"Tous les garçons et les filles" (English: "All the Boys and Girls") is a song by French singer-songwriter Françoise Hardy, co-written with Roger Samyn. The song recounts the feelings of a young person who has never known love and her envy of the couples that surround her. Hardy's single, released internationally, was a massive hit in France, where it spent 15 non-consecutive weeks at number one (four separate runs) between late October 1962 and mid-April 1963.
Contents
Background
Hardy performed the song in a telecast on the evening of Sunday 28 October 1962 in a musical interlude during the results of the 1962 referendum to allow direct election of the president of the French Republic. The record quickly became a success, selling 500,000 copies by the end of the year. In Italy the Italian version sold 255,000 while French version sold 140,000 copies.
Françoise Hardy also recorded the song in English ("Find Me a Boy", 1964), Italian ("Quelli della mia età", 1962; collected in Françoise Hardy canta per voi in italiano, 1963), and German ("Peter und Lou", 1963; collected in In Deutschland, 1965.)
Jimmy Page participated in the recording session as a session musician.
The song is quoted several times by the main characters in J.L. Carr's 1988 novel What Hetty Did.
Cover versions
The song has been covered by many artists in many languages, including:
Lill-Babs (in Swedish, "Vart Jag Än Går", 1963)
Sophie Blaede (1962)
Olivia Chaney (in French, Six French Songs, EP, 2023)
Ginette Reno (1962)
Catherine Spaak (1962)
Aimable (on the accordion, 1963)
Steve Perry (British singer) (in English, "Find Me a Girl", 1963)
Eny Mara (in Portuguese, "A Idade Do Amor", 1964)
Maurice Chevalier (as "Mes Chers Zazas", with new lyrics by Edmond Meunier, 1965)
Dulce Salles Cunha Braga (1965)
Mia Frye (in English, "All the Girls and Boys", 1984)
Eurythmics (bonus track on the album Be Yourself Tonight and, in some countries, B-side of the single "It's Alright - (Baby's Coming Back)"); sung in French by Annie Lennox
The Paquitas (accompanists of Xuxa) (in Portuguese, "Alguem para amar", 1991)
Janusz Laskowski (in Polish, "Och jak bardzo cię kocham", album Nigdy nie byłem w Casablance, 1994)
Laurent Voulzy and Carla Bruni singing with the Enfoirés (album Les Enfoirés à l'Opéra comique, 1995)
Movie soundtracks
"Tous les garçons et les filles"
Metroland, United Kingdom, 1997
CD, Metroland, Warner Bros. Records, 1998 (UK).
The Dreamers (Innocents: The Dreamers), France, Italy, United Kingdom, 2003
CD, The Dreamers, Universal Records (9812084), 2003 (UK)
The Statement (Crime contre l’humanité), Canada, France, United Kingdom, 2003
Se devo essere sincera, Italy, 2004
Attenberg, Greece, 2011
"Find Me a Boy"
The Misadventures of Margaret, United Kingdom, 1998
Performed by Françoise Hardy and performed by Saint Etienne
-All These Sleepless Nights-