Anybody Want Some French Music?

So, I remember how much of a pain it was to find French music before I moved here. I mean, it was ridiculous. Of course, it hasn't gotten much easier, since most of what's on the radio is still American, but at least I have a better chance of finding something over here. So I figured, I'll give you all links to the stuff I've found. Not sure if you guys are going to like my style, so I'll link a few songs I don't like as well, so everybody can find something.

There's going to be two lists: French music I've found, and songs in English that I've fallen in love with over here or are popular with French teens. That works, right?


FRENCH MUSIC:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQFQgItsm18  Watch the music video for this one if you have the chance, it's cute. The title (Dis-Moi Encore que Tu M'aimes) means "Tell me again that you love me." I personally like this song, it's got a nice tune and it's not necessary to understand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdwC26FHxkA&feature=related  Not a big fan, it's a little too Pop-y for me, but the music video is certainly creative and it's easy enough to understand if you have a background in French.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U05LgrRzNt8  There are no words for how much I love this song. Go and look up the lyrics, they're so clever and cute.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6LJjFgHCwY  Incredibly easy to understand, and if you manage to memorize it, it's a good song to sing at random times to boost your confidence in your language-learning abilities, just saying. It sounds impressive even though it's so easy. Also a really cute song. I'm a big fan of Alizée in general.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvdZAhