"Le monde est stone" (meaning "the world is stone") is a song written and produced by

Michel Berger Michel Jean Hamburger (28 November 1947 – 2 August 1992), known professionally as Michel Berger, was a French singer and songwriter. He was a figure of France's pop music scene for two decades as a singer. As a songwriter he wrote for artists ...

and

Luc Plamondon Luc Plamondon (born March 2, 1942) is a French Canadians, French-Canadian lyricist and music executive. His work includes the musicals Starmania (musical), ''Starmania'' and Notre-Dame de Paris (musical), ''Notre-Dame de Paris''. He is the brot ...

for the 1978 Canadian-French musical '' Starmania''. It was originally performed by

Fabienne Thibeault Fabienne Thibeault (born 16 June 1952 in Montreal, Quebec) is a French Canadian singer. She is particularly known for her role in Starmania. Thibeault has released numerous albums over her career. She has been the recipient of two Félix Aw ...

and released on the '' Starmania'' album in 1978. The English-language version of the song with lyrics by

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English songwriter. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, '' Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ''Jesus C ...

, titled "The World Is Stone", was recorded by American singer

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper ( ; born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Known for her distinctive image, featuring a variety of hair colors and eccentric clothing, and for her powerful four-octave vocal range;Jerome, ...

and released on the ''

Tycoon A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

'' album in 1992.

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...

recorded "Le monde est stone" for her 1991 album, ''

Dion chante Plamondon ''Dion chante Plamondon'' (English: "Dion sings Plamondon") is the ninth French-language studio album by Canadian singer Celine Dion. It was released on 4 November 1991 by Sony Music and features songs with words written by French-Canadian lyrici ...

''.

Cyndi Lauper version

recorded the English version of "Le monde est stone", titled "The World Is Stone" for the ''

'' album in 1992. "Le monde est stone" has been most notably associated with

Marie Carmen Marie Carmen is the stage name of Marie-Carmen Aubut (born August 24, 1959), a Canadians, Canadian pop singer and musical theatre actress born in Sainte-Foy, Quebec City, Sainte-Foy, Quebec. Associated with the bands Accident, Blood et Marie and ...

, and

Maurane Claudine Luypaerts, better known as Maurane (; 12 November 1960 – 7 May 2018), was a Francophone Belgian singer and actress. Brought to light in the 1980s with her role as Marie-Jeanne in the second version of the rock opera ''Starmania'', h ...

. The song was composed by

. The original French lyrics were written by

, and the English lyrics were written by

. Although this single was not released in United States, it was a hit in several European countries, especially in France, where it reached number two, stayed in the top five for three months, and totaled 31 weeks in the top 50. On the single, the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

is a song entitled "Learn to Live Alone", which was featured on the soundtrack to the English version of ''Starmania'', ''Tycoon''. The Single sold out 250.000 copies in France.

Critical reception

Upon its release, Jon Wilde of ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' described "The World Is Stone" as "the kind of muzak ballad that would give seasick a bad name".

Track listings

UK CD1 and Australian CD single # "The World Is Stone" – 4:24 # "Learn to Live Alone" – 5:08 # " Time After Time" – 3:59 UK CD2 # "The World Is Stone" – 4:24 # "

I Drove All Night "I Drove All Night" is a song written and composed by American songwriters Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly and originally intended for Roy Orbison. Orbison recorded the song in 1987, the year before his death, but his version was not released until ...

" – 4:08 # "

What's Going On What's Going On may refer to: Albums * What's Going On (album), ''What's Going On'' (album), a 1971 album by Marvin Gaye *What's Going On (Johnny "Hammond" Smith album), ''What's Going On'' (Johnny "Hammond" Smith album), 1971 * What's Going On (D ...

" – 3:51 European 7-inch, CD, and cassette single # "The World Is Stone" – 4:24 # "Learn to Live Alone" – 5:08

Personnel

Personnel are adapted from the UK CD1 disc notes. *

– writing *

– writing * Cyndi Lauper – vocals, production, arrangement * Peter Wood – arrangement *

Frank Filipetti Frank Filipetti is an American record producer, audio engineer, and mixer who was born in Bristol, Connecticut. Filipetti has seven Grammy Awards and ten nominations for his work on '' The Color Purple'', '' The Book of Mormon'', '' Wicked'', '' ...

– mixing * Guy Gray – recording

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:World Is Stone 1978 songs 1992 singles Celine Dion songs Cyndi Lauper songs Epic Records singles Songs from musicals Songs with lyrics by Luc Plamondon Songs with lyrics by Tim Rice Songs written by Michel Berger