Ça plane pour moi

Producer Lou Deprijck always maintained that he performed the vocals on the original recording, and the question remains controversial. In 2006 the Brussels court of appeal, upholding the decision of a lower court, found that Bertrand was the sole interpreter of the song. In 2010 an expert opinion produced for another case suggested the 1977 vocalist had a Picard accent, like Deprijck's. were ill-founded. but in a follow-up interview the next day he denied this, saying he was being ironic and had been trapped, and threatening legal action. This echoed a similar incident in the 1990s when Bertrand seemed to tell journalist Gilles Verlant that he was not the singer before quickly retracting. Since 2010, Bertrand has consistently said that he is the performer on the original recording, and this remains the position in law. Deprijck later recorded a version of the song under his own name and claimed that scientific analysis proved his version and the original version were sung by the same voice. ==Background==

"Ça plane pour moi" was written by Lou Deprijck and Yvan Lacomblez. It was conceived as a comic pastiche of the punk movement. The session to record both songs took only two hours. ==Composition==

"Ça plane pour moi" is a three-chord rock song based on a twelve-bar blues progression that features nonsensical French lyrics with occasional lines in English. Steve Huey of AllMusic describes the song's melody as a "four-note hook which sounds like something straight out of an early Beach Boys or Four Seasons song", accompanied by "... mildly distorted guitars, plus a steadily pumping rhythm section and an old-time rock & roll-style saxophone. Huey also describes the voice as "cartoonish...[staying] in a monotone as he recites all the lyrics." Lou Deprijck has said "... the lyrics are a succession of incoherent things, that a guy, who is stoned, seems to see... it means nothing. It is like if you take LSD. That is exactly the thing you see". The first verse is as follows: Wham! Bam! Mon chat "Splash" gît sur mon lit. A bouffé sa langue en buvant dans mon whisky. Quant à moi: peu dormi, vidé, brimé. J'ai du dormir dans la gouttière où j'ai un flash. Hou-hou-hou-hou! En quatre couleurs. Wham! Bam! My cat, Splash is rolling around on my bed He swallowed his tongue as he drank all my whisky As for me: hardly slept, I feel empty and reprimanded I had to sleep in the gutter where I had a flash of inspiration Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh! In four colours. ==Reception==

The song was praised by Joe Strummer of the Clash: "Plastic Bertrand compressed into that three minutes a bloody good record that will get any comatose person toe-tapping, you know what I mean? By purist rules, it's not allowed to even mention Plastic Bertrand. Yet, this record was probably a lot better than a lot of so-called punk records." In a review of the song for AllMusic, Steve Huey praised its "simple, inspired stupidity". ==Chart performance==

"Ça plane pour moi" became a hit in several European countries, peaking at No. 19 in Austria, No. 12 in Sweden, No. 11 in Bertrand's native Belgium, No. 8 in the U.K., No. 6 in West Germany, No. 4 in Ireland, No. 2 in the Netherlands, No. 7 in New Zealand and No. 2 in Australia. a strong performance for a French-language song; only "Dominique" by The Singing Nun and "Je t'aime... moi non plus" by Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin It also peaked at No. 58 in Canada. and is regarded as a "punk-new wave-pop classic." == In popular culture ==

"Ça plane pour moi" is featured in the 1985 film ''National Lampoon's European Vacation'', 2001's Winning London starring Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, 1999 Australian-French comedy film Me Myself I, the 2004 comedy Eurotrip, the thirty-third episode of What's New, Scooby-Doo?, "Ready to Scare", Danny Boyle's 2010 film 127 Hours, the opening scene of 2011's Jackass 3.5, the 2012 film Ruby Sparks, the 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street, the 2017 film Freak Show, the 2025 film The Family Plan 2, season 4, episode 9 of Hacks, season 5, episode 7 of Money Heist, season 4, episode 4 of Ozark, and the trailer for the 2018 film Super Troopers 2. The song is also used as the soundtrack for a commercial spot for Time Warner Cable in the United States (April 2011). A cover version is featured in the video game Just Dance 2019. ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications and sales==

Swedish singer and former rapper Leila K covered "Ça plane pour moi" in 1993. It was released by Mega Records as the second single from her first solo album, Carousel (1993). The song was produced by Denniz Pop and Douglas Carr, and achieved moderate success on the charts in many European countries. It peaked at No. 6 in Finland, No. 8 in Austria and Denmark, No. 13 in Germany, No. 16 in Belgium and No. 17 in Switzerland. On the Eurochart Hot 100, "Ça plane pour moi" reached No. 21 in May 1993. Critical reception Simon Price from Melody Maker called the song "a bizarre Moroder-ised version [...] on which she gets away with calling someone a fat c*** because it's in French, and adds, unbelievably, I am the Queen of the Divan." Pan-European magazine Music & Media remarked that here, the Plastic Bertrand French-language punk classic had been "re-styled in an electronic dance fashion à la Billy Idol. Très bien!" Head of music Peter Kricek at Czech Republic's Bonton Radio/Prague said that the original from 1978 was known in his country in the communist days, but it was more of an underground thing. He said, "The people here are absolutely mad about Leila's cover, which is a powerplay at our station. Every four hours we play it." Alan Jones from Music Week gave it three out of five, stating that the song "is transformed into technopunk by the self-proclaimed 'queen of the divan' who, although better known as a rapper is in singing mode here." He also added that the Felix mixes on the CD and 12-inch "take it into trance territory. An odd combination, but likely to do well." Andrew Harrison from Select deemed it a "towering disaster". Sylvia Patterson of Smash Hits praised Leila K's version, giving it five out of five and naming it Best New Single. She declared it "brilliant", saying, "Phew! Ruck and Rool!! (Or whatever it is in French). A delirious synth whirl which hollers and spits and pouts not unlike EMF in a Electrolux spin-cycle without their guitars." Track listing • Maxi single (Urban 861 597-2) • "Ça plane pour moi" (Short) – 3:23 • "Check the Dan" (Short) – 3:55 • "Ça plane pour moi" (Long) – 5:48 • "Check the Dan" (Long) – 6:35 Charts Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Other cover versions==

• In 1978, by under the title "Bin wieder frei". • In 1979, by Telex on the album Looking for Saint Tropez. • In 1984, by Hermann Gunnarsson under the title "Einn dans við mig" on the album Frískur og Fjörugur. • In 1988, by on the album Rumble • In 1997, by Thee Headcoatees on the album Punk Girls. • In 1998, by the Presidents of the United States of America on their compilation album Rarities. • In 2000, by Kim Kay as the third single from her compilation album Hits!. • In 2006, by Richard Thompson on the album RT- The Life and Music of Richard Thompson. • In 2006, by Pigloo under the title "Ça plane pour moi (le twist)", as the third single from the album La Banquise. It reached number 18 on the French SNEP Singles Chart and remained in the top 100 for 24 weeks. • In 2009, by Nouvelle Vague on the album 3. • In 2019, by Metallica at a concert in King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels. ==See also==