To France

"To France" is a single by musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1984. It is from the album Discovery and features Maggie Reilly on vocals.

"To France"
Single by Mike Oldfield
from the album Discovery
B-side	"In the Pool" "Bones"
Released	18 June 1984 (1984-06-18)[1]
Recorded	"In the Swiss Alps at 2,000 metres within sight of Lake Geneva on sunny days"[2]
Genre	Progressive pop, rock
Length	4:33
Label	Virgin
Songwriter(s)	Mike Oldfield
Producer(s)	Mike Oldfield Simon Phillips
Mike Oldfield singles chronology
"Crime of Passion" (1984) "To France" (1984) "Tricks of the Light" (1984)

The musical theme used in "To France" was also used on the first track on side two of the Discovery album, "Talk About Your Life". The B-sides for the single are the non-album tracks "In the Pool" and "Bones".^[3] The B-sides later re-appeared on the re-issue of the "Moonlight Shadow" single in 1993.

The music video that appears on the Elements – The Best of Mike Oldfield video for "To France" is a mock-live performance of the song. Oldfield plays a Fender Stratocaster in the video.

Track listing

7" Single

1. "To France" (4.33)
2. "In the Pool" (3.40)

12" Single

1. "To France" (extended version) (5:32)
2. "In the Pool" (3:40)
3. "Bones" (3:19)

Charts

The song reached the top 10 in a number of countries in 1984.

Weekly charts Chart (1984) Peak position Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[4] 9 Canada (RPM AC)[5] 19 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[6] 2 France (SNEP)[7] 23 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[8] 3 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[9] 4 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[10] 7 UK Singles (OCC)[11] 48 West Germany (GfK)[12] 6

Year-end charts Chart (1984) Position Belgium (Ultratop Flanders)[13] 32 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[14] 37 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[15] 52 West Germany (Official German Charts)[16] 37

Maggie Reilly version

"To France"
Single by Maggie Reilly
from the album Elena
Released	January 1997[17]
Recorded	1996
Genre	Folk pop
Length	5:09
Label	EMI
Songwriter(s)	Mike Oldfield
Producer(s)	Nick Patrick
Maggie Reilly singles chronology
"Walk on By (The Mixes)" (1996) "To France" (1997) "Listen to Your Heart (The Mixes)" (1997)

In 1996, Maggie Reilly re-recorded "To France" on her solo album Elena, and in 2009 she recorded another version of the song for her album Looking Back Moving Forward. Compared to the original, this version is significantly Pop-heavy.

Track listing

Maxi-CD

1. "To France" (JPO & Beam Video Mix) 3:46
2. "To France" (Intro) 1:08
3. "To France" (JPO & Beam Spanish Dream Mix) 5:50
4. "To France" (JPO & Beam Club Mix) 8:03
5. ""To France" (Espirito Remix) 6:40
6. "Mike Oldfield & Maggie Reilly - "To France" (Radio Edit) 3:34

Part II - CD-Maxi

1. "To France" (DJ Beam's Radio Mix) 3:54
2. "To France" (De Donatis Remix) 6:16
3. "To France" (DJ Beam's Club Mix) 6:29

Charts

Chart (1997)	Peak position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[18]	17
Germany (GfK)[19]	19
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[20]	30
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[21]	53
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[22]	22

Kim Wilde version

"To France"
Single by Kim Wilde
from the album Snapshots
Released	2 December 2011
Recorded	2011
Genre	Pop rock
Length	3:59
Label	Columbia SevenOne
Songwriter(s)	Mike Oldfield
Producer(s)	Andrew Murray Ricky Wilde
Kim Wilde singles chronology
"It's Alright" / "Sleeping Satellite" (2011) "To France" (2011) "Ever Fallen in Love" (2012)

"To France" is the second single to be released from Kim Wilde's twelfth studio album Snapshots. It was released digitally on 2 December 2011. Included on the single is a Christmas remix of the song as well as an exclusive remix of "It's Alright" by German Euro-dance band Groove Coverage.

Track listing

1. "To France" (Christmas edit) – 3:56
2. "To France" – 3:59
3. "It's Alright" (Groove Coverage remix edit) – 2:55
4. "It's Alright" (Groove Coverage remix) – 4:26

Other cover versions

• In 1997, Marina Kapuro recorded a Russian version, called "Маленький остров" ("little island").^{[23][better source needed]}
• In 2002, Novaspace released a cover of "To France" as a single.^{[citation needed]}
• In 2011, Leaves' Eyes released a cover of "To France" on their album "Meredead". ^[24]