French players have become accustomed to celebrating their victories to the sound of the hit Gala, released in 1996. Enough to give a second life to the song on Spotify, Deezer or YouTube.
“Na-na-na-na-na, na-na“. The haunting chorus stays in your head. After each victory of the Blues at the World Cup in Qatar, it is used to being sung – or rather shouted – by the French players as a celebration. This chorus is that of the hit “Freed from desire», by the singer Gala, released in 1996. Brought up to date by the band of Didier Deschamps, on the initiative of midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni – yet not born when the title was released -, the song lives for a second youth.
On music streaming platforms, his listening explodes during matches of the France team. Between December 9 and 10 – the day of France-England in the quarter-finals of the World Cup – streams jumped 84% on Deezer. And even 122% between December 13 and 14, the day of the France-Morocco half. The hit from the end of the 90s is thus currently ranked second in the top of the most listened to titles in France on Deezer.
Read alsoWorld Cup: euphoric Blues in the locker room dancing to Freed from Desire
At its competitor Spotify, we observe that France has just passed the United Kingdom and Italy as the countries to have historically streamed the title the most on its platform. Listening experienced a peak of +10% on the evening of December 10 during the France-England quarter, we add on the side of the Swedish company. In addition, the song was, on Friday, 5th in the Top 50 titles on the platform in France.
Highly searched on Youtube
The success of the title can be seen on all platforms: on Apple music, it ranks 17th in the top 100 in France. On YouTube, the 1996 hit entered the end of November, a few days after the start of the World Cup, in the weekly ranking of the 100 most listened to titles in France. During the week of December 2 to 8, it even reached 70th place, with 350,000 views. The song “will undoubtedly be even higher in this week’s leaderboard, which will be available early next week“, we assure you at Youtube. In terms of Youtube queries, the Google Trends tool undeniably shows a World Cup effect, with interest rising from the end of November and peaking after almost every Blues match.
If the France team were to win against the Argentines in the World Cup final, the song should still resonate in the locker room of the Blues. Performed live by Gala herself? The scenario is less far-fetched than it looks. The 47-year-old Italian singer is indeed present in Qatar at the moment, for a concert in parallel with the World Cup, which is to take place this Friday evening. Asked about BFMTV this Friday, the artist said “hopeto be able to meet the Blues. French players who, despite their young age for many, assume their retro side, listening to Gala on victory nights, and playing Uno between two games.
Read also“We play Uno”: the Blues put the famous game back in the spotlight, sales take off by 7%
Note also that “Freed from desireis not the only title to benefit from the enthusiasm around the France team. “Bring home the cupby rapper Vegedream, released after the victory of the Blues in July 2018, saw a surge in its listening on Spotify of 72% over the past month, with a peak on December 10, the day of the France-England match and an even higher peak top Wednesday evening, for France-Morocco. For its part, the tube of France 98 “I will surviveby Gloria Gaynor, saw its listening on Deezer jump by 129% between December 9 and 10.
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