Vivo per lei

"Vivo per lei" (English: "I Live for Her") is the name of a 1995 song recorded by Italian artist Andrea Bocelli as duet with Giorgia for his album Romanza. The song was also released as a duet with other female artists, including French singer Hélène Ségara in Francophone countries, Judy Weiss in German-speaking countries, Marta Sanchez in Spain and Sandy Leah Lima in Brazilian Portuguese.^[1]

The version with Marta Sanchez topped the Spanish singles chart in 1996 under the title "'Vivo por ella" and is available on her album One Step Closer. The version with Ségara was released in December 1997 and became a hit in Belgium (Wallonia) and France where it reached number one on the charts. It was the fifth single from Ségara's first studio album, Cœur de verre. The version with Judy Weiss was also number one in Switzerland in 1997.

Song information

The song was written by the group O.R.O. (Manzani – Mengalli – Zelli) in 1995 for their album Vivo per.... The song won the "Disco per l'estate" edition of that year. During the same year, the lyrics of the song was rewritten by Gatto Panceri and was relaunched thanks to the duet between Andrea Bocelli and Giorgia. The new lyrics are characterized by the fact that "lei" (her) in the title refers to music, whereas the original was a love song for a girl.^[2] The new version of "Vivo per lei" became a tribute to the music; that is what is referred in the title to "lei" in Italian, "elle" in French, "es" in German and "ella" in Spanish. This multilingual song mixes lyrics in Italian by Bocelli and other languages after the versions. The song's piano melody resembles an Elton John composition.^[3]

For international versions, German lyrics were written by Michael Kunze, French lyrics by Art Mengo, and Spanish lyrics by Luis Gómez Escolar. There is also a Greek version called "Se Thelo edo" sung by Dimitra Galani and Giorgos Karadimos.

The song is currently used in a French TV advert for pastas. Only Bocelli's voice can be heard in the excerpt played.

During Ségara's first tour, the song was performed, but Bocelli was replaced by Bruno Pelletier. This version is available on the live album En concert à l'Olympia, as second track on the second CD. It was also included on Ségara's compilation Le Best of, on Bocelli's album Romanza but in duet with Giorgia, and on Bruno Pelletier's album Sur Scene (2001).

The song was covered in 2004 by Calogero, Chimène Badi and Patrick Fiori on Les Enfoirés' album Les Enfoirés dans l'espace.^[4]

Chart performances

In France, the song went straight to number 9 on 6 December 1997, and reached number one four weeks later, thus becoming the sixth bilingual number-one singles in France. It topped the chart for five consecutive weeks, then dropped slowly, remaining for 22 weeks in the top ten, 33 weeks in the top 50 and 42 weeks in the top 100.^[5] It was certified Platinum by the SNEP.^[6] In Belgium (Wallonia), the single debuted at number 18 on 20 December and achieved number one in its sixth week and stayed there for five weeks, then dropped and fell off the top ten after 15 weeks and the top 40 after 28 weeks.^[7] To date, it is the best-selling single for Ségara, and the second one for Bocelli (the first is "Con te partirò").

In Switzerland, the version with Judy Weiss entered the chart at number six on 27 April 1997. It hit number one for a sole week and remained for 26 weeks in the top 50. The song achieved moderate success in Austria where it peaked at number 22 on 18 May 1997 and fell of the top 40 after ten weeks.

Track listings

Italy

CD single

Francophone countries

CD single

Digital download

German-speaking countries

CD single

Charts and sales

Chart successions

References