 56th Street'' is a 1933 American Pre-Code Hollywood, pre-Code drama film. The film's plot involves a miscarriage of justice, wrongful conviction and imprisonment, and alienation of a prisoner from her only living relative. Plot A ...

'', starring Kay Francis. *On the soundtrack of the 1946 film, '' The Diary of a Chambermaid'', starring Paulette Goddard. *The theme was used prominently in the 1949 film '' Gigi'' directed by Jacqueline Audry. *It was also popularized in the 1955 movie ''

The Grand Maneuver ''The Grand Maneuver'' () is a 1955 French comedy-drama romance film written and directed by René Clair, and starring Michèle Morgan and Gérard Philipe. It was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland as ''Summer Manoeuvres'', and in the ...

'' by

René Clair René Clair (; 11 November 1898 – 15 March 1981), born René-Lucien Chomette (), was a French filmmaker and writer. He first established his reputation in the 1920s as a director of silent films in which comedy was often mingled with fantasy. H ...

. *Its popularity increased when used in the 1957 movie '' Love in the Afternoon'' directed by

Billy Wilder Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an American filmmaker and screenwriter. His career in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and ver ...

. *It has been featured on ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera created by Frank and Doris Hursley which has been broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC since April 1, 1963. Originally a half-hour seria ...

'' numerous times, usually during

Luke and Laura Luke and Laura Spencer are fictional characters, and the signature supercouple from the American daytime drama ''General Hospital''. Luke is portrayed by Anthony Geary, and Laura is portrayed by Genie Francis. Though other supercouples came befo ...

scenes. *A faster-tempo version of this song featured in the first two ''Karate Kid'' films. Once during the scene at the country club, where Ali and Johnny are dancing together, the second occasion in Part II, when Daniel and Miyagi are in the car with Chozen, and Chozen dials the radio to a station that plays this same song. In ''The Next Karate Kid'', Miyagi teaches Julie to dance to a vocal version of the song. *A Portuguese version of the song was interpreted by Brazilian artist

in 1976, on her album

Falso Brilhante ''Falso Brilhante'' () is a 1976 studio album released by the critically acclaimed Brazilian MPB singer Elis Regina. On the year of 1975 Elis Regina opened her solo concert entitled ''Falso Brilhante'', where she launched the career of a new com ...

. *An instrumental version of the song is heard in the episode "

Elegy An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...

" of ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...

''. *''Fascination'' was heard in Disney's ''

Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo ''Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo'' is a 1977 American sports film, sports adventure film, adventure comedy film directed by Vincent McEveety and written by Arthur Alsberg and Don Nelson (screenwriter), Don Nelson. The film is the third installment in ...

'' (1977), in the scene where

Herbie Herbie, the Love Bug is a sentient 1963 Volkswagen Beetle racing car which has been featured in several Walt Disney motion pictures starting with ''The Love Bug in'' 1968. He has a mind of his own, being capable of driving himself and often be ...

plays it on his radio, to the

Lancia Scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...

later named "Giselle". *"Fascination" was sung in the 2007 French film ''

La Vie en rose ; ) is the signature song of popular French singer Édith Piaf, written in 1945, popularized in 1946, and released as a single in 1947. The song became very popular in the United States in 1950, when seven versions reached the ''Billboard'' cha ...

'' (La Môme), by Maya Barsony, and is featured on the soundtrack. *The first episode of the HBO series ''

Boardwalk Empire ''Boardwalk Empire'' is an American period crime drama television series created by Terence Winter for the premium cable channel HBO. The series is set chiefly in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era of the 1920s. The series sta ...

'' featured an instrumental version of "Fascination". * Frequently throughout the soundtrack of the 1942 film ''Le Mariage de Chiffon'', directed by

Claude Autant-Lara Claude Autant-Lara (; 5 August 1901 – 5 February 2000) was a French film director, screenwriter, set designer and costume designer who worked in films for over 50 years. He made films characterised by bourgeois Realism (arts), realism, anti- ...

. * A version by Pablo Cervantes can be heard in the film "Historia de un beso", directed in 2002 by the spanish director - winner of an Oscar - '' Jose Luis Garci''. * The Nat King Cole version was featured in the 2006 film '' Take The Lead''. * A Spanish-language recording by Trio Los Panchos was heard in the 2019,

Las Estrellas Las Estrellas () is a Mexican television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. Its first official broadcast took place on 21 March 1951. It airs free-to-air through affiliate stations throughout Mexico, based on XEW-TDT in Mexico City. It is con ...

series

Silvia Pinal, frente a ti ''Silvia Pinal, frente a ti'' is a Mexican biographical television series directed by Carla Estrada and Mónica Miguel based on the life of the Mexican producer and actress Silvia Pinal. It stars Itatí Cantoral as the titular character. The serie ...

. * In the 2023 video game ''

Lies of P ''Lies of P'' is a 2023 soulslike action role-playing game developed by Neowiz and Round8 Studio and published by Neowiz. Loosely based on Carlo Collodi's 1883 novel, ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'', the story follows the titular puppet trav ...

''. * The 2023-2024 short program music of Korean figure skater Jia Shin.

References

{{authority control French songs 1905 songs Nat King Cole songs Jane Morgan songs Waltzes Songs written by Dick Manning