"Joe le taxi" () is a song written for French singer-actress

Vanessa Paradis Vanessa Chantal Paradis (; born 22 December 1972) is a French singer, model and actress. Paradis became a star at the age of 14 with the international success of her single " Joe le taxi" (1987). At age 18, she was awarded France's highest ho ...

Franck Langolff Franck Langolff, born Henri-Alain Langolff (1948 – 8 November 2006), was a French music composer. He was born on May 6, 1948, in Fez, Morocco, and died on September 8, 2006, in Rouen, France, at the age of 58. Langolff is known for his composi ...

and

Étienne Roda-Gil Étienne Roda-Gil (1 August 1941 in Septfonds, Tarn-et-Garonne, France – 31 May 2004 in Paris) was a songwriter and screenwriter. He was an anarchist and an anarcho-syndicalist. Biography Roda-Gil was born in the Septfonds internment camp to ...

. The song topped the SNEP Singles Chart for 11 weeks, and, uncommonly for a

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

-language song at that time, was released in the UK and Ireland the following year, peaking at numbers three and two, respectively. The music video for the song was produced by Lili Balian, Jake Hertz, and Addie Calcagnini. The song was later included on her debut album, '' M&J'' (short for "Marilyn & John").

Background and release

"Joe le taxi" is a French song about a

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

driver, Joe, who works in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Joe is a pseudonym of Maria José Leão dos Santos (1955–2019), a Portuguese taxi driver and Parisian nightlife figure who fled the Estado Novo authoritarian regime to France in the 1970s due to her homosexuality. The song emphasizes the notion that Joe seems to know all there is to know about the French capital including the whereabouts of all the little bars, all of the Parisian streets, the

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

, and bridges. The song's lyrics suggest that Joe enjoys drinking

rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is often aged in barrels of oak. Rum originated in the Caribbean in the 17th century, but today it is produced i ...

, has a passion for

Latin music Latin music (Portuguese language, Portuguese and ) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America, which encompasses Music of Latin America, Latin America, Music of Spain, Spain, Mu ...

and his

car A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

("saxo jaune"). Spanish-Cuban bandleader

Xavier Cugat Xavier Cugat (; ; 1 January 1900 – 27 October 1990) was an American musician and bandleader who was a leading figure in the spread of Latin music. Originally from Girona, Spain, he spent his formative years in Havana, Cuba, before arriving i ...

and Peruvian

exotica Exotica is a musical genre that was popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s with Americans who came of age during World War II. The term was coined by Simon "Si" Waronker, Liberty Records co-founder and board chairman, named after the 1957 Mart ...

singer Yma Súmac are also referenced in the lyrics.

Chart performance

"Joe le taxi" debuted at number 21 on the

French Singles Chart SNEP (, in English National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing) is the inter-professional organisation that protects the interests of the French record industry. Originally known under the acronym SNICOP, the organisation was established in ...

, reaching number one in its fourth week and remaining there for 11 weeks. It also reached the top five in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Norway and the top 10 in West Germany and Sweden. The single reached gold status in Belgium for 75,000 copies sold and has sold two million copies worldwide.

Critical reception

Jerry Smith from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' wrote, "Out of the blue appears this intriguing Euro number that, with its breathy vocal and atmospheric backing, could capture the imagination given enough exposure." Johnny Dee from ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...

'' named "Joe le taxi" Single of the Week, adding, "There hasn't be all that many hits sung in French —

Jane Birkin Jane Mallory Birkin ( ; 14 December 1946 – 16 July 2023) was a British and French actress, singer, and designer. She had a prolific career as an actress, mostly in French cinema. A native of London, Birkin began her career as an actress, ...

's "

Je T'Aime Je t’aime (a French phrase meaning "I love you") may refer to: Music *''Je t'aime, je t'aime, je t'aime'', a 1974 album by Johnny Hallyday Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Ha ...

" springs to mind. This purrs irresistibly in the same way, pre-pubescent vocals and a cha-cha beat that can't possibly fail to melt your heart. Sweet, sensuous, baby powder that will probably be giving me a headache by mid-March, but at the moment all is heavenly and I can't bare to be without it." icWilliam Shaw from ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'' commented, "Blow me down. A French record that's not crap. As a nation France has always been pathetically unsuccessful at pop. ..But young Vanessa will change all that. She's just spent 11 weeks at the top of the French charts with this slow, wispy tune sung in French to an accompaniment of gratefully parping saxophones. It's really not bad at all."

Music video

The 1987 music video for "Joe le taxi", directed by Jean-Sébastien Deligny, begins by glimpsing the side of Joe's taxi (a

Chevrolet Nova Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

), which is a New York taxi (dollar denominated taxi rates can be seen in black ink). The silhouettes of two men playing the

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

in unison appear. Joe, who is black, is then seen in his taxi. Paradis, wearing an oversized peach sweater with the words "Cross Stage" and the number 26 emblazoned across the front and loose grey trousers, dances and sings the song, next to a big yellow taxi similar to Joe's. Joe seems to be driving around town, either looking out for customers or simply enjoying a scenic journey across a bright and beautiful Paris. The camera switches between Joe, Vanessa, and the two silhouettes playing their saxophones in perfect unison (in colour when focused on Paradis, in black-and-white when on Joe). The video ends with a front view of Joe's taxi. Another music video for the song features Vanessa riding with Joe, in a blue

Jeep Jeep is an American automobile brand, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with other assets, from its previous owner, American Motors Co ...

