Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

- Kaboul" is a French song written by

Renaud Renaud Pierre Manuel Séchan (; born 11 May 1952 in Paris), known as Renaud, is a French singer-songwriter. With twenty-six albums to his credit, selling nearly twenty million copies, he is one of France's most popular singers. Several of h ...

and composed by Jean-Pierre Bucolo, sung by Renaud in duo with

Axelle Red Fabienne Demal (born 15 February 1968), better known by her stage name Axelle Red, is a Belgian singer-songwriter. She has released 12 albums, including ''Sans plus attendre'', ''À Tâtons'', ''Toujours Moi'' and ''Jardin Secret''. She is best ...

, from the album '' Boucan d'enfer'' (2002). It was written in the aftermath of the incidents of

September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

and the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

. The song was very successful in France and Belgium, becoming a top five hit in these countries. As of August 2014, it is the 67th best-selling single of the 21st century in France, with 355,000 units sold.

Synopsis

In the song, two victims of the events of 2001 sing about their situations and the causes of their death. Renaud sings as a young Puerto Rican who works in the World Trade Center in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, destroyed on September 11. Axelle Red sings as a young

Afghan Afghan or Afgan may refer to: Related to Afghanistan *Afghans, historically refers to the Pashtun people. It is both an ethnicity and nationality. Ethnicity wise, it refers to the Pashtuns. In modern terms, it means both the citizens of Afghanist ...

girl killed during the attack by the coalition forces during the autumn of 2001. The song utilizes symbolism and imagery, with a subtle religious undertone throughout. Though the song is about terrorism and its repercussions, it does not directly mention terrorism nor deal explicitly with political issues, focusing instead on civilian suffering caused by the events. There are many religious images used throughout the song, such as "l'autel" (the altar), "les dieux" (the gods) and "les religions." The song concludes that religions, wars, and countries victimize ordinary people for their own purposes.

Awards

The song was elected the "Original Song of the Year" at the Victoires de la Musique 2003 and the "French song of the Year" at NRJ Music Awards 2003.

Cover versions and television performances

* Patrick Coutin, who had composed the famous hit " J'aime regarder les filles" in 1981, has covered the song in 2003 for the French programme ''Retour gagnant'' : a CD containing all the songs from the show has been released by Universal Music. * Renaud performed "Manhattan-Kaboul" on October 30, 2004, with 500 singers from the choir "Les Fous chantants" of

Alès Alès () is a Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania Regions of France, region in Southern France. Until 1926, i ...

on the show ''500 Choristes ensemble'' on

TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...

. * The song has been covered by

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (, ; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing mo ...

. * Philippe Berizzi has translated the song in Esperanto (he has received a permission for the translation). * Laurent Gerra has parodied the song, under the title "Washington-Bagdad".

Track listings

; CD single # "Manhattan-Kaboul" — 3:52 # "Tout Arrêter..." — 3:21

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control Songs about New York City Songs about Afghanistan 2002 singles Axelle Red songs Renaud songs Music about the September 11 attacks Male–female vocal duets