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I'm from Italy, yet I speak English

On top of that, my name is French

I hail back from the late nineties galore

Last in 2016 did I release lore

Until then it has been a decade

But we never truly did fade


One of us is the key

One of us flies the wind

One of us controls sound

Together we are a force, world round


Back in my time, I was popular

Now the world I know seems not to know me not so much any more

Too much of heaven can bring you down

I know because it made me so blue


After the crash, we bloomed again

But we were not whole after that

Then the bloom went and we came again

But even as we still are that,

We still soon fell by one more


In addition, we have a "secret" member

Who's been with us since we began

We were once enemies, but now we're friends

Four times he has appeared

Three with us and one on his own

Can you find all four occurrences?


Can you guess who we are in whole, and name us each? Explain each line in whole, and we shall reward those who can figure us out.

In addition, name our friend, and say what four places he is to be found?

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1 Answer 1

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You are:

The music group, Eiffel 65

I'm from Italy, yet I speak English

The three members of the group are all Italian, yet they sing in English

On top of that, my name is French

The group’s name hails from the Eiffel Tower in Paris

I hail back from the late nineties galore

Their big breakthrough came in 1999 with their album Europop

Last in 2016 did I release lore

Panico/Critical was released in Spring 2016

Until then it has been a decade
But we never truly did fade

Prior to that they had not released anything since 2004. However, in the meantime they continued to tour.

One of us is the key
One of us flies the wind
One of us controls sound
Together we are a force, world round

Maurizio Lobina is a keyboardist, Jeffrey Jey is the vocalist and Gabry Ponte is a DJ, remixer and record producer. As an ensemble act they enjoyed international success.

Back in my time, I was popular
Now the world I know seems not to know me not so much anymore

Eiffel 65 had great success as a pop act, hitting number 1 in many countries with their songs. However, these days they are arguably not as well known... These two lines also reference their songs Back In Time and Johnny Grey (lyric: 'the world I know seems not to know me') from their album Contact!

Too much of heaven can bring you down
I know because it made me so blue

Too Much of Heaven is one of their singles, Blue (Da Ba Dee) is another

After the crash, we bloomed again
But we not whole after that

After finishing recording their 4th album Crash Test, in 2005 Gabry Ponte left the group to embark on a solo career. The remaining members continued to perform but under a new name: Bloom 06 (releasing the album under this name as Crash Test 01).

Then the bloom went and we came again

After Bloom 06 the group reformed as Eiffel 65 in 2010

But even as we still are that,
We still soon fell by one more

Ponte later re-left the group, in the sense that he no longer performs or records with them (although he is still listed as an official member, I believe).

In addition, we have a "secret" member
Who's been with us since we began
We were once enemies, but now we're friends
Four times he has appeared
Three with us and one on his own
Can you find all four occurrences?

This refers to ‘Zorotl’, a blue alien character who features in the videos for Blue (Da Ba Dee), Move Your Body and Lucky (In My Life). He was originally intended to be an adversary but when he was animated he looked too endearing and the music video for Blue (Da Ba Dee) instead gave him a happy ending, singing on-stage with the group. Zorotl proved so popular he in effect became a virtual band (akin to Gorillaz) and had his own single I Wanna Be.

As for the title itself:

Blue (Da Ba Dee) begins with the line 'Yo listen up, here's the story...'

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    $\begingroup$ Ah yes! Edit to follow... $\endgroup$
    – Stiv
    Jul 16, 2019 at 10:07
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Also, what in particular gave you the answer? $\endgroup$ Jul 16, 2019 at 10:11
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ I recognised the references to rot13('Gbb Zhpu bs Urnira' naq 'Oyhr' - V obhtug gung fvatyr!) $\endgroup$
    – Stiv
    Jul 16, 2019 at 10:17

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