Je te veux

Je te veux (I Want You) is a sung waltz, or valse chantée, by Erik Satie to erotic lyrics by Henry Pacory. Its two verses and repeated chorus were written for Paulette Darty, whose accompanist Satie had been and who first sang it in 1903 at La Scala, a cabaret in Paris.

Cover of the original 1903 sheet music for Je te veux

Je te veux was registered with SACEM on 20 November 1902, but Alexis Roland-Manuel has argued that was actually composed earlier, in 1897 and as a work for solo piano. What is not disputed is that Satie composed various versions: for piano and voice, as published in 1903;[1] for an orchestra of brass instruments; for full orchestra, with a trio section added between the chorus and the second verse;[2] and at some point for solo piano including this added trio section.

In 1925 Je te veux was recorded by Yvonne George. Other singers who have performed it include Mathé Altéry, Régine Crespin, Nicolai Gedda, Jessye Norman, Marie Devellereau and Angela Gheorghiu. More recently jazz vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant sang the song on Jacky Terrasson's 2012 album Gouache.[3]

Composer John Cage, as part of his nine short songs, "Sonnekus²" (1985), instructs his performer to sing the piano-and-voice version of Satie's Je te veux.[4]