"The Poor People of Paris" is a popular song.
It was adapted by Jack Lawrence in 1954 from the French language song "La goualante du pauvre Jean" ("The Ballad of Poor John") (words by René Rouzaud, music by Marguerite Monnot). The title arises in part from a misinterpretation of the French title, as "pauvre Jean" was taken for the same-sounding "pauvre gens," which translates as "poor people."
A recording of the song by Les Baxter's orchestra (Capitol Records catalog number 3336, with the flip side "Theme from 'Helen of Troy'") was a number-one hit on the Billboard Singles Charts in the US in 1956: for four weeks on the Best Sellers in Stores chart, for six weeks on the Most Played by Jockeys and Hot 100 charts, and for three weeks on the Most Played on Jukeboxes chart. This recording was also released in Australia by Capitol under catalog number CP-1044.
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