Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?
"Where Do You Go To ?" is a song by the British singer-songwriter Peter Sarstedt. Its recording was produced by Ray Singer, engineered by John Mackswith at Lansdowne Recording Studios and released in 1969. The music has been described as "a faux European waltz tune", and the arrangement is a very simple one of strummed acoustic guitar and upright bass, with brief bursts of French-style accordion at the start and the end. The arranger and conductor was Ian Green.
Lyrics
The song is about a fictional girl named Marie-Claire who grows up on the poverty-stricken backstreets of Naples, becomes a member of the jet set, and goes on to live in Paris. The lyrics describe her from the perspective of a childhood friend; it is left unclear whether they have remained close. The rhetorical question of the title suggests that her glamorous lifestyle might not have brought Marie-Claire happiness or contentment.Even though Sarstedt himself was not French, the song benefited from the contemporary awareness in Britain of such singers as the French Serge Gainsbourg and Jacques Brel.
The lyrics contain a large number of contemporary and other references:
- Marlene Dietrich: German–American actress and singer
- Zizi Jeanmaire: French ballerina
- Pierre Balmain: French designer of elegant fashions
- Boulevard Saint-Michel: street in the Latin Quarter of Paris
- The Rolling Stones: British rock and roll band
- Sacha Distel: French singer and musician
- Sorbonne: University of Paris
- Picasso: Spanish pioneer of modern art
- Juan-les-Pins: fashionable beach resort on the French Riviera
- Topless swimsuit: first conceived by Austrian American fashion designer Rudi Gernreich in 1964
- Saint Moritz: fashionable ski resort in the Engadin, Swiss Alps
- Napoleon brandy: a blended brandy in which the youngest brandy of the blend has been aged for at least six years
- Aga Khan: Islamic leader and racehorse owner
Inspiration
It is often suspected that the name Marie-Claire is inspired by Marie Claire magazine, a women's fashion weekly that began in 1937 in France. One theory says that the song is about the Italian actress Sophia Loren, who was abandoned by her father and had a poverty-stricken childhood in Naples. Another theory has the song being inspired by Danish singer and actress Nina van Pallandt.According to Alan Cooper: "Sarstedt insisted it was not written with actress Sophia Loren in mind. 'Yes, it's a portrait of a poor-born girl who becomes a member of the European jet set. And yes, there's reference to her growing up on the "back streets of Naples", so I can see why people may think it was written with Sophia Loren in mind. But that's just a coincidence. I really wasn't thinking of anyone specific.
The song was written in Copenhagen.
In 2009, Sarstedt spoke to a gossip columnist for the Daily Express. He admitted he had lied about the song being about a socialite who died in a fire. He said that the song was about his girlfriend at the time, Anita Atke, whom he met in Paris. The two married in 1969 and divorced in 1974.
Reception
John Bush of allmusic called the song "an exquisite piece of Baroque pop that Sarstedt would never come close to equaling again" and said that the song "blended the reserve of early British singer/songwriter with the sophistication of Continental pop."The song was a hit far exceeding Sarstedt's other work, although he is not a one-hit wonder. In 1998 he was earning £60,000 annually in royalties from it.
DJ John Peel once said in an interview with New Musical Express that he considered this song the worst of all time.
The song was used as a soundtrack in Wes Anderson's 2007 film The Darjeeling Limited and in Jennifer Saunders's 2016 film Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie. It also features prominently in the 2024 miniseries Lost Boys and Fairies where it appears in its original form as well as in a solo performance by Siôn Daniel Young in his portrayal of Gabriel.