Excentric and Astonishing: The Queen of Kekeland

Brigitte Fontaine is a one of the most precious treasure of French music, alongside with Brassens and Gainsbourg. There is so much to say on her career: she experimented almost all styles, from chanson, to jazz, pop, arab music and avantgarde, and always with her special touch, between genius and insanity, often radical, always moving. She worked with the best French artists, but also with Sonic Youth and Archie Stepp. To my mind, her style and her importance in music can be compared to the great Nico.

To learn more about her, I let you read the article of wikipedia which is very well done (who says I'm lazy?).

Some of my favorite songs, that just give a little taste of her talent:

Dommage Que Tu Sois Mort (1968)
Comme A La Radio (1970)
Lettre A Monsieur le Chef de Gare de la Tour de Carole (1970)
L'auberge (1972)

And to not forget her recent work:
Je T'Aime Encore (2001)

Sweet Candies of the Past

Renaud - Mistral Gagnant (1985)

This the most famous song of Renaud (the tenderhearted rebel of French music) about himself telling his childhood to his daughter. The title of the song refers to a candy popular in the 70s, which could be "winning" (you got a new one for free). The rapper Booba sampled the song on his hit Pitbull.

The translation was requested in the comments of the blog, so don't hesitate to ask. I would do it (if I like the song) and it gives me ideas for upcoming post.

Lyrics of Mistral Gagnant

To seat on a bench for 5 minutes with you
Looking at the people as long as there are some
To tell you the good times which are dead or will be
Shaking in my hand your lil’ fingers
Then to feed silly pigeons
And to kick them for fake
And hear your laugh which cracks the wall
And can cure my injuries
To tell you a little how I was when I was a kid
The wonderful candies we used to rob at the shopkeeper
Car-en-sac and Minto, one franc fudge
And the winning mistral

To walk under the rain, for 5 minutes with you
And looking at the life as long as there's still some
To tell you the Earth, while eating you with my eyes
To tell you a little about your mom
And jump in the puddles to make her moans
To smash up our shoes and laugh
And to hear your laugh like some hears the sea
To stop and go back backward
Most of all, to tell you, the old carambars and the coco bohèmes
And the real roudoudous which cut our lips
And ruined our teeths
And the winning mistrals

To seat on a bench for 5 minutes with you
And looking at the sun fading away
To tell you about the good old days which are dead and I don’t care
To tell you that the bad guys are not us
That if I am nuts, it’s only of your eyes
Which have the advantage to be two
And to hear your laugh, flying off as high
As the calls of the birds fly off
To tell you at last that you’ve got to love life
And love it even Time is a murderer
And to take with it the laughs of children
And the winning mistrals
And the winning mistrals

Who's paying?

Photo: Joëlle Niang

Gurejele is the most famous band of Kaneka, a blend of traditional kanak (native people) music, blues and reggae. They are from New Caledonia, an oversea French territory located in the southwest Pacific. The band is led by Dick Buama and has released four LPs.

I've uploaded their biggest hit, Who's Paying ? released in 2001. I have translated the lyrics which have an interesting political meaning.
Gujerele - C'est Qui Qui Paye?

Lyrics of C'est Qui Qui Paye -Who's Paying

Our politicians are going to Paris
To plan with the Motherland
The agreements for the wealth of the country
Agreements to agreements, and it's not over

Chorus:
Who's paying, paying?
It's France which is paying
Who's paying, paying?
It's France which is Paying
And yes, that's also this

If you're broke, you just have to ask
One condition, you've got to join
In the party, we are supported financially
Dogs can bark, we are legalized

Chorus

We are not enthusiast anymore
Of political meetings
Here, under the tropics, we prefer music
The one of Jamaica, the on of States of America
In civil service, they just work for dough

Chorus

All the subsidies of all political parties
It's France which is paying
Consumption of all political refugees
It's France which is paying
The salary of the civil servants working for dough
It's France which is paying
Ecologist bombed in the Kiwi country*
It's France which is paying

Chorus

(*refer to the sinking of the Greenpeace's boat in New Zealand by the French foreign intelligence services, who killed one man)

links: New Caledonia, sinking of the Greenpeace boat, biography (in French)

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

Mano Solo, the Last French Great Song-writer

"I've got two news, a good one and a bad one. The good one is that I'm not HIV positive anymore, the bad one is that I have AIDS." Mano Solo, 1995.

Mano Solo is often introduced as as a depressive singer haunted by death and his disease but he's much more than that. His song are about love, about life, about the struggle against the whole world. He seems shouting with anger and passion, maybe I look weak and sad, but I'm still alive and I will enjoy my life until the last moment and I will fight for it. As he says in his song With giant steps, "Its not that I love mine, but for sure I love life".

His first three solo albums released from 1993 and 1997 (La marmaille nue (The Naked Rabble Of Kids), Les années sombres (The dark years) and Je sais pas trop (I Don't Really Now) are some of the greatest masterpieces of french chanson, alongside with those of Brel and Brassens. He does not just copy the old masters but he expresses a new way of writing and singing: deep, violent and passionate. He's influenced by chanson, but blends it with rock, gypsy and latin musics, african rythms... He even sang in a punk band, Les frères misères (Misery Brothers).

Here are two videos with english subtitles and three awesome mp3.


From La Marmaille Nue, 1993
Mano Solo - Allo Paris


From the live album Internationale Sha La La, 1999
Mano Solo - Tu t'envoles (You Fly Off)

Mano Solo - Le drapeau (The Flag)



Lyrics of The Flag

It has been months
That I'm waiting for you
So much and so long that I wasn't waiting anymore
I was almost dead
I painted 1000 times in my head
The Picasso of your portrait
One eye here, one ear there
You seem from an other world
But I was far from doubt
This color on your skin
The same that when we close the eyes
Because everything is fine

Colors that men like me wear
Colors of anarchy, of pirats
You'll be the flag, and I'll be the skull
And we'll flap in the breeze
Among birds' calls
In this life which is schrinking
We will resist until the last rag
You're so beautiful!

I dont know what to tell you
I've in my mouth
A cockroach's colony
And if I open it
They will jump on you
To eat in your eyes
To the least light of hope
Your are so beautiful
And I am so dark

Behind my skin, there's a cold night
But fuck, thought I got fever
I've seen myself, very close to you
Darken my mouth on your skin
But maybe you just see
A little white toad attracted by you
Full of venomous pustules
And smoking so much that it'll blow out

But I've seen you in the dark, like a cat
That you were beautiful to die
But I haven't seen your heart jumping
Neither your skin shouting toward me
You're so beautiful
You're so beautiful
I don't know what to tell you

Links: buy on Mano solo - wikipedia