Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?

Voulez-vous coucher avec moi (ce soir) ? (French pronunciation: ​[vule vu kuʃe avɛk mwa (sə swaʁ)] , "Do you [formal] want to sleep with me (tonight)?") is a French phrase that has become well known in the English-speaking world through the song Lady Marmalade.

Origins and usage

In literature

Use of the phrase in print in the English-speaking world can be traced to the early 20th century.

American author John Dos Passos' 1920 novel Three Soldiers features the Americanized version, "Voulay vous couchay aveck moy?"

A poem by E. E. Cummings published in 1922 and known by its first line "little ladies more" contains the phrase "voulez vous coucher avec moi?" twice.

The phrase also appears in Tennessee Williams' 1947 play A Streetcar Named Desire.

In media

In 1973 the Italian pornstar-turned-politician Ilona Staller (Cicciolina) achieved fame with a radio show called "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?" on Radio Luna.

In music

The amorous question is first posed at the very end of the Big Three Trio tune "Get Up Those Stairs, Madamoiselle" (Bullet 274 - (1947)). The Big Three Trio was Blues-god Willie Dixon's first musical outfit

The phrase is perhaps best known from the 1974 song "Lady Marmalade," first popularized by the group Labelle and lead singer Patti LaBelle. In 2001, singers Christina Aguilera, Mýa, Pink, and rapper Lil' Kim did a remake of the song for the Moulin Rouge! soundtrack.

In 1979 ABBA released an album called "Voulez-Vous," with a track of the same name.

In 1983 country singers David Frizzell and Shelly West recorded a country music song called "Cajun Invitation" which contains the line.

In 1993 jazz rap group Digable Planets used the phrase in their song "Swoon Units."

In 1994 Belgian DJ Alain Deproost, also known as Daddy K, recorded a eurodance song called "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi."

In 1994 the mexican band Café Tacuba used the phrase in the song "El baile y el salón".

In 1998 German Euro disco group Bad Boys Blue used the phrase in their hit song Hungry For Love.

In 1996 the phrase was used in The Whitlams song "Love is Everywhere" from the album Eternal Nightcap.

In 1997 the phrase was used 13 times by Peter-Paul Pigmans (3 Steps Ahead) in the song "It's Delicious" from the album "Most Wanted and Mad."

In 1997 it was used in All Saints' double A-Side to their cover of the Red Hot Chili Peppers song "Under the Bridge," which was a considerably different version from the original, though also titled "Lady Marmalade."

In 2006 singer Christina Aguilera used the phrase a second time in her song "Nasty Naughty Boy" from the second CD part of her album Back to Basics. The same year the band Aquarium used the phrase in a similar song from their album Carefree Russian Tramp.

In 2007 it was part of a remix of Swizz Beatz's song "It's Me Bitches."

In 2011 and 2013 rapper Logic used this phrase in his song "All I Do" in the albums "Young Sinatra" and "Young Sinatra: Welcome to Forever."

In 2012 singer Christina Aguilera used the phrase a third time in her song "Around the World" from her album Lotus. The same year rapper Mickey Avalon used the phrase in his song "Mr. Brownstone" from his album Loaded.

In 2013 Serbian singer Ana Nikolic used the phrase as title of the song from her album Milion Dolara.

In television

In 1995 the British soap opera Coronation Street featured a memorable humorous moment when Ken Barlow teaches French to dizzy blonde Raquel Watts:

Raquel: "I met a French man in Corfu who taught me how to say isn't it a lovely day today."
Ken: "Right, let's put a sentence together. I want you to say to me in French 'Hello Ken. My name is Raquel. Isn't it a lovely day today?"
Raquel: "Ooh, clever. Right, here goes. 'Bonjour Ken. Je m'appelle Raquel. Voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir ?"^[1]

In the 2006 tenth season episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft" from the animated series South Park, Cartman is persuading one of the boys, Clyde, to join the World of Warcraft to help take down a stronger player by asking Clyde if he could go back in time and stop Hitler, would he do it (except Cartman wouldn't because he admired him). When Clyde insists on giving up, Cartman mentions that when Hitler rose to power, the people that gave up were the French; he then taunts Clyde by asking if he's French and saying, "voulez-vous coucher avec moi, Clyde?"

In the show Friends, Monica goes on a double date as Phoebe's date has a friend, and the former dates a man fluent in French. She asks him, "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?" not knowing what it means. He responds, "This is embarrassing," and then explains what it means, embarrassing Monica in turn.

In 1990 S01E21 of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" Aunt Vivian tells Will and Carlton a young girl is coming for dinner named Kayla Samuels who is a scholarship student and president of her high school French club among other academic achievements. When she enters Will takes her hand in attempt to charm and asks; "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?" And so the scene cuts to the intro.

In the show "Degrassi: The Next Generation", Zoe dares Winston to ask Alli "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?". He immediately clarifies that it was a dare.

References