"Papa" is a song written by Stephen Poliakoff

Stephen Poliakoff

Stephen Poliakoff, CBE, FRSL is an acclaimed British playwright, director and scriptwriter, widely judged amongst Britain's foremost television dramatists.-Early life and career:...

 and Adrian Johnston http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/poliakoff/gideonsdaughter/episodeguide.shtml
for the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 drama Gideon's Daughter

Gideon's Daughter

Gideon's Daughter is the second of two linked BBC television dramas written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff.Produced independently for the BBC by Talkback Thames and starring Bill Nighy, Miranda Richardson, and Emily Blunt, it aired in the UK on BBC One on 26 February 2006 and in the US on BBC...

. The song is originally sung by Emily Blunt

Emily Blunt

Emily Olivia Leah Blunt is an English actress best known for her roles in The Devil Wears Prada , The Young Victoria , and The Adjustment Bureau . She has been nominated for two Golden Globe Awards, two London Film Critics' Circle Awards, and one BAFTA Award...

's character Natasha (and is occasionally referred to as Natasha's song) to her father (played by Bill Nighy

Bill Nighy

William Francis "Bill" Nighy is an English actor and comedian. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womanizer Prof...

) during a performance at her school. The performance features vocals with flamenco style acoustic/classical guitar accompaniment. The song, which forms a pivotal part of the story in Gideon's Daughter, was inspired by the tragic life and writings of Marie-Georges Simenon (Marie-Jo), daughter of the novelist Georges Simenon, who committed suicide by shooting herself at the age of 25.

Lyrics

I see you from my window

Walking with her there

I don't need to know which number

I won't stop you touch her hair

I don't need to see you waving

When you slip away at night

I don't have to know what happened

As you crawl back when it's light



[Not in film: I don't need you to look at me

And tell me how many hundreds there have been

I don't want to have to listen

As they fall a constant stream]

I don't need to catch you with them

Your voice so full of joy

As you murmur your little nothings

My own Papa so very coy



Mon cherie Papa

Mon cherie Papa



I don't need you to say you love me

I don't need you to say goodnight

I don't need you to caress me

I don't need to be held tight

I only want you to be ready

To know my voice will never ring

To know there'll never be another letter

You've got to hear this one small thing



I need you to remember

That I never was your shame

I always was your daughter

I never did complain

I always was your daughter

I never did complain