Paris Is Burning

Album: Ladyhawke (2008)
Charted: 47
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song about a nocturnal adventure in Paris was Ladyhawke's first single to reach the UK Top 75.
  • The French capital evidently made a huge impression on the Kiwi singer-songwriter. She told the NME that as soon as she arrived back in London, "I headed straight into the studio to record it."
  • Ladyhawke recorded a French version of this song and posted it on her MySpace site. She explained to Clash magazine: "The French version was just for fun. One of the guys I worked with on the album, Pascal Gabriel, is from Belgium, and he speaks French. I thought it might be cool to do a French version, and Pascal said, "Let me help you". So he did, and one day he translated everything and tried to teach me how to pronounce it. He wrote it out phonetically, but because English isn't his first language he wrote it out French phonetically, which didn't really help at all! It turned out… Well, it sounds like I did a good job, but to a French person apparently I sound Spanish! I tried though."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Graham Nash

Graham NashSongwriter Interviews

Graham Nash tells the stories behind some of his famous songs and photos, and is asked about "yacht rock" for the first time.

Ralph Casale  - Session Pro

Ralph Casale - Session ProSongwriter Interviews

A top New York studio musician, Ralph played guitar on many '60s hits, including "Lightnin' Strikes," "A Lover's Concerto" and "I Am A Rock."

Rob Halford of Judas Priest

Rob Halford of Judas PriestSongwriter Interviews

Rob Halford dives into some of his Judas Priest lyrics, talking about his most personal songs and the message behind "You've Got Another Thing Comin'."

Corey Hart

Corey HartSongwriter Interviews

The Canadian superstar talks about his sudden rise to fame, and tells the stories behind his hits "Sunglasses At Night," "Boy In The Box" and "Never Surrender."

Incongruent Opening Acts

Incongruent Opening ActsSong Writing

Here's what happens when an opening act is really out of place with the headliner, like when Beastie Boys opened for Madonna.

Edwin McCain

Edwin McCainSongwriter Interviews

"I'll Be" was what Edwin called his "Hail Mary" song. He says it proves "intention of the songwriter is 180 degrees from potential interpretation by an audience."