"N'importe quoi" is the name of a 1987 song recorded by the French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 artist Florent Pagny

Florent Pagny

Florent Pagny is a French musician. He has also acted in many French films. He records work in French, Italian, Spanish and English, and his greatest hits include "N'importe quoi", "Savoir aimer", "Ma Liberté de penser" and "Caruso" .As of 2008, he has sold 4,268,980 copies of singles,...

. It was his debut single, released in March 1988. It became a big hit in France, topping the chart for two months and remaining to date Pagny's second best-selling single in terms of charts and sales.

Background, writing and covers

After several appearances in films, Pagny decided to record his first single, "N'importe quoi". He wrote lyrics, while Marion Vernoux composed the music. The song deals with the themes of drug

Drug

A drug, broadly speaking, is any substance that, when absorbed into the body of a living organism, alters normal bodily function. There is no single, precise definition, as there are different meanings in drug control law, government regulations, medicine, and colloquial usage.In pharmacology, a...

s and alcohol

Alcohol

In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

 ; in this protest song, the narrator addresses a friend, trying to make him think about the dangers of these substances. The music video was filmed under a circus tent.

Pagny performed the song during his 2003 tour, and thus features on his 2004 live album Été 2003 à l'Olympia, as eighth track. The song was also included on Pagny's best of Les 50 Plus Belles Chansons, released in 2008, and on the French compilation Les 100 Plus Belles Chansons.

The song was covered by Les Enfoirés

Les Enfoirés

Les Enfoirés , is the name given to the singers and performers in the yearly charity concert for the Restaurants du Cœur .-History:...

 on their album 2011: Dans l'œil des Enfoirés. The song was performed by Christophe Maé

Christophe Maé

Christophe Maé is a French pop singer.-Career:Maé learned to play the violin at age 6, and later began playing the guitar and harmonica at age 16 after he was immobilised from a chronic illness. He has stated that this was the time when he became inspired by Stevie Wonder...

, Patricia Kaas

Patricia Kaas

Patricia Kaas is a French singer and actress.Kaas is a very successful French-speaking singer, with an International following...

, Amel Bent

Amel Bent

Amel Bent is a French singer.- Biography :Amel Bent grew up in the French commune of La Courneuve with her Algerian father and a Moroccan mother. She has a brother and a sister...

 and Jean-Jacques Goldman

Jean-Jacques Goldman

Jean-Jacques Goldman is a Grammy Awards-winning French singer-songwriter. He is hugely popular in the French-speaking world, and since 2003 was the second-highest-grossing French living pop singer, after Johnny Hallyday.- Biography :...

.

Chart performances

The song was charted for 26 weeks on the French Singles Chart, from 12 March 12 to 3 September 1988. It started at number 48, then climbed quickly and reached the top ten in its fifth week. It finally topped the chart for eight consecutive weeks, from its ninth to sixteenth weeks. Then it almost did not stop to drop on the chart, totaling 16 weeks in the top ten and 22 weeks in the top 25.

"N'importe quoi" hit Silver

Music recording sales certification

Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...

 status awarded by the SNEP, making the song Pagny's second most successful single, only beaten by his 1998 huge hit "Savoir aimer

Savoir aimer

"Savoir aimer" is a 1997 song recorded by the French singer Florent Pagny. It was the first single from his album of the same name, on which it features as first track, and his 14th single overall...

".

According to Infodisc website, "N'importe quoi" is the 365th best-selling single of all time in France.

Track listings

7" single

1. "N'importe quoi" — 3:50
2. "Je resterai là" — 3:30

7" maxi

1. "N'importe quoi" (maxi version) — 5:25
2. "N'importe quoi" — 3:50
3. "Je resterai là" — 3:30

Digital download

1. "N'importe quoi" — 3:50
2. "N'importe quoi" (2004 live version) — 5:16

Peak positions

Chart (1988–1989)	Peak position
Eurochart Hot 100	26
French SNEP Singles Chart	1

Certifications

Country	Certification	Date	Sales certified	Physical sales
France	Gold	1988	500,000	616,000

External links

• "N'importe quoi", lyrics + music video