Saturday, June 13, 2009

Vieux Jeu




Cocaïne
Melocoton
L'eau A La Bouche
L'Idole
Requiem Pour Un Con
Ce Soir Je M'en Vais
J'ai Tout Lu, Tout Vu, Tout Bu
Un Poison Violent, C'est Ça L'Amour Avec Jean-Claude Brialy
L'Opportuniste
Cargo Culte

Nitta-Jo is enraptured by cocaine, no later than 1932, Colette Magny's French blues/nursery rhyme, Serge isn't a dirty old man yet, he's actually quite romantic, Jacques Dutronc's tired of fame (what's French for "ennui"?), Serge's most powerful moment. 
Jacqueline has to leave London, all she's leaving with is a few memories of street names and the latest records, teenage drama at its best, Dutronc's back, bragging about how he's read, seen, and drank everything, "that's why [he is] an idiot", Serge now at his most cynical, balanced by the romantic naïve Brialy (he came on to my uncle once!). 
Back to late Dutronc, now he's a turncoat, "there are those that contest and protest, me, I only turn my coat, always on the right side". In J'aime Les Filles, he uses his most outrageous crooner voice to pander to every kind of woman. By now you should have figured that Jacques doesn't take himself too seriously, oh and he's married to Françoise Hardy. Gainsbourg plays us out as Melody blows up in the sky, courtesy of Jean-Claude Vannier's brilliant arrangements.

6 comments:

glasshalfempty said...

What's the French for "ennui" reminds me of the great Bushism. Talking of the lazy socialist cheese-eaters, he pronounced that "the trouble with the French is they don't have a word for 'entrepreneur'"

Blimpy said...

the lyrics for requiem pour un con are very sweary - i know this cos i asked my dad to translate them last year!

ejaydee said...

They're very sweary if you use the original ancient meaning of con, but now we use as a more offensive way to say stupid, so it's okay to sing along to it.

steenbeck said...

Ooh--I do like it! I love it. I love how it has dark & light elements all at once. Wow. What is she saying?(Sorry for this delayed reaction, I was at work. And I hadn't started listening to this list yet at all)

What a voice! I looked up some other songs on youTube...what is it with these strange, sad lullabies? They're so effecting. Or is that affecting?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OIzTyHMQrQ&feature=related

ejaydee said...

Radio Nova says this:
«Melocoton, où elle est maman ? » : refrain du plus implacable blues français, un bijou en forme de comptine, dû à une femme à la carrure imposante et à la voix soul scotchante, Colette Magny. Une figure radicale et indomptable dont les textes engagés enflammeront l’après 68.

"Which lefty-loosely translates an unstoppable French blues refrain in the shape of a lullaby, from a woman with an imposing frame and flabbergasting soul voice, Colette Magny. A radical and indomitable figure whose lyrics inflamed the post 1968 era."

The lyrics of the actual song repeat several phrases, which seem to be a discussion between two children. If I got this right, they're called Melocoton and Boule d'Or (goldenball, like David Beckham).
Boule d'Or asks Melocoton where mummy is, "I don't know" he/she says, "come, take my hand"
"To go where?"
"I dunno, come"
"Daddy's got a big voice, do you think we'll get to talk like that some day?"
"I dunno, come take my hand"

Practice your french here:
http://jbodart.club.fr/melocoton.htm

I saw she has an album on spotify, which I was lining up for listening sometime this week.

steenbeck said...

OOh, an album on spotify. After all these spill lists...