Friday's French music break - Cœur de pirate, "Mistral gagnant"

This week's Friday's French music break is a remake of what might be called a (modern) French classic.

It's "Mistral gagnant" from Canadian singer Béatrice Martin - better known by her stage name Cœur de pirate.

Cœur de pirate (screenshot from "Mistral gagnant" video)

"Mistral gagnant" was first released by singer-songwriter Renaud (Renaud Séchan) back in 1985 and, over the years, has been covered (more or less successfully depending on your tastes) by a number of artists.

The song doesn't require a great voice (nobody could realistically maintain that Renaud himself is blessed with the widest vocal range) but has an intrinsic sensivity and melancholy which demands an interpretation that doesn't become overemotional and...well, cheesy.

Carla Bruni and Jean-Louis Aubert have tried it as a duet (enough said) as have Vanessa Paradis and Maxime Le Forestier (click on the names for their interpretations).

Belgian "songstress" Lara Fabian (the link should contain a health warning) has had a bash, successfully saccharine-ing it to the max.

And Amel Bent has given a tear-jerking performance or two of the song, proving that a great and distinctive voice can also to the song justice.

But the definitive version is arguably from the man who wrote and first recorded it - Renaud.

Until now perhaps.

Because Cœur de pirate's version is pretty true to the original. She almost has the same type of "broken" voice as Renaud and uses the simplest and most touching of musical arrangements which means that you actually appreciate the lyrics and the melody for what they are.

Tender.

The track is one of the first to be released from the upcoming tribute album "La bande à Renaud" on which a number of artists, including Carla Bruni (can't keep her away obviously), Nolwenn Leroy, Elodie Frégé, Bénabar and Renaud's son-in-law Renan Luce reinterpret some of the 62-year-old's best known songs.

So, even if Renaud hasn't released any new material for several years and has pretty much been absent from public performances with recurring alcohol problems and a seeming predilection to self destruct, the track (and indeed, the whole album) will hopefully serve as a reminder of his immense talent.

Here's Cœur de pirate's version, followed by Renaud's.

Enjoy.

Friday's French music break - Corson, "Raise me up (je respire)"

This week's Friday's French music break is "Raise me up (je respire)" from Alain Cordier, a singer from the north-eastern town of Thionville who goes by the stage name of Corson.

Corson (screenshot from "Raise me up (je respire)" official video)

It's the latest release from his debut album "The rainbow" and allows Corson, who has over the years sung in several musicals and operettas, to switch genres, using what is described as an "atypical" voice, to venture into the world of pure pop.

A fair bit has been written about his career. He's far from being an overnight sensation and has a solid, if unspectacular (in terms of commercial success) musical pedigree starting out with a classical training at the Conservatoire de Thionville.

The 34-year-old describes his music as "typically Anglo-Saxon mixed with French sensibility" and it's perhaps not surprising that among the groups and singers he cites as having influenced him the most, there's not one French act.

Instead, he says he draws his inspiration from the likes of Sting, U2, Nirvana, Pink Floyd, Radiohead and Rufus Wainwright.

Oh yes...and Depeche Mode, which perhaps explain the resemblance (don't you think?) to the group's lead singer Dave Gahan in the chorus of "Raise me up (je respire)" as Corson switches from French to English.

He has recently been the opening act for a few blasts from the past (who have not had the same sort of consistency or staying power over the years as Depeche Mode) including Boy George, Morten Harket (remember him? ) and Lisa Standsfield as they've each passed through Paris.

He's also scheduled to appear at the Cabenes festival in Metz on July

And following up on the interest there has been in "Raise me up (je respire)" as it has been receiving considerable airplay, he's also lined up to be interviewed on Virgin radio on Sunday evening complete with an acoustic performance.

Could well be worth a listen.


For the moment though, here's the single.

Enjoy and, as usual, have a great weekend.

So, who's "Lookin' after number one"?

Well, the title is not an allusion to the 1977 debut single of the same name by The Boomtown Rats.

Instead it's a tortured reference to one of the "big" political stories to have made the news in France over the past week.

"What could that be?" you might be asking (or not).

After all, it's a while since I let my fingers do the walking and brought you bang up-to-date with an objective look at the wonderful world that is French politics.

It's the upcoming European elections perhaps, and the somewhat "contrived" battery of polls which show French voters apparently giving the far-right Front National's (FN) anti-EU "programme" (sorry about the inverted commas - needs must) the thumbs up when everyone knows the big winner will really be the abstention rate.

Yawn.

Or Robert Ménard, one of the founders, and former secretary-general, of Reporters Sans Frontières who now, as mayor of the town of Béziers in the south of France (a post he won with the backing of the FN in March) has decided to ban - wait for it - the townsfolk from leaving their washing out on their balconies if it can be seen from the street?

Oh wait a moment. It'll only be between the hours of six o'clock in the morning and 10 pm. So it'll be all right to hang your undies out to dry during the night.

No. Too silly by far. Although a piece tracing Ménard's career from being a member of the Socialist party to becoming a self-declared "reactionary" in favour of the death penalty and against same-sex marriage might be interesting.

Maybe "Lookin' after number one!" alludes to Alain Delon, an...er...icon (is that the right word?) of the French cinema; a living legend whose brain seems to have become addled over the years (well he's getting on) and feels the need, and probably thinks his "star" status gives him the right, to express his social and political views in public.

After saying last year that same-sex couples should not be allowed to marry, that being gay was "against nature" and that "men were meant to woo women and not pick up other guys", it's perhaps little wonder that the 78-year-old has come out (entirely intentional turn of phrase) in support of Christine "homosexuality is an abomination" Boutin and her Force Vie movement in the European elections.

Nope. Delon and Boutin are far too busy looking after family values to be concerned about only themselves.

So "Lookin' after number one!" must be about Jean-François Copé's problems as the leader of the centre-right Union pour un mouvement populaire (Union for a popular movement, UMP).

You know the story, surely.

Copé's alleged "shady dealings" with UMP funds by handing out contracts to a communications company run by a couple of close buddies, which charged the party for events which never happened.

Ho hum. Looks as though it's all about to go ballistic next week when police will question three UMP parliamentarians who could well provide the proof that Copé is responsible for certain...er..."irregularities".

No, it's not that either.

Rather "Lookin' after number one!" refers to the former political scribe-turned politician  Henri Guaino and a parliamentary resolution he's tabling which shows that at the very least he has cojones.

Henri Guaino (screenshot "Bourdin direct" BFM TV, May 2014)

You see (and this is going to be a little complicated to explain) Guaino made remarks about the judge who has been investigating the dealings of Nicolas Sarkozy (to whom he was both a special advisor and political speechwriter) with French billionaire Liliane Bettencourt.

He (Guaino) accused Jean-Michel Gentil (the judge) of "dishonouring the justice system" in the manner in which he was questioning and investigating Sarkozy.

That comment clearly didn't sit well with l'Union syndicale des magistrats who brought a case against Guaino to the public prosecutor for "contempt of court and discrediting an act or judicial decision, under conditions likely to undermine the authority of the justice or independence".

Guaino's reaction? Well, he stood by everything he said.

But just to take out some extra "insurance", he's now asking his fellow parliamentarians to pass a resolution which would...." suspend the proceedings by the public prosecutor of Paris against Henri Guaino, MP for contempt of court..."

All right. That's more than enough French politics.

Here's Bob Geldof (pre KBE) and the rest of 'em