Rock Made In France

Noir Désir (Black Desire) is unanimously considered as the best French rock band. If you wander in Paris on the Word Music Day (June, 21st), you would hear hundreds of kids covering their songs.

The band first achieved success with the 1989's hit Oh sombres héros de la mer, which means Oh dark heroes of the bitter. The title is a wordplay with La mer/L'amer, that is to say The Sea/The Bitter. As soon as their first LP, one can see grounds of the success of the band: strong and melodic rock, complex and romantic lyrics inspired by French Poets, left-wing political involvement and maybe most of all, the dark magnetism of the singer Bertrand Cantat, with his both angry and sensitive voice.

With their following albums, they gained both commercial and critic success, becoming one of the few bands to reconcile underground and mainstream. With the 2001's Des visages, des figures, Noir Désir moved to a calmer and more experimental sound. In 2003, Bertrand Cantat is sentenced to 8 years in prison for the accidental murder of his wife while he was drunk. As you might guess, the future of the band is quite uncertain.

From Des visages, des figures, 2001

Noir désir - Le vent l'emportera (The Wind Will Carry Tt Off). By the way Manu Chao is playing guitar on this song.

From 667.667 Club, 1996
Maybe the song with the most famous intro riff of French rock.
Noir désir - Un jour en France (A Day In France)

Noir désir - L'homme pressé (The Hurry Man)

Notice that in French, hurry man (homme pressé) and oppressed (oppressé) sound very similar.

A great song with a post-rock flavor and... english lyrics!
Noir désir - Twilight zone


Lyrics of The Hurry Man:

I’m a frozen model
With a tanned skin
Hurry man
My bullshits uttered
Are the destiny of the world
I don’t have time, I go off
My career is at stake
I’m the media man
I’m more than political
I’m going fast, very fast
I’m an universal human comet
I cross time
I’m a reference
I’m omnipresent
I invaded the world
That I don’t know
No matter, I talk about it
No matter, I know
Human are at my feet
Potentially 8 billions
of slave idiots
Except some of my friends
Of the same world than mine
You can’t imagine
Of happy they are
Chorus:Who wants me
And crumbs of my brain?
Who wants to enter
In the web of my network? Daily activist
Of inhumanity
Of instant profits
Of medias’ favor
I’m rich, very rich
I’m in the real estate business
I’m making money
There’re some people who can pay
I know the upper crust of Paris
And the others also
My unique friends
And their women that I..
See, of course. I know stock exchange secrets
There is no secret for me
I’m the King of kings
exploded audience ratings
And what do you think
It’s my way, it’s my luck
I love shows
On television
No time to watch them
But I make them
We spit food
On those starving eyes
You see what they ask
We know they are eager
Of our rottenness
Better than casting pearls
Before swine. Chorus You know who I am
An hurry man x3
I am
An hurry man x3
Chorus
Couplet

”Love Love Love”
People say in America
”Lioubov”
In Russia
”Amour”
at the four corners of France

Links: buy on amazon - wikipedia