"Tom Pillibi" was composed by André Popp with French lyrics by Pierre Cour. It is a moderately up-tempo number, with the singer talking about her lover – the title character. She describes his material wealth – two castles, ships, other women wanting to be with him. She then admits that he has "only one fault", that being that he is "such a liar" and that none of what she had previously said about him was true. Nonetheless, she sings, she still loves him.[1] It was recorded by Jacqueline Boyer and released as a single on 10 April 1960.[2]
Boyer recorded an English-language version of the song that while still about the same man, conveyed quite a different impression. In this version, Tom is a compulsive womaniser and not to be trusted at all. Perhaps as a result of this, Des Mangan's book on Contest history confuses the issue further by describing the song as being about "a man with two castles and two boats and who's generally a right bastard, but she still loves him anyway." She also recorded a German-language version, under the same title.[1]
Boyer performed her song in the Eurovision twenty-fifth anniversary show Songs of Europe held on 22 August 1981 in Mysen.[7]
Legacy
"Tom Pillibi" gained several recordings by internationally known and national well-established figures, including other Eurovision representatives, on the same year of the original release. Actress and singer Julie Andrews, recorded the song in English in April 1960. Laila Kinnunen, one of Finland's most popular singers and the country's 1961 Eurovision debutante, recorded a Finnish version on 14 June 1960, as well as Sweden's 1962 Eurovision representative Inger Berggren.[2]