Un banc, un arbre, une rue
"Un banc, un arbre, une rue" is a song recorded by French singer Séverine, with music composed by Jean-Pierre Bourtayre and French lyrics written by. It in the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest held in Dublin, resulting in the country's only win in the contest.
Background
Conception
"Un banc, un arbre, une rue" was composed by Jean-Pierre Bourtayre with French lyrics by. It is a classic French ballad, with lyrics focusing on the loss of childhood innocence and people following their dreams. The opening lines of the chorus translate as "we all have a bench, a tree, a street / Where we cherished our dreams / a childhood that has been too short". Séverine recorded the song in four languages: French, English, German, and Italian.Eurovision
TMC internally selected "Un banc, un arbre, une rue" as for the of the Eurovision Song Contest.A promotional video was released showing Séverine singing the song in the empty square of Monte Carlo. It depicts her walking to a bench, sitting while performing the middle verses, and then walking away out of focus at the end.
On 3 April 1971, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin, hosted by RTÉ and broadcast live throughout the continent. Séverine performed "Un banc, un arbre, une rue" third on the evening, accompanied by four teenage male backing singers. She followed 's "Marija l-Maltija" by Joe Grech and preceded 's "Les Illusions de nos vingt ans" by Peter, Sue & Marc. Jean-Claude Petit conducted the event's live orchestra for the Monegasque entry.
By the close of voting, the song had received 128 points, placing it first out of eighteen entries and winning the contest. It received the then maximum score of 10 points from six voting nations. The song holds the record for receiving the most 10-point scores from this voting era. It was succeeded as contest winner in by "Après toi" by Vicky Leandros for. It was succeeded as the Monegasque representative the following year by "Comme on s'aime" by Peter McLane and Anne-Marie Godart.