The Singing Nun - "Dominique" (1963)

Photos used are for "Entertainment Purposes Only". Please excuse the typo error title in the video.

The song is in French. The following link is the English conversion.
http://www.allthelyrics.com/lyrics/the_singing_nun/dominique-lyrics-425279.html

Jeanine Deckers (October 17 1933) - (March 29 1985), better known in English as The Singing Nun, was a Belgian nun, and a member (as Sister Luc Gabriel) of the Dominican Fichermont Convent in Belgium. She became internationally famous in 1963 as Soeur Sourire (Sister Smile) when she scored a hit with the song "Dominique". In the English language world, she is mostly referred to as "The Singing Nun".

Born Jeanne-Paule Marie Deckers, she was a nun in the Dominican Fichermont Convent in Waterloo, Belgium. While in the convent, she wrote, sang and performed her own songs, which were so well received by the order and at retreats that the monastery decided to let her record an album, which visitors and retreatists to the monastery would be able to purchase.

In 1963, the album was recorded in Brussels at Philips. The single "Dominique" became an international hit. Many radio stations in the U.S. played it and other softer hits more often in the wake of the John F. Kennedy assassination. Overnight, the Dominican nun was an international celebrity with the stage name of Soeur Sourire (Sister Smile). She gave concerts and appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show on 5 January 1964. As of November 2009[update], "Dominique" is the only Belgian song that has ever been a number one hit single in the United States.

In 1966, a movie called The Singing Nun was made about her, starring Debbie Reynolds in the title role. Deckers rejected the film as "fiction". Sally Field spoofed the role starting the following year as the title character in the television series The Flying Nun.

Deckers did not gain much from this international fame and her second LP, Her Joys, Her Songs, did not get much attention and disappeared almost as soon as it was released. Most of her earnings were in fact taken away by Philips, her producer, while the rest would go to the convent. In 1967, Deckers left her monastery to continue her musical career under the name Luc Dominique. She could not keep her initial name "Soeur Sourire", as Philips owned the rights. She released an album called I Am Not a Star in Heaven. Her repertoire consisted of religious songs and songs for children.

Despite her renewed musical emphasis, Deckers gradually faded into obscurity, possibly because of her own disdain for fame: she was never able to duplicate the success of her one hit wonder.

Although she was deeply religious, she was also increasingly critical of some of the Roman Catholic Church's doctrine and eventually became an advocate of birth control. She also agreed with John Lennon's statements about Jesus in 1966. In 1967, she recorded a song entitled "Glory Be to God for the Golden Pill" — a paean to contraception — under the name Luc Dominique. It was a commercial failure.

Her musical career over, Deckers opened a school for autistic children in Belgium. In the late 1970s, the Belgian government claimed that she owed approximately $63,000 USD in back taxes. Deckers countered that the royalties from her recording was given to the convent and therefore she was not liable for payment of any personal income taxes. Lacking any receipts to prove her donations to the convent and her religious order, Deckers ran into heavy financial problems. In 1982, she tried, once again as Soeur Sourire, to score a hit with a disco synthesizer version of "Dominique", but this last attempt to resume her singing career failed.

Citing their financial difficulties in a note, she and her companion of ten years, Anna Pécher, both committed suicide by an overdose of barbiturates and alcohol on 29 March 1985. She was 51.

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[dornep55]

I have the album I wonder if it's worth anything.

[TheBacmaster]

@dornep55 Yes, up to $40 depending on the condition and if it's a 45 or album. I'll send you the link. Just answer a few questions. I just did it for you.

[doman1ck]

I was named after this song.

[roonietunes]

What a shame that a 72 year old has to write... "Was far more stunned to hear she was a damn dike..... What a shame..." How sad.

[soulwinnerism]

I first heard this song when I was about 7 or 8 years old, it was on an album my mother had, and I would hear it when she'd play it, and even though I didn't know what the song was about, I liked it anyway. I like it even more now because it brings back memories of about 40 years ago when I first started hearing it. Thanks for the upload.

[2012uchicago]

This song actually beat the Beatles in 1963 in the US. The UK was smart enough to have the Beatles atop the charts by '63 but for some reason Dave Dexter and other U.S. record executives thought the Beatles wouldn't sell. Crazy I know!

[kekeisthebestfriend]

This song brings back memories for me because it was on a CD my dad had bought and my mom and I would dance around the house to this song when I was about 5 or 6 yrs old..of course I didn't know what it was about until recently lol! I just liked the signing. xD

[ElderTempest]

JUST FOR LAUGHS

[DiscoveringReason]

@azne69 not kidding, just incredibly ignorant.

[monoceros1222]

@TheCurvyJ Good choice!!  This song actually reached #1 on the charts in 1963!

[Bertiemarmite1]

@HayabusaSenToTai

WOW, that's a statement and a half, perhaps you could find time to explain your feelings

[paulsmartialarts]

This was the first chillwave song

[HayabusaSenToTai]

Murdered by Brussels over financial burdens...Now its the Greeks turn, followed by the Portugese, the Italians, the Spanish and maybe even the French....

[Bertiemarmite1]

Oh My Goodness, I am sooo sad,I loooved this song as a child, I am now 55. I don't understand the reasoning and sadness behind what happened, but I can understand the place they they were in was painful for them. Much love to them both and their families. Yvonne in Suffolk UK