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I began listening to French pop somewhat out of obligation: it's customary to learn French as a second language in Canada, but since doing monotonous grammar practice is like pulling teeth for a layabout like me, I had decided to incorporate more comprehensible input to my daily life. Of course, "chanson" just means "song" in French, so there's been all sorts of chanson française throughout history. As much as I enjoy the troubadour songs of Occitania, I'm going to limit the scope of this post to the modern genre that emerged in the postwar years.
I think 1950s French pop is most emblematic of music that followed the rhythm of the French language, whereas yé-yé has a characteristic Anglo slant since it's stylistically inspired by girl groups and rock & roll. Bare with my abuse of the YouTube embed feature.
Brel's performance of "Amsterdam" in 1966. When I first heard this what stuck out to me was of course the rhythm, which was totally unlike anything I'd heard before. It's about sailors engaging in debauchery over vigorous accordion playing. There's also a good David Bowie cover of this in English.
This song was my introduction to yé-yé. I think Françoise Hardy was among the best to come out of that scene, along with Serge Gainsbourg. It's pretty common for French popstars of that time to only have a few good hits, but Hardy has recorded a ton of great stuff. She also looks real enchanting rowing that boat. It's no wonder why, under any given music video, there are always miscellaneous uncs in the comments reminiscing about being in love with her when they were 12.
One of my favourites. Nino Ferrer has recorded a lot of good material in English as well: "Looking for You" is fantastic. Finding out he shot himself shortly before his 64th birthday threw me for a loop. For some reason I can’t help but feel that suicide is mainly an activity for younger people, particularly early adolescents and fresh university graduates that are caught in a kind of transitionary period and shocked by the world. When I hear about someone who’s shot himself in his fifties or sixties without having experienced some sudden insurmountable tragedy I can’t help but wonder. Well, you’ve lived that long. What makes it so unbearable now? As much as I don't take him seriously, I think reading Cioran when I was fourteen and inarticulate has had some bearing on how I feel about suicide. It’s no use killing yourself since you always kill yourself too late.
I think 1950s French pop is most emblematic of music that followed the rhythm of the French language, whereas yé-yé has a characteristic Anglo slant since it's stylistically inspired by girl groups and rock & roll. Bare with my abuse of the YouTube embed feature.
Brel's performance of "Amsterdam" in 1966. When I first heard this what stuck out to me was of course the rhythm, which was totally unlike anything I'd heard before. It's about sailors engaging in debauchery over vigorous accordion playing. There's also a good David Bowie cover of this in English.
This song was my introduction to yé-yé. I think Françoise Hardy was among the best to come out of that scene, along with Serge Gainsbourg. It's pretty common for French popstars of that time to only have a few good hits, but Hardy has recorded a ton of great stuff. She also looks real enchanting rowing that boat. It's no wonder why, under any given music video, there are always miscellaneous uncs in the comments reminiscing about being in love with her when they were 12.
One of my favourites. Nino Ferrer has recorded a lot of good material in English as well: "Looking for You" is fantastic. Finding out he shot himself shortly before his 64th birthday threw me for a loop. For some reason I can’t help but feel that suicide is mainly an activity for younger people, particularly early adolescents and fresh university graduates that are caught in a kind of transitionary period and shocked by the world. When I hear about someone who’s shot himself in his fifties or sixties without having experienced some sudden insurmountable tragedy I can’t help but wonder. Well, you’ve lived that long. What makes it so unbearable now? As much as I don't take him seriously, I think reading Cioran when I was fourteen and inarticulate has had some bearing on how I feel about suicide. It’s no use killing yourself since you always kill yourself too late.
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