‘Lady Marmalade’ is a song written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan, originally for Nolan's disco group the Eleventh Hour. The song is famous for the repeated refrain of "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?" in French as part of the chorus, a sexually suggestive line that translates into English as: "Do you want to sleep with me?" The song first became a popular hit when it was recorded in 1974 by the American funk rock group Labelle and held the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week, and also topped the Canadian RPM national singles chart. In 2021, the Library of Congress selected Labelle's version for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant".
The song was written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan after Crewe visited New Orleans. A demo of the song was first recorded by The Eleventh Hour, a disco group made up of studio musicians fronted by Nolan on vocals. It was added in 1974 as a track on the Eleventh Hour's Greatest Hits LP, which did not chart. Crewe showed the song to producer Allen Toussaint in New Orleans, and Toussaint then decided to record the song with Labelle. Labelle's version of ‘Lady Marmalade’ was released as a single in November 1974 from the Nightbirds album. Patti LaBelle sang lead vocals on ‘Lady Marmalade’ with backing vocals being contributed by bandmates Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash. The song is best known for the suggestive French lyric "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?" ("Do you want to sleep with me tonight?") in the refrain. ‘Lady Marmalade’ is about a man's sexual encounter with the titular prostitute, but Patti LaBelle was completely oblivious to its overall message, saying: "I didn't know what it was about. I don't know French and nobody, I swear this is God's truth, nobody at all told me what I'd just sung a song about."
‘Lady Marmalade’ is billed as the song that made Labelle one of the "hottest girl groups" of the 1970s. It was a number-one hit for one week on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the United States during the early spring of 1975, and charted at number one for one week on the Billboard Top Soul Singles chart. Along with the track, ‘What Can I Do for You?’, ‘Lady Marmalade’ peaked at number seven on the disco/dance charts. The single was also a major hit in the United Kingdom, where it charted at number seventeen. ‘Lady Marmalade’ replaced another Crewe/Nolan composition, Frankie Valli's ‘My Eyes Adored You’, as the Billboard Hot 100 number-one single. This feat made Crewe and Nolan the third songwriting team in Billboard history (after Lennon–McCartney and Holland–Dozier–Holland) to replace themselves at number one. Billboard ranked it as the No. 22 song for 1975. Labelle performed ‘Lady Marmalade’ on Soul Train on December 7, 1974.
Labelle's version of ‘Lady Marmalade’ was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003. and was ranked number 479 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004 and number 485 in 2010. The Labelle version also appears in several films, including The Long Kiss Goodnight, Dick, and Jacob's Ladder. It was used in the video game Karaoke Revolution Volume 2 in a new version performed by Patti LaBelle. Billboard ranked the song at number sixteen on their list of the "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time".
The song has had many cover versions over the years. In 1998, girl group All Saints released a cover of the song that peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart. The 2001 version by singers Christina Aguilera, Mýa, Pink and rapper Lil' Kim, recorded for the Moulin Rouge! soundtrack, was a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks, and also a number-one hit in the UK. ‘Lady Marmalade’ was the ninth song to reach number one by two different musical acts in America.
Label – Epic
Songwriters – Bob Crewe, Kenny Nolan
Producers – Allen Toussaint, Vicki Wickham
SONG LYRICS
[Intro]Hey sister, go sister
Soul sister, go sister
Hey sister, go sister
Soul sister, go sister
[Verse 1]
He met Marmalade down in old New Orleans
Strutting her stuff on the street
She said, "Hello, hey Joe
You wanna give it a go?" hmm hmm
[Chorus]
Gitchi gitchi ya ya da da
Gitchi gitchi ya ya here
Mocha chocolata, ya ya
Creole Lady Marmalade
[Post-Chorus]
Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?
Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?
[Verse 2]
He stayed in her boudoir (Hey sister, go sister)
While she freshened up (Soul sister, go sister)
That boy drank all that magnolia wine
(Hey sister, go sister, soul sister, go sister)
On her black satin sheets
Where he started to freak
[Chorus]
Gitchi gitchi ya ya da da
Gitchi gitchi ya ya here
Mocha chocolata, ya ya
Creole Lady Marmalade
[Post-Chorus]
Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?
Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?
[Instrumental Bridge]
[Verse 3]
Hey, hey, hey
Touching her skin, feeling silky smooth (Ah!)
Color of cafe au lait
Made the savage beast inside
Roar until it cried
"More, more, more!"
Now he's at home doing nine to five
Living his grey flannel life
But when he turns off to sleep
Old memories creep
More, more, more!
[Chorus]
Gitchi gitchi ya ya da da da
Gitchi gitchi ya ya here
Mocha chocolata, ya ya
Creole Lady Marmalade
[Post-Chorus]
Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?
Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?
Voulez-vous couchez avec moi ce soir?
Creole Lady Marmalade
Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?
Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?
Voulez-vous couchez avec moi ce soir?
Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?
Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?
Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?
Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?
Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?
[Outro]
Gitchi gitchi ya ya da da
Gitchi gitchi ya ya here
Mocha chocolata, ya ya
Gitchi gitchi ya ya here (Ya ya ya ya)
Gitchi gitchi ya ya here