"Santiano"
Single by Hugues Aufray
Released1961
GenrePop
Songwriter(s)Jacques Plante, Dave Fisher

"Santiano" is a 1961 song, inspired by the sea shanty "Santianna", which uses the same tune. The song tells of a ship from Saint Malo bound to San Francisco, which is described as a place of great wealth. The French-language version was popularized first in the 1960s by Hugues Aufray.

Original version

In the early 1960s, the song was recorded in French by artist Hugues Aufray. It is by far the most well-known shanty in France and was released in 1961. The song's French lyrics were composed by the French writer Jacques Plante. The song was included on Aufray's 2007 compilation Les 50 plus belles chansons.

Star Academy France

"Santiano"
Single by Star Academy 5
from the album Les Meilleurs Moments
B-side"Instrumental"
ReleasedNovember 11, 2005
RecordedFrance, 2005
GenrePop
Length2:39
LabelMercury, Universal Music
Songwriter(s)Hugues Aufray
Jacques Plante
Dave Fisher
Star Academy 5 singles chronology
"Je ne suis pas un héros"
(2005)		 "Santiano"
(2005)		 "À bicyclette"
(2005)

In 2005, the song was covered by Star Academy 5 on the album Les Meilleurs Moments on which it features as the first track. Released on November 11, 2005 as the second single from the album, it achieved great success in France, where it topped the chart, as well as in Belgium (Wallonia). As of July 2014, it is the 87th best-selling single of the 21st century in France, with 325,000 units sold.[1]

Track listings

CD single
  1. "Santiano" — 2:39
  2. "Santiano" (instrumental) — 2:39
Digital download
  1. "Santiano" — 2:39

Certifications and sales

Country Certification Date Sales certified Physical sales
France — — — 323,695 (272,067 in 2005[2] + 51,628 in 2006[3])

Charts

Chart (2005-2006) Peak
position
Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart[4] 2
Eurochart Hot 100 4
French SNEP Singles Chart[5] 1
Swiss Singles Chart[6] 18
End of year chart (2005) Position
Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart[7] 30
French Singles Chart[8] 15
End of year chart (2006) Position
French Singles Chart[9] 94

Other versions

The Kingston Trio performed a cover of the song in 1958, under the title "Santy Anno”. This was the first recorded version with English lyrics, and tells a similar story about a California-bound ship departing from Liverpool.

In 1961, American folk band The Highwaymen recorded their rendition of the English-language “Santiano".

"Santiano" was covered by Laurent Voulzy in 2006. It features as 17th track on his studio album La Septième Vague.

The "Oktoberklub", a folk-band from the GDR covered the song with unrelated lyrics under the title Da sind wir aber immer noch ("We're still here"), a pro-communist fight-song.

In 2012, German band Santiano, named after Aufray's song, released another cover under the same title and with the same tune as the starting track of their first album. This version lives up to Aufray's appraisal of sailing, with mostly new lyrics.

In 2014, Belgian HandsUp producer DJ THT made a cover of "Santiano", featuring the vocals of Angel Lyne and released on Big Beef, a division of Tough Stuff Music.

In April 2021, British folk band The Longest Johns released a cover of “Santiano”, performed in collaboration with French neofolk band SKÁLD. This version is sung in both French and English.

References

  1. ↑ "Top 100 des singles les plus vendus du millénaire en France, épisode 2 (90-81)". Chartsinfrance. 19 July 2014. Archived from the original on 2019-04-07. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
  2. ↑ 2005 best-selling singles in France Fanofmusic.fr Archived 2009-03-02 at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved November 1, 2008)
  3. ↑ 2006 best-selling singles in 2006 Fanofmusic.fr Archived 2011-09-30 at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved November 1, 2008)
  4. ↑ "Santiano", Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart Ultratop.be (Retrieved October 30, 2008)
  5. ↑ "Santiano", French Singles Chart Lescharts.com (Retrieved October 30, 2008)
  6. ↑ "Santiano", Swiss Singles Chart Hitparade.ch (Retrieved October 30, 2008)
  7. ↑ 2005 Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart Ultratop.be Archived 2012-10-20 at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved October 30, 2008)
  8. ↑ 2005 French Singles Chart Disqueenfrance.com Archived 2012-04-04 at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved October 30, 2008)
  9. ↑ 2006 French Singles Chart Ifop.com Archived 2007-12-04 at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved October 30, 2008)
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