Monday 21 April 2008

hanging on the francophone: cross-channel perspectives and the nature of pop

comment allez-vous?

last week an emeute erupted in france, when it was announced that this year's entry to the eurovision song contest would be in anglais. just like lordi. the news caused jean-paul marat to turn over in his bath. just like jim morrison. the song itself is by sebastian tellier, who i think i've heard of. sacre-bleu!


as a rosbif, you might expect me to revel in this news. after all, GMS is well aware that the Oxford English Dictionary is five times as long as its french equivalent, and is full of rock terminology.

mais non! pourquoi, you may ask? well, i thoroughly approve of english pop bands employing someone to ramble on in french in the background of their songs du pop. don't believe me? ecoutez:

tindersticks - 'mistakes' (from tindersticks ii)


blur - 'to the end' (featuring francoise hardy) (buy some blur and francoise hardy)

here's the video for the original version of 'to the end'. it's an homage to l'annee derniere a marienbad, by french auteur alain resnais. to be honest, i found the film itself to be a bit of a pain in the arse.



more fun:

GMS reviews the new tindersticks album

song by toad addresses the issue


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