"D'amour ou d'amitié" (English: "of love or friendship") is a song by Canadian singer Celine Dion, recorded for her French-language album, Tellement j'ai d'amour... (1982). It was written by lyricist Eddy Marnay and French composers Jean Pierre Lang and Roland Vincent. "D'amour ou d'amitié" was released as a single in France in December 1982 and in Quebec, Canada in May 1983. The song became a commercial success, topping the chart in Quebec and reaching top ten in France. It was also certified Gold in both countries, making Dion the first Canadian artist to receive a Gold certification in France. In 2005, "D'amour ou d'amitié" was included on Dion's greatest hits album, On ne change pas.
In 1982, Eddy Marnay discovered a melody written by Jean Pierre Lang and Roland Vincent and wrote lyrics for it, creating "D'amour ou d'amitié".[1] He wrote about awakening to love and crossing the barrier from friendship to romance.[1] The song was recorded at the Family Sound Studio in Paris in July 1982 and produced by Marnay, assisted by Rudi Pascal.[1] Pathé-Marconi released it as a 7" single in France in December 1982, with "Visa pour les beaux jours" on the B-side.[2][3]
In January 1983, Dion represented Canada as revelation of the year at Midem in Cannes.[2] She performed "D'amour ou d'amitié" in front of 3,500 music professionals.[2] After that, RTL radio station decided to make "D'amour ou d'amitié" their favorite song and played it several times a day.[2] Soon, other radio stations in France followed suit.[2] Few days later, Dion performed "D'amour ou d'amitié" on Michel Drucker's popular TV show, Champs-Élysées.[2] In April 1983, Pathé-Marconi also released "D'amour ou d'amitié" as a 12" maxi-single with two more songs.[3] In May 1983, a 7" single was issued in Quebec, Canada by Saisons.[4] It was the second single from Tellement j'ai d'amour..., after "Tellement j'ai d'amour pour toi". In early 1984 in Germany, Dion also released a German-language version of "D'amour ou d'amitié" titled "Was bedeute ich dir".[3] The B-side included "Mon ami, geh nicht fort", a German version of "Mon ami m'a quittée".[3]
"D'amour ou d'amitié" became Dion's first commercially successful single. In France, it reached number five on the chart in the summer of 1983 and was certified Gold on 1 September 1983 for selling 500,000 units.[5][6] By the end of 1983, the single has sold over 700,000 copies in France.[7] Dion also became the first Canadian artist to receive a Gold certification in France.[8] Following this success, she released her first album in France in September 1983, Du soleil au cœur, which featured songs taken from Dion's two albums previously issued in Quebec, Canada.[9]
The song also became a hit in Quebec, where it entered the chart on 7 May 1983 and topped it for four consecutive weeks in July and August 1983.[10][11] It spent forty weeks on the chart in total and was certified Gold in April 1985 for selling over 50,000 copies in Canada.[10][12]
Thanks to "D'amour ou d'amitié", Dion won the Félix Award for Artist of the Year Achieving the Most Success Outside Quebec.[13]
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
d'amour.
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