Coup de Boule

Tee-hee hee! You totally have to check this out!

PARIS (Reuters) -- Three weeks after France's World Cup final soccer defeat, the song inspired by captain Zinedine Zidane's fateful head-butt on Italy defender Marco Materazzi has hit number one in the nation's singles chart.

"As of today, it's No. 1 in the French charts. It has had an exceptional start, better than we could ever have hoped for," said Thierry Chassagne, president of Warner Music France, which distributes the song.

Coup de Boule, the French for "head-butt", was written by the three associates of Plage Records, a small label specializing in jingles and sound effects, the day after France's July 9 defeat in Berlin.

Zidane, one of the finest footballers of his generation, was sent off for head-butting Materazzi after exchanging comments with the Italian defender in extra time with the score at 1-1. Italy won the final after a penalty shoot-out.

The label's founders, brothers Emmanuel and Sebastien Lipszyc, and composer Franck Lascombes, penned the catchy reggae-style song and its chorus "Zidane, il a tape" ("Zidane, the hit man"), as a cure for their post-defeat blues.

Initially e-mailed to about 50 friends, the song quickly invaded the Web, with French radio SkyRock putting it on its play-list and ringtone sellers and music labels fighting for the rights.

Warner Music France eventually bought the song from the trio and two days after its release on July 20, the tune was No. 2 in the French charts, selling 17,000 copies.

More than 75,000 copies were sold in stores in the last 10 days and the tune has been downloaded more than 110,000 times.

"It's all really thanks to the Internet and the very speedy release of these products. Five years ago this would not have been possible," Chassagne said.

Coup de Boule is already the best-selling ringtone in the country and Warner is preparing Spanish, Japanese and even Italian versions of the song.

Zidane, who has now retired as a player, was fined $6,000 and handed a three-match ban by FIFA's disciplinary committee.

The Italian defender, who admitted insulting Zidane, was handed a two-match ban and fined $4,000.

Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

Coup do Boule-French Lyrics
Coup de Boule
Attention c'est la danse du Coup de Boule!
(Coup de boule, coup de boule)
Coup de boule à droite
(Coup de boule, coup de boule)
Coup de boule à gauche
(Coup de boule, coup de boule)

Allez les bleus!
Allez,
Zidane il a frappé, Zidane il a tapé (Coup de boule!)* 4x

Le rital, il a eu mal
Zidane il a frappé
l'Italien ne va pas bien
Zidane il a tapé
L'arbitre l'a vu à la télé
Zidane il a frappé
Mais la coupe on l'a ratée
On a quand même bien rigolé

Zidane il a frappé, Zidane il a tapé (Coup de boule!) 4x

Trezeguet n'a pas joué
Quand il a joué il a raté
Il a tout fait capoté
La coupe on l'a ratée
Barthez n'a rien arreté
C'est pourtant pas compliqué
Les sponseurs sont tous fâchés
Mais Chirac a bien parlé

Zidane il a frappé, Zidane il a tapé (Coup de boule!) 4x

Attention c'est la danse du Coup de Boule!
(Coup de boule, coup de boule)
Coup de boule à droite
(Coup de boule, coup de boule)
Coup de boule à gauche
(Coup de boule, coup de boule)
Coup de boule avant
(Coup de boule, coup de boule)
Coup de boule arrière
(Coup de boule, coup de boule)

Et maintenant penalty
Attention il va tirer
un, deux, trois...c'est raté!

Zidane il a frappé, Zidane il a tapé (4x)

On a quand meme bien rigolé
Zidane et Trezeguet
La coupe on l'a ratée
Zidane et Trezeguet (2x)
Et Trezeguet...et Trezeguet...et Trezeguet guet guet
Trezeguet
(Coup de boule, coup de boule)
et Trezeguet
(Coup de boule, coup de boule)
et Trezeguet
(Coup de boule, coup de boule)
et Trezeguet
(Coup de boule, coup de boule)
Trezeguet

DO THE HEAD-BUTT
Loose English translation of Coup de Boule

Watch out, it's the headbutt dance!
(Headbutt, headbutt)
Headbutt to the right
(Headbutt, headbutt)
Headbutt to the left
(Headbutt, headbutt)

Go Blues!
Go,
Zidane, he hit [him], Zidane, he slapped [him] (Headbutt!)* 4x

The guido, he was hurt
Zidane hit [him]
The Italian's not doing well
Zidane slapped [him]
The ref saw it on the TV
Zidane hit [him]
But we lost the World Cup
We had a good laugh anyways

Zidane, he hit [him], Zidane, he slapped [him] (Headbutt!) 4x

Trezeguet didn't play
When he played he sucked
He screwed up everything
We lost the World Cup
Barthez didn't stop anything
And it's not even complicated
The sponsers are all angry
But Chirac was eloquent

Zidane, he hit [him], Zidane, he slapped [him] (Headbutt!) 4x

Watch out, it's the headbutt dance!
(Headbutt, headbutt)
Headbutt to the right
(Headbutt, headbutt)
Headbutt to the left
(Headbutt, headbutt)
Headbutt to the front
(Headbutt, headbutt)
Headbutt to the back
(Headbutt, headbutt)

And now it's the penalty
Attention please, he's gonna shoot
One, two, three...he missed!

Zidane, he hit [him], Zidane, he slapped [him] (4x)

We had a good laugh anyways
Zidane and Trezeguet
We lost the World Cup
Zidane and Trezeguet (2x)

And Trezeguet...and Trezeguet...and Trezeguet-guet-guet
Trezeguet
(Headbutt, headbutt)
and Trezeguet
(Headbutt, headbutt)
and Trezeguet
(Headbutt, headbutt)
and Trezeguet
(Headbutt, headbutt)