Lyrics
The song is about a fictional girl named Marie-Claire who grows up to become a member of the Jet Set, and lives in Paris. The lyrics describe her from the perspective of a childhood friend; it is left unclear whether they have remained close. Therhetorical question of the title suggests that her glamorous lifestyle may not have brought Marie-Claire happiness or contentment.
Sarstedt himself was not French, but the song may have benefited from the contemporary awareness in Britain of such singers as Serge Gainsbourg and Jacques Brel.
The lyrics contain a large number of contemporary and other references:
Marlene Dietrich: husky-voiced German actress and singer
Zizi Jeanmaire: French ballerina
Balmain: French designer of elegant fashions
Boulevard Saint-Michel: street in the Latin Quarter famous for bookshops
Rolling Stones: popular English rock and roll band
Sacha Distel: French crooner
Sorbonne: University of Paris
Picasso: Spanish pioneer of modern art
Juan-les-Pins: fashionable beach resort on the French Riviera
Saint Moritz: fashionable ski resort in the Swiss Alps
Napoleon brandy: especially fine aged brandy
Aga Khan: World-travelling Islamic leader and racehorse owner
There is also a slightly longer version (5.20 as opposed to 4.42) with two extra verses that was apparently banned from radio play due to (then) questionable lyrical content.
[edit]Inspiration
It is often suspected that the name Marie-Claire is inspired by the originally French Marie Claire magazine, a women's fashion weekly first published in 1937. One theory says that this song is about the Italian star Sophia Loren, who was abandoned by her father and had a poverty stricken life in Naples.[citation needed] Another theory has the song being inspired by singer and actress Nina van Pallandt.[citation needed] In reality, Peter Sarstedt wrote the song about a girl he fell madly in love with in Vienna in 1965.[citation needed] She died in a hotel fire.[citation needed] The song was written in Copenhagen.
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