Written by William Picard with a music composed by Claude Mainguy and Guy Mattéoni, it was their second single from their album Jardins d'enfants and was released in December 1988.

Before the last refrain, the song used a sample from the introduction of "Nuit de folie", the duet previous single.

[2] In France, "La Vie la nuit" entered the singles chart at number 11 on the chart edition of 24 December 1988, reached the top ten two weeks later, peaked at number two for non consecutive six weeks, being blocked from the number one slot first by David Hallyday's "High", then the charity single "Pour toi Arménie".

[4] In Belgium (Wallonia), it peaked at number three,[5] and was a top 40 hit in Flanders where it charted for six weeks.

[6] On the European Hot 100 Singles, it debuted at number 43 on 14 January 1989, reached a peak of number nine twice, in its fourth and eighth weeks,[7] and fell off the chart after 19 weeks of presence, 11 of them in the top 20.