, around

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

, while singing the song.

Track listings

7-inch single #"Joe le taxi" – 3:54 #"Varvara Pavlovna" (Bertrand Châtenet/Franck Langolff) – 3:28 7-inch single –

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

#"Joe le taxi" – 3:54 #"Joe el taxi" (Spanish version) – 3:38 12-inch maxi *Side A #"Joe le taxi" (Extended version) – 5:30 *Side B #"Joe le taxi" – 3:54 #"Varvara Pavlovna" – 3:28 12-inch maxi –

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

*Side A #"Joe le taxi" (Extended version) – 5:30 #" Manolo Manolete" – 3:58 *Side B #"Manolo Manolete" (Extended version) – 6:15 #"Joe el taxi" (Spanish version) – 3:54 Maxi CD #"Joe le taxi" – 3:54 #" Manolo Manolete" (Extended version) – 6:15 #"Joe el taxi" (Spanish version) – 3:54 #"Joe le taxi" (Extended version) – 5:30 *Enhanced video #"Joe le taxi" – 3:54

Credits

Personnel *Joshua D'Arche:

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

drum programming Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices and computer software, such as sequencers and workstations or hardware synthesizers, sampler and sequencers, to generate sounds of musical instruments. These mu ...

, keyboards &

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

*Patrick Rousseau:

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

Production *

Arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

& produced by

* Engineered by Bertrand Châtenet at Local Studio * Mixed at Studio Delphine, Paris Design *Vincent Warin:

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

*Jean-Sébastien Deligny:

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

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 ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Remixes and cover versions

"Joe le taxi", in its French version, exists in a 'single version' 3:54 and a 'long version' 5:30. When it was issued in South America and in Spain in April 1988, Vanessa recorded a Spanish version: "Joe el taxi".

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

Cantopop Cantopop (a contraction of "Cantonese pop music") is a genre of pop music sung in Cantonese. Cantopop is also used to refer to the cultural context of its production and consumption. The genre began in the 1970s and became associated with Hon ...

singer

Priscilla Chan Priscilla Chan (born February 24, 1985) is an American pediatrician and philanthropist. She and her husband, Mark Zuckerberg, a co-founder and CEO of Meta Platforms, established the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in December 2015 with a pledge to ...

(陳慧嫻) released a

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

cover version in her album "Autumn Colours" ( 秋色) in 1988. "Joe le taxi" has been

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

ed and

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...

several times, most notably by

Stereo Total Stereo Total was a Berlin-based multilingual, French-German musical ensemble, duo which comprised Françoise Cactus (born Françoise van Hove and formerly co-leader of the West Berlin band Les Lolitas) and Brezel ('pretzel') Göring (a.k.a. Frie ...

in 1999 and by

The Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' (, ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of the greatest wor ...

in 2010, and by somewhat notable artists including Japanese singer

Hanayo , born ,Job Profile vol 22: Hanayo
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, Japanese singer

Jun Togawa is a Japanese singer, musician and actress. She is one of the greatest influences on Japanese avant-garde music and media, and her career spans over 35 years. Her close friends over the years include Susumu Hirasawa. She was mainly active from ...

, Hong Kong

singer

, and Brazilian singer-actress and television personality Angélica (whose version, "Vou de Táxi"— Portuguese for "I'm Going by Taxi"—, became a radio hit in Brazil, as well as 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 ...

). The same year, Mexican singer-actress

Angélica Vale Angélica María Vale Hartman (born November 11, 1975), known professionally as Angélica Vale, is a Mexican and American actress, known also as the daughter of Angélica María, "La Novia de Mexico" (Mexico's Sweetheart), and as the daughter o ...

made her version "Voy en Taxi". It was also

ed by Sharlene Boodram of

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

featuring Mista Vybe. Several different versions of the song are available on popular video-sharing website,

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. "Joe le taxi" has also been covered in its original language by the Japanese

electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

singer

Immi Mayu Nakazawa (中澤真由 ''Nakazawa Mayu''), known by the stage name immi, is a Japanese Electronica singer and songwriter. She is signed onto DefStar Records. While she writes and composes her own music, she is also regularly produced by N ...

on her 2009 EP, ''Wonder''. In 2010, Catalina Caraus, a singer from Republic of Moldova, registered a cover version of "Joe le taxi" with a music video, which was rated in top charts in Republic of Moldova and Russia. Juli Chan, a Polish singer-songwriter, recorded a new version of Joe Le Taxi in 2021, which she performed live in march 2023 on Poland's largest commercial TV station, TVN. Juli Chan's version of Joe Le Taxi peaked at number three on French radio station RTS FM's charts and was broadcast on more than 30 French radio stations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joe Le Taxi 1986 songs 1987 debut singles SNEP Top Singles number-one singles Songs about occupations Songs about Paris Songs with music by Franck Langolff Songs with lyrics by Étienne Roda-Gil Vanessa Paradis songs Polydor Records singles Music videos shot in France