"Savoir aimer" () is a 1997 song recorded by the

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), ...

singer

Florent Pagny Florent Pagny (; born 6 November 1961) is a French singer-songwriter, musician and actor. He records his work in French, as well as in Italian, Spanish and English. His greatest hits include "N'importe quoi", "Savoir aimer" and "Ma Liberté de p ...

. It was the first single from his album of the same name, on which it features as first track, and his 14th single overall. Released in October 1997, it was a smash success in France and Belgium, topping the chart for several months, and remaining Pagny's most successful single.

Background and writing

The song was composed by

Pascal Obispo Pascal Michel Obispo (; born 8 January 1965) is a French pop and rock singer, music producer and songwriter. Early life Pascal Obispo, son of Max Obispo (a former Bordeaux Girondins football player of Basque origin) and Nicole Guérin (origin ...

, who also participated in other two songs on Pagny's album, and written by Lionel Florence, who had also worked for many French singers. In the music video, Pagny is in front of the camera and transcribed the song in

French Sign Language French Sign Language (, LSF) is the sign language of deaf and hard-of-hearing people in France and in French-speaking parts of Switzerland. According to ''Ethnologue'', it has 100,000 native signers. French Sign Language is related and part ...

. The song has been performed on Pagny's concerts tours in 1998, 2004 and 2005, and is thus available on the singer's live albums ''En concert'', ''Été 2003 à l'Olympia'' and ''Baryton - L'Intégrale du spectacle''. It is part of Pagny's 2008 compilation ''Les 50 Plus Belles Chansons''. In 2001, the song has been covered by Pagny himself in a duet version with

Souad Massi Souad Massi (; born August 23, 1972) is an Algerian Berber singer, songwriter and guitarist. She began her career performing in the Kabyle political rock band Atakor, before leaving the country following a series of death threats. In 1999, Massi ...

on his album ''2'' (14th track), which contains songs originally performed by Pagny or other artists overdubbed as duets.''2'', track listing and chart
Lescharts.com
(Retrieved 16 June 2008) As the song was a great success in France, it was included throughout the years on many famous compilations in France, such as ''Hit Express 5'', ''Les Plus Grandes Chansons du Siècle, vol. 1'' (released in 1999), ''Lionel Florence: des Rencontres et des Mots'', ''Les Plus Belles Victoires de la Musique'' (2002), ''Les 100 Plus Belles Chansons'' (2006) and ''Hits de diamant'' (2007). In 1999 Dutch singer

Liesbeth List Elisabeth Dorathea "Liesbeth" List (born Driessen; December 12, 1941 – March 25, 2020) was a Dutch singer. She became popular during the 1960s and frequently collaborated with Ramses Shaffy. She also sang Jacques Brel's chansons in Dutch tran ...

recorded a Dutch version of this song, called ''Heb het Leven Lief,'' for her album ''Vergezicht'', the Dutch lyrics were written by Han Kooreneef.

Chart performance

In France, the single went straight to number one on the singles chart on 25 October 1997, which was very rare at the time (it was the fifth). It was dislodged the week after by

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's huge hit "

Barbie Girl "Barbie Girl" is a song by Danish-Norwegian dance-pop group Aqua. It was released in April 1997 by Universal and MCA as the third single from the group's debut studio album, ''Aquarium''. The song was written by band members Søren Rasted, Cl ...

", but managed to reach again number one the week after, and remained at the top for a total of nine weeks. It then dropped first slowly, then more quickly and featured for 19 weeks in the top ten, 23 weeks in the top 50 and 24 weeks in the top 100."Savoir aimer", French Singles Char
Lescharts.com
(Retrieved 16 June 2008) It achieved

Diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...

status1997 certifications in Franc
Disqueenfrance.com
(Retrieved 16 June 2008) and was ranked sixth on the 1997 Annual Chart established only ten weeks after the single release.1997 French Singles Char
Disqueenfrance.com
(Retrieved 16 June 2008) In Belgium (Wallonia), the song entered the chart at number 21 on 8 November, climbed to number two, two weeks later and stayed at this place for five weeks, behind "Barbie Girl". Then it topped the chart for four weeks, then almost did not stop to drop. It totaled 14 weeks in the top ten, 19 weeks in the top 20 and 24 weeks in the top 40."Savoir aimer", Belgian (Wallonia) Albums Char
Ultratop.be
(Retrieved 16 June 2008) It was the fifth best-selling single of 1997, with only nine weeks on the chart.1997 Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Char
Ultratop.be
(Retrieved 16 June 2008)

Track listings

* CD single # "Savoir aimer" — 4:43 # "Combien ça va" — 3:40 * Digital download # "Savoir aimer" — 4:40 # "Savoir aimer" (1998 live version) — 5:26 # "Savoir aimer" (2004 live version) — 7:22 # "Savoir aimer" (2005 live baryton version) — 4:18 # "Savoir aimer" (duet with

) — 4:09

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1997 singles Florent Pagny songs Ultratop 50 Singles (Wallonia) number-one singles SNEP Top Singles number-one singles Pop ballads Songs with music by Pascal Obispo Songs written by Lionel Florence 1997 songs Polydor Records singles