"Tu manques" is a 1990 song recorded by

Carole Fredericks Carole Denise Fredericks (June 5, 1952 – June 7, 2001) was an American singer best known for her work in French music. She was the younger sister of Taj Mahal. Between 1990 and 1996 she was in the trio Fredericks Goldman Jones alongside s ...

Jean-Jacques Goldman Jean-Jacques Goldman (; born 11 October 1951) is a French singer-songwriter and music record producer. He is hugely popular in the French-speaking world. Since the death of Johnny Hallyday in 2017 he has been the highest grossing living French p ...

and Michael Jones. It was the sixth and last

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from the album ''

Fredericks Goldman Jones Fredericks Goldman Jones was the name of a famous French musical trio made up of Jean-Jacques Goldman, Carole Fredericks and Michael Jones. Established in 1990, it remained active until 1996. After the amicable separation of the trio and the c ...

'' on which it appears as the last track and was released in May 1992. Although the three singers are credited on the single cover, only Goldman performed it. It was a top 15 hit in France.

Music and lyrics

According to Goldman, "Tu manques" is a very "intimate song". Composed of three

chords Chord may refer to: * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve * Chord (as ...

, the song was written very quickly during a night. It deals with the absence of a loved person and the painful consequences that this situation generates. The song is autobiographical and refers to Goldman's father who died at the time. In an interview by

Nagui Nagui Fam (; born 14 November 1961) is an Egyptian-born French TV and radio personality of Egyptian and Italian descent. In his professional life, he goes by his first name Nagui. Biography His television career began in 1987 on M6, and swit ...

on RTL, the singer said that "Tu manques" would never be released as a single and never performed on stage (finally, the song came out, but it was actually never sung live). According to an analysis, the "rhythm is slow", the "sentences are widely spaced", "there is a wide interval between two verses". "The singer's voice is special : it has a very low voice that shakes a lot, a mixture of sadness and emotion, which reinforces this tragical aspect". The various noises that can be heard in the musical introduction would represent the vacuum and the uncertainty as a result of the absence of the loved person. In a 2004 book entitled ''Chansons pour les yeux'' (a reference to Goldman's album ''

Chansons pour les pieds ''Chansons pour les pieds'' is the seventh and final solo album by Jean-Jacques Goldman, released on 20 November 2001 and sung in French language, French. The album was recorded at the Théâtre du Cratère d'Alès by Eric Van de Hel and Gildas Lo ...

''), Cosey, a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

author, gives his own interpretation of the song. The album is also available on Goldman's compilation album ''Pluriel 90/96''.

Chart performance and cover versions

On 16 May 1992, the single went to number 28 on the French SNEP Singles Chart and reached a peak of number 12 two weeks later. Thereafter, it dropped and totaled nine weeks in the top 50. In 1999,

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 ...

covered the song on his cover album ''

RéCréation ''RéCréation'' is a 1999 double album recorded by French singer Florent Pagny. It was his fifth studio album and his seventh album overall. It was on October 26, 1999, and achieved success in France and Belgium (Wallonia), where it remained ch ...

''.

Track listings

; CD single ; CD maxi ; Digital download (since 2005)

Credits

* Bass: Pino Palladino * Drum kit : Claude Salmieri * Guitars: Basile Leroux and Patrice Tison * Keyboards :

Erick Benzi Erick Benzi (born 1 March 1959) is a French musician, songwriter, composer, and record producer from Marseille. He was previously part of the duo Die Form, with Gildas Arzel, and the group Canada (with Arzel, Jacques Veneruso, and Gwenn Arzel) ...

* Piano and vocals : Goldman

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tu Manques 1990 songs 1992 singles Carole Fredericks songs Jean-Jacques Goldman songs Michael Jones (Welsh-French musician) songs Songs written by Jean-Jacques Goldman CBS Records singles