Largely unknown in the English-speaking world, Jean-Jacques Goldman has raked up dozens of hits in Europe, and written for many other major performers. His gentle yet heartfelt style has proven popular with both performers and the audience. In addition to his own hit albums and singles, the track “Si tu veux m’essayer”
Belgium's Dana Winner is also a talent to be reckoned with. She has had nearly a dozen albums released at home, with numerous hits and tours in Belgium, Holland, Germany and South Africa. Total album sales have topped 1.8 million so far. Given the success of her Dutch-speaking album "Tussen nu en morgen" in 2008, she recently released an English version of the album for South Africa and the international market.
For the English version of the "Si tu veux m'essayer", the record label EMI turned to the Irish lyricist Michael Leahy, who has worked with 2 Unlimited, CB Milton, Perry Rose and many others. "The idea of working on a track written by Jean-Jacques Goldman, that was a hit for Florent Pagny in French and was to be sung by Dana Winner was too tempting," he says.
To write the track, he stayed quite close to the French original. "It's a great track," he says. "There was no reason to re-invent a song that basically says, 'If you want to to try me, that's OK'. It's a nice midtempo rocker that Dana Winner gives that extra polish."
Leahy, who has also been running the lyric news website a-lyric.com for a number of years, provides a sample of the song and details the songwriting process at http://www.a-
