“One night in Paris
Is like a year in any other place

One girl in Paris
Is like loving every woman”

“Une Nuit A Paris” (One Night in Paris), writers Kevin Godley and Lol Creme. From The Original Soundtrack, recorded by 10cc, March 1975.

 

“Clearly a major influence on Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody and a wild, fun journey.”

– Jeff Pollack, Huffington Post

Months before Queen released their mini opera “Bohemian Rhapsody”, 10cc released a mini opera of their own – in three parts, called One Night in Paris. An experimental, artful, intelligent work in their best selling album The Original Soundtrack.

“That’s the way the croissant crumbles after all”

The album’s opening track, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme’s “Une Nuit a Paris”, is a nine-minute, multi-part “mini-operetta”. In English, the title translates as “One Night in Paris” and the suite is divided into three separate parts:

Part 1 – One Night in Paris

Part 2 – The Same Night in Paris

Part 3 – Later That Same Night in Paris

Lyrically the song tells a tale of a British tourist in Paris, France. The locals attempt to con the man into buying items such as a Swiss watch and photographs. Eventually, the man ends up in the red-light district and although he feels ripped off, sleeps with a prostitute. Due to a series of complications, a policeman arrives on the scene and is shot dead. more

Part One: One Night in Paris

Bonjour monsieur
Paris really welcomes you
It’s the best room in the house
It’s forty francs a night, alright.
It’s crazy, it isn’t worth a centime
I’ll take it!
Merci Monsieur

Rouged lips in the gaslight
A great view of the hall
That’s the way the croissant crumbles after all