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Love the French Way 2 - The Dress and the Ladder

From: Charles Spira
Series: Love the French Way
Length: 05:18

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A young man takes his girlfriend to a cherry orchard. They ascend a ladder together. Thus starts a magnificent love song about young love, written and interpreted by Francis Cabrel. Read the full description.

Cherry_in_orchard_small "The Dress and the Ladder" is an unusual name for a powerful, spellbinding love song.  Such is the talent of Francis Cabrel.  The ordinary becomes special.  Cabrel is much loved in France for his talent, his moral fibre and his modest life style in a small village in the South of France, far away from Paris.

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Piece Description

"The Dress and the Ladder" is an unusual name for a powerful, spellbinding love song.  Such is the talent of Francis Cabrel.  The ordinary becomes special.  Cabrel is much loved in France for his talent, his moral fibre and his modest life style in a small village in the South of France, far away from Paris.

Transcript

Love the French Way 2 - The Dress and the Ladder

……… Theme music intro

? Text segment1 Welcome to “Love, the French Way”. My name is Charles Spira. In each episode we bring you a beautiful French love song. Francis Cabrel is one of the great French singer/songwriters. He lives quietly in a small village in the South of France, hiding from the trappings of fame. Several of his songs have become embedded in the French consciousness. We’ll hear “The Dress and the Ladder”, an unusual name for a magnificent love song . “She wore a light dress, he leaned his ladder against the cherry tree. She wanted to go first and he followed closely. Then, there are so many ways, to speak without using words, and so did you. A smile, an outstretched hand, the play of light on the moving fruit in the folds of your dress. It wasn’t about climbing high up, but there on the first rungs, I fe...
Read the full transcript

Musical Works

Title Artist Album Label Year Length
La Robe et L'echelle Francis Cabrel Des Roses Et Des Orties. Columbia 2008 03:45
Mistral Gagnant Renaud The Greatest Songs Ever: France. EMI UPC 2006 00:19