How Robbie Nevil Almost Bypassed His First Big Hit as a Single

When you’re trying to make it big as a musician, you don’t always have the luxury of controlling your decisions. In the case of Robbie Nevil, he would have chosen just about anything besides the song that ended up being his first single.

Videos by American Songwriter

“C’est La Vie”, the song that was selected by his record company as the first release from his debut album, did quite well. And it served as a springboard for a few more hits from Nevil on that first LP.

Robbie on the Rise

Robbie Nevil, like many other artists, got his start writing songs for others. In the early 80s, he placed songs with major acts like The Pointer Sisters, Alison Moyet, and Earth, Wind & Fire. But he always held out hope that he’d be recording his own material.

While he was still penning songs for others, he and co-writers Duncan Pain and Mark Holding came up with a piece of music based on a sequence of eighth notes. As they wrote, they were thinking of pitching the song to Kool & the Gang, since that’s what the music sounded like to them.

They then sat around batting about some lyrics about a series of indignities that might befall anyone at any time in life. When it got to the chorus, they decided to shrug it all off with the phrase “C’est La Vie”, French for “That’s life.” The song never reached Kool & The Gang, but it was recorded once before Nevil had the chance to do it on his own.

“C’est,” Say, Say

In 1984, “C’est La Vie” was first recorded by Beau Williams. Williams was more known as a gospel singer, but he included the track on his album Bodacious!, which also did decent R&B business. But he didn’t choose “C’est La Vie” as a single.

As such, the song was still relatively unknown by the time Nevil secured his own record contract. Maybe the fact that the song has already bounced around a bit dissuaded Nevil. But he truly believed that there were other songs from his self-titled debut album that would have introduced him better.

Luckily, he was outvoted. Producers Alex Sadkin and Phil Thornalley gave the song a chipper sheen full of bold musical flourishes. “C’est La Vie” actually came oh-so-close to hitting the top of the pop charts. It stalled for two weeks at No. 2 in 1987, deprived of No. 1 first by Gregory Abbott’s “Shake You Down”, then by Billy Vera & The Beaters’ “At This Moment”.

Behind the Lyrics of “C’est La Vie”

“C’est La Vie”, at least lyrically, doesn’t present an optimistic look at life. The narrator complains in the first verse about being overworked. “Is this really what life’s all about?” he moans. In the second verse, he suggests that anyone left brokenhearted should keep their heads up. “Get back up, party down,” Nevil implores. “There’s so many good ones still around.”

In the final verse, car problems are added to the list of frustrations. But the narrator insists that we shouldn’t wallow. “When you’re down, there’s just one way to go.” Nevil sings.

“C’est La Vie” began a string of three straight Top 15 hits for Nevil from that debut album. And, once the hits dried up, he heeded his most famous song’s advice. He moved on to the next opportunity in his career. That turned out to be a lucrative career as a songwriter, coming full circle from the beginning of his career.

Photo by Mike Prior/Getty Images