Gabriel (Najoua Belyzel song)

"Gabriel" is a 2005 song recorded by French artist Najoua Belyzel. It was her debut single from her album Entre deux mondes... en équilibre, on which it is the sixth track, and was released in November 2005. It achieved great success in Belgium (Wallonia) where it topped the chart, and in France. To date, it is Belyzel's most successful single in terms of peak positions and sales and can be deemed as her signature song.

This article is about the song by Najoua Belyzel. For the song by Joe Goddard, see Gabriel (Joe Goddard song).
"Gabriel"
Single by Najoua Belyzel
from the album Entre deux mondes... en équilibre
B-side"Instrumental"
Released7 November 2005
Recorded2005
GenrePop, Electronica
Length3:35
LabelScorpio, Sony Music
Songwriter(s)Najoua Mazouri
Christophe Casanave
Producer(s)Jean-François Berger
Christophe Casanave
Najoua Belyzel singles chronology
"Gabriel"
(2005)		 "Je ferme les yeux"
(2006)

Song information

The music, written by Najoua Mazouri and composed by Christophe Casanave, is a mixture of pop and electronica. The style of voice is between Cranberries' singer Dolores O'Riordan (a little hoarse at times) and Mylène Farmer (rise in acute notes and singing on the breath). The lyrics are poetic ("Que ton âme se jette à l'eau dans mon corps océan", "Zéphyr"...) and there are several play on words ("Gabriel, s'attend (Satan) à plus qu'un sentiment...", "Qu'il en soit ainsi ("Ainsi soit-il (Amen)", ...).

The phrase "Es-tu fait pour lui, es-tu fait pour moi ?" was interpreted as a choice between love (spiritual) of God ("Him") or that (physical) of a deadly human (a non shared love), but it has often been incorrectly interpreted as a hesitation in a choice of sexual orientation (gay / bi or hetero).[1]

In France, the song had a long chart trajectory. It started at number 35 on 26 November 2005, then sometimes climbed, sometimes dropped. It entered the top ten in its eleventh week and stayed in it for 17 consecutive weeks, including a peak at number three for two weeks. The song dropped slowly and totaled 36 weeks in the top 50 and 40 weeks on the chart (top 100).[2] As of July 2014, it was the 94th best-selling single of the 21st century in France, with 317,000 units sold.[3]

Track listings
CD single
  1. "Gabriel" (radio edit) — 3:35
  2. "Gabriel" (instrumental) — 3:34
Digital download
  1. "Gabriel" (radio edit) — 3:35
  2. "Gabriel" (instrumental) — 3:34
CD maxi - Germany
  1. "Gabriel" (radio edit) — 3:35
  2. "Gabriel" (instrumental) — 3:35
  3. "Gabriel" (blue PM atmosphere mix) — 3:18
  4. "Gabriel" (blue PM extended mix) — 5:04
  5. "Gabriel" (house mix) — 4:45
  6. "Gabriel" (music video) — 3:34

Charts and sales

Certifications
Country Certification Date Sales certified Physical sales Digital downloads
France[10] Platinum June 15, 2006 300,000 309,300[11] (278,889 in 2006[12]) 31,916 in 2006[13]
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References
  1. "Najoua Belyzel en interview", Chartsinfrance, March 14, 2006 Chartsinfrance.net (Retrieved November 15, 2008)
  2. "Gabriel", French and German singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved November 14, 2008)
  3. "Top 100 des singles les plus vendus du millénaire en France, épisode 1 (100-91)". Chartsinfrance. 12 July 2014. Retrieved 2015-03-22.
  4. "Gabriel", Belgian (Flanders) Ultratip Chart Ultratop.be (Retrieved January 18, 2011)
  5. "Gabriel", Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart Ultratop.be (Retrieved November 14, 2008)
  6. "Gabriel", Swiss Singles Chart Hitparade.ch (Retrieved October 4, 2008)
  7. 2006 Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart Ultratop.be Archived October 19, 2013, at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved November 14, 2008)
  8. 2006 French Digital Chart Ifop.com Archived September 13, 2007, at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved November 15, 2008)
  9. 2006 French Singles Chart Disqueenfrance.com Archived April 4, 2012, at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved November 14, 2008)
  10. French certifications Disqueenfrance.com Archived 2012-03-07 at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved November 15, 2008)
  11. Najoua Belyzel's certifications and sales in France See: "Les Ventes" => "Toutes les certifications depuis 1973" => "BELYZEL N." Infodisc.fr Archived 2012-03-07 at WebCite (Retrieved November 15, 2008)
  12. Best-selling singles of 2006 in France + sales Fanofmusic.fr (Retrieved November 15, 2008)
  13. Best-downloaded singles of 2006 in France + sales Fanofmusic.fr (Retrieved November 15, 2008)
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