| "Parler à mon père" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byCeline Dion | ||||
| from the albumSans attendre | ||||
| Released | 2 July 2012 (2012-07-02) | |||
| Recorded | February 2012 | |||
| Studio | Echo Beach Studios (Jupiter, Florida)[1] | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 2:55 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Songwriter | Jacques Veneruso | |||
| Producers |
| |||
| Celine Dion singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Parler à mon père" onYouTube | ||||
"Parler à mon père" (meaning "talk to my father") is a song recorded by Canadian singerCeline Dion, released as the lead single from her 2012 French-language album,Sans attendre. It was written byJacques Veneruso and produced by Veneruso and Patrick Hampartzoumian. "Parler à mon père" is apop song about Dion's father who died in 2003. The track received generally positive reviews from music critics, who noted that it is one of the standout songs onSans attendre. The Thierry Vergnes-directed music video features Dion in the middle of a desert. It became her second most viewed French video onYouTube, after "Pour que tu m'aimes encore". "Parler à mon père" was commercially successful, reaching number one in Quebec and number eight in France. It became one of Dion's longest-charting singles in France, spending 63 weeks on the chart.
On 7 June 2012, Dion's official website announced that during April and May, the singer began recording songs for her next French and English albums.[2] On 29 June 2012, celinedion.com previewed a thirty-second fragment of the first single from the French-language album, "Parler à mon père".[3] The cover art for the single was created by the illustrator Aurore Hutton, niece of former French PresidentValéry Giscard d'Estaing.[3][4] The full version of "Parler à mon père" premiered on 1 July 2012 and the single was released to digital outlets in selected countries on the next day.[5] In slected countries, the instrumental version was released as well.[5]
The song was written and produced byJacques Veneruso and co-produced by Patrick Hampartzoumian. Veneruso has written several French-language hits for Dion, including: "Sous le vent," "Tout l'or des hommes," "Je ne vous oublie pas" and "Immensité," among others. Lyrically, the song is about Dion's father who died 30 November 2003. Dion said that he was her biggest fan and she thinks of him every day and knows that he is always with her, watching over her children.[6]
The song received generally favorable reviews from music critics. According to Łukasz Mantiuk of All About Music, "Parler à mon père" is one of the best tracks on the album. He called it a very good song but noted that "Parler à mon père" does not reflect the material on the album which contains mostly ballads.[7] Bernard Perusse fromThe Gazette commented that the performance and arrangement of "Parler à mon père" is "refreshingly subdued" and controlled. The song has an "instantly-accessible melody for Dion to navigate," which makes a "perfect vehicle for her to sail gracefully".[8] Alain de Repentigny fromLa Presse wrote that it is a pop song written custom for Dion. However, he felt that this first single is no locomotive for the new album.[9] According to Pure Charts, "Parler à mon père" is a bit nostalgic but not melancholic.[10] Marty Tobin of Quai Baco wrote that this song is a great opener for the album, with touching lyrics and catchy music. According to him, "Parler à mon père" brings nothing new to the French music but it is done well.[11] Lea Hermann fromFocus also praised the song calling it a brisk opener for the album.[12]
"Parler à mon père" became a very successful single inQuebec, topping the chart for ten weeks.[13] On theCanadian Hot 100 which includes mainly English-language songs, "Parler à mon père" peaked at number fifty-three.[14] In Europe, the song reached number eight in France, number eleven in Belgium Wallonia and number twenty-five in Switzerland.[15] It became Dion's second longest-charting single in France, spending sixty-three weeks on the chart.[16] According toFrancophonie Diffusion, "Parler à mon père" was the fourteenth most-played single worldwide during 2012 by Francophone artist.[17]
A sneak preview of the music video for "Parler à mon père" was posted on celinedion.com on 5 September 2012 and the full video premiered the next day.[18][19] It was directed by Thierry Vargnes who previously worked with Dion in 2007 on the music videos for "Et s'il n'en restait qu'une (je serais celle-là)" and "Immensité".[20] The video was filmed inLas Vegas on 16 July 2012 and in theDeath Valley. Because of the temperature of 50 °C (122 °F) in theNevada desert, in some scenes the director used Dion's double.[21] Dion is dressed in a white dress from designerElie Saab's Spring/Summer 2012 collection.[22] According to Pure Charts, the video for "Parler à mon père" is simple and poetic. It opens with a quote from the German poet,Angelus Silesius: "The soul is a crystal and love is its light". In the video, which is full of light, Dion appears alone in the middle of a desert. These images are interspersed with a scene where a younger woman visits the grave of her father.[10] As of March 2025, "Parler à mon père" music video has accumulated more than 127 million views onYouTube.[23]
Dion performed the song during two television specials promoting the album: in Canada on 4 November 2012 onTVA and in France on 24 November 2012 onFrance 2. Later on 2 December 2012, she also sang it onChabada onFrance 3 and onVivement Dimanche on France 2.[24][25][26] On 20 December 2012, Dion performed "Parler à mon père" in another television special onNRJ 12.[27] The song was also performed on 27 July 2013 during theCéline... une seule fois concert inQuebec City and theSans attendre Tour inAntwerp andParis from 21 November 2013 through 5 December 2013; the performance in the former city was included in theCéline une seule fois / Live 2013 CD/DVD.[28]
In 2013, "Parler à mon père" was nominated for theFélix Award in category Most Popular Song of the Year.[29]
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Canada (Music Canada)[40] | Gold | 40,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
| Region | Date | Format | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 July 2012 | Digital download | Columbia |
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