Meaning of “Voyage, Voyage” by Desireless

Voyage, Voyage is a song performed by French singer Desireless. The lyrics of the song, which are entirely written in French, talk about traveling – traveling to many beautiful, wonderful and sacred destinations all over the world. The French word for “travel”, as some readers might already know, is “voyage”. So the English translation of the title “Voyage Voyage” is “Travel Travel”. Lyrically, Voyage, Voyage encourages the listener to travel and travel and never stop traveling

You can view the lyrics, alternate interprations and sheet music for Desireless's Voyage, Voyage at Lyrics.org.

In the song, some of the notable and wonderful places mentioned include the following:

  • Mount Fuji (Fujiyama), which at a height of 12, 389 ft, is the highest mountain in Japan.
  • The Ganges (also known as Ganga), which is a famous river that flows through Bangladesh and India. The Ganges is one of the largest rivers in the world and a lifeline to millions of people in the two countries that it passes through.
  • The legendary Amazon rainforest located in South America.
  • The Sahara desert, which is located in North Africa. The Sahara is the largest hot desert in the world.

The lyrics of Voyage, Voyage basically encourage eternal traveling, through the above wonderful and breathtaking places and many more.

Voyage, Voyage by Desireless.

Facts about “Voyage, Voyage” by Desireless

  • The song was the first song Desireless released as a professional musician. The song came out in December 1986 and was a single from her debut album François.
  • Contrary to popular belief, Voyage, Voyage wasn’t written by Desireless (whose real name is Claudie Fritsch-Mentrop). The song was written by songwriters Dominique Albert Dubois and Jean-Michel Rivat, who handled the production of the song.
  • Voyage, Voyage was one of the most popular songs in Europe in the 1980s, reaching the number one spot in several European countries, including Germany, Denmark, Spain, and Greece. Ironically it failed to reach number one in her own home country of France.
  • Till date, the song, which Desireless sang entirely in her native tongue French, remains one of the few non English language songs to have been able to achieve the remarkable feat of becoming an international hit.
  • Voyage, Voyage was so successful it sold over 5 million copies globally, making it one of the most successful French songs ever written.
  • Since Voyage, voyage was released in December 1986, the song has been covered by several artists. The most famous cover of the song was by Belgian singer and songwriter Kae Ryan in 2008. Kate’s cover was also very successful in Europe.

13 Responses

  1. Martin says:

    Thank you I always wondered what the song was about, now if only someone could explain the video LOL

  2. Daniel Michalski says:

    This song, in my opinion, is about totally the opposite of encouragement to travel. It is a twist.

    The fact that the artist is also called Desireless (without desires) points to a different meaning.
    The song is about being drawn by the external World and the senses, where people loose themselves in desires.
    At a point you can see a reference to a Hindu God in those images on the wall, which might point to a more philosophical interpretation as well.

    There is also this part of lyrics:
    “Travel, travel, further than the night and the day
    Travel, in spaces unheard of by love”
    “spaces unhears of by love” seems to point out that those travels, which people are supposedly encouraged to, are actually worldy things that take them away from Love – the true meaning of life.

    Notice also how the artist is stopping and looking directly at you with a cold look, possibly asking you: “do you really think that those travels and pleasures bring you closer to love and life?”.

    What do you think?

  3. Anonymous says:

    Reminds me of 1980s ski trips

  4. Alf says:

    @daniel michalski
    very thoughtful and intelligent comment, thank you.
    True Art is seldomly one dimensional so it revers the piece and the spectator to inspire those interesting insights.

  5. Lily says:

    Intelligent comment and thank you for sharing.
    Here is my interpretation of the video. I see people gambling with a love of money, people eating like a glutton, people kissing…doing strange things and then all these people end up meeting in front of the slide show.
    sometimes we are too caugh in our lives and “desires” that we forget to “open” ourselves and see the real world….The lyrics evoke travel departures while implicitly evoking a spiritual dimension via the inner journey. Desireless is seen singing while slides of different destinations are projected behind her. In the background, she invites travelers to reach a tropical destination.
    The other option is that This clip is set in a mental hospital, is much darker than it looks

    • Anonymous says:

      I agree! Especially with: “The lyrics evoke travel departures while implicitly evoking a spiritual dimension via the inner journey.”

  6. Walter says:

    I think Daniel is pretty spot on with the meaning. Only listening to the lyrics and watching the music video are two entirely different songs.
    Regarding the video, it seems the song is more sensually oriented. The lyrics:
    “Travel Travel
    Voyage, voyage

    On the sacred water of an Indian river (journey, journey)
    Sur l’eau sacrée d’un fleuve indien (voyage, voyage)”

    seem to encourage this type of pursuit, although it will in the end be fruitless.
    You have an old businessman dancing with a young man and kicking the world away, like he does not care.
    It all seems very French hah!

  1. August 7, 2017

    […] is a French singer best known for her smash hit single Voyage Voyage from her debut album titled François. Voyage Voyage was so commercially successful it sold […]

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