Product Code Database
" Papaoutai" (Papa, où t'es?, , Belgian French for "Dad, where are you?") is a song written and performed by Belgians singer Stromae. The song was released as a digital download in Belgium on 13 May 2013 as the lead single from his second studio album Racine carrée (2013). The song peaked at number one in Belgium and France and became the best-selling single of 2013 in Belgium. A remix of the song featuring Angel Haze also appears on the album.
The song was performed live at the 2013 NRJ Music Awards, where it featured American rapper will.i.am. The song is also featured on the 2014 dancing game Just Dance 2015 for PAL regions and is available as DLC for NTSC regions.
The song was the most viewed French-speaking song on YouTube until 2023, when it was passed by Indila's song "Dernière danse" (English: "Last dance").
It became the second French-language video to pass 1 billion views on 27 August 2023.
Frustrated, the son does various dances in front of his own father until one of his efforts provokes the father to smile. Outside, father and son do their own dance together, but it is soon revealed that the boy is dancing alone and his father is still stiff and unresponsive. In frustration, the son joins Stromae on the sofa, assuming a rigid, lifeless position identical to his father's.
The song and video refer to the absence of Stromae's father—who had little presence in Stromae's life even before being killed in the 1994 Rwandan genocide—and to Stromae's fear of being unable to be an effective father with no memory of ever having a father of his own. Stromae: Disillusion, With a Dance Beat, by Scott Sayer, ''The New York Times, October 15, 2013] As of August 2023, the video has received over 1 billion views on YouTube. Stromae – papaoutai (Official Video). YouTube
The lyrics of the song are about Stromae's father, who was killed in the 1994 Tutsi Genocide in Rwanda .
Erza Muqoli performed this song with self-accompaniment on piano for her audition for the ninth season (2014–2015) of the French television show La France a un incroyable talent.
Lamaoutai ( Llama, where are you?) is a spoof created in November 2013 about the kidnapping of Serge the Llama from a circus in Bordeaux. Pour tourner le clip de "Lamaoutai", Serge le lama est amené en boîte de nuit à Cannes, Le Huffington Post, 23 November 2013
Emploioutai ( Job, where are you?) is a parody of the song performed by Les Guignols in 2013 to mock the unfulfilled promises of French President François Hollande regarding diminution of unemployment, with the Hollande's puppet searching for jobs in absurd locations within the Élysée Palace.
Letícia Carvalho covered the song on The Voice Portugal on 11 October 2015.
Alexandre Heitz performed the song on The Voice of Germany on 2 October 2018.
Kenza Blanka covered the song on series 8 of The Voice UK on 9 February 2019, singing it in English and Arabic and French.
Dutch singer Froukje Veenstra covered the song with a Dutch addition on 10 June 2020, for the '3FM Live Box' showcase on YouTube, rapping about the needs of those with or without a father, meanwhile giving personal thanks for her own father.
| + Weekly chart performance for "Papaoutai" ! scope="col" | Chart (2013–2024) ! scope="col" | Peak position |
| + 2013 year-end chart performance for "Papaoutai" ! scope="col" | Chart (2013) ! scope="col" | Position |
| + 2014 year-end chart performance for "Papaoutai" ! scope="col" | Chart (2014) ! scope="col" | Position |
| + 2015 year-end chart performance for "Papaoutai" ! scope="col" | Chart (2015) ! scope="col" | Position |
| Belgium | 13 May 2013 | Music download | Mosaert |
|
|
