Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Bonjour Chanson, Series 6, Episode 28

Bonjour Chanson Series 6, Episode 28

Play Track 01 seconds 05 to 32 ? “Le Diner”.

Start text segment 1 ? Welcome to “Bonjour Chanson”. We’d like to show you how wonderful French Language Popular Music can be. No language skills required. We’ll tell you about the artists and their songs in English and when you’ll hear these songs in French they will be like a friend. You heard an excerpt from “The Dinner Party” by Benabar. More about Benabar at the end of the show when we’ll play the entire song. My name is Charles Spira and I’ll be your host.

The first song is by Barbara Carlotti. Born in 1974, she learned about Simon and Garfunkel from her father and about classical music from her mother. She received a thorough training in musicology and took jazz-singing classes. We’ll listen to the song “Paris Beach” from 2005. For a number of years now, the Municipality of Paris, each summer clears a long stretch of the right bank of the Seine and populates it with sandy beaches, grassy areas, sport courts and palm trees. “At Paris Beach, that new shore, I have seen pass by, under the palm trees, well-behaved virgins, ageless warriors and defrocked monks. At Paris Beach, that new shore, I saw pass by your sweet face, being stared at. Your sweet face has not changed. At Paris Beach, ice cream, and your sweet face in someone’s company, cruel image that beach and its white sand without shells.” Ms. Barbara Carlotti.End text segment 1

Play Track 02 ? Paris Plages

Start Text segment 2 ? That was Barbara Carlotti in “Paris Plages”.

Yves Simon was born in Choiseul in North Eastern France. His father was a railway man and his mother a nurse. Because of his father’s employment he could travel for free and he had seen a lot of France at a young age. For Yves Simon songwriting, singing and writing novels are part of a co-mingled world where the boundaries between these activities are not clearly drawn. He is a celebrated songwriter and his novels have won several literary prizes. Here is the song “My Youth is Running Away “ from 1981. In these airports where our loves get lost, dreams have no end. Unfinished novels, words that slither and are crumpled under the winter moon. Stolen kisses, my youth runs away and so does life. ” Here is Yves Simon. ? End Text segment 2.

Play Track 03 ? Ma Jeunesse s’Enfuit

Text segment 3 ? You heard Yves Simon in « Ma Jeunesse s’Enfuit ».

French Language Popular Music is an ever changing multi-colored tent. It keeps growing and becomes more diverse. Solid pillars keep the tent upright. No one will dispute that Edith Piaf, Georges Brassens and Charles Trenet are such pillars. We constantly return to these pillars to keep our bearings. Today we choose a song by Edith Piaf one that has not been overplayed so it won’t suffer the fate of those pictures of Renoir paintings on cookie tins to go almost unnoticed.. We listen to “Life, Love“ from 1960. Life is found in love. Love is lost in life. Life is given through love. Life dreams of love. Love wakes up to life.” Edith Piaf. ? End of Text segment 3.

Play Track 04 ? La Vie, L’Amour..

Text segment 4 ? That was unmistakably, Edith Piaf in “La Vie, l’Amour”.

Jean Jacques Goldman was born in 1951 and from the seventies until today, he has been a much loved singer/songwriter. It was never comfortable for him to be a celebrity and he wrote many of his songs under assumed names, both for the music to be judged on its own merits and in order not to steal the limelight from the singers who interpreted his songs. His parents gave him a classical music education, but when he heard Aretha Franklin perform the Soul song “Think”, he was electrified and knew what to do with his life. Initially he joined groups, but later struck out on his own. We are going to listen to the song “The Runner” from 1997 which displays his sense of social justice and his abhorrence of exploitation. “I ran on the beach sheltered from the wind, a race with the waves, an old score I had to settle, barefoot like my ancestors. I saw him behind his glasses, a guy with a chronometer. I came home late, when the waves had settled. My parents were waiting , and there was that strange man, my mother shed a tear, some whispering, some dollars and a signature. They poked me, measured me, as one would a horse, I had to breathe into a mask and run on a treadmill with electrodes attached until the pain was too much.” Here is Jean Jacques Goldman". ? End of text segment 4.

Play Track 05 ? Le Coureur
Text segment 5 ? That was “Le Coureur” a stellar performance by Jean Jacques Goldman.
Myrtille who was born in 1980 is French and lived for years near the Forest of Fontainebleau, 35 miles from Paris. She spent her early childhood in Brazil. She is one of the young voices in French music that bring renewal to the genre and add to its diversity. She is also a painter and her songs unfold like painted on a canvass. They exude a feeling of wonder about life with the expectation of good things to come, even if sad things also happen. We listen to “The Pages” from 2006. “I have written a pile of pages on paper of different kinds, fragments of dreams, pieces of voyages. and often words for you, very often words for you. I would add a few words to make things turn out differently. I open up so the words can fly away and disperse in the wind. ” Here is Ms. Myrtille.

? End of text segment 5.

Play Track 06 ? Les Pages
Text segment 6 This was Myrtille in « Les Pages »

Benabar who was born in 1969 is a self-taught musician whose songs probe the lives of ordinary people. He does this with humor and compassion. We cannot but feel kinship to the characters he brings to life. In addition to singer/songwriter he is also a gifted filmmaker who has won prizes with his short features. He realized early on that he would have much more flexibility and freedom working with music than in film. We’ll listen to the “Dinner Party” from 2007. ” (“I don’t want to go to that dinner party, I don’t have the strength, I am tired. Nothing personal, I like your friends, I just am not in the mood to see them. Let’s hide under the sheets, we’ll order pizza. Just you, the TV and I . We’ll find an excuse, we’ll improvise. We’ll just tell your friends we don’t like them. Too bad!” Here is Benabar. ? End of text segment 6

Play Track 01 ? Le diner

Text segment 7 ? You heard Benabar in “Le Diner”.

This is the end of our show. We wish to thank members of l’Alliance Française de Washington for using Bonjour Chanson! This program was recorded in the studios of WYPR in Baltimore. Jonathan Ehrens is the producer. I am Charles Spira. We love your company, so make sure you catch the next episode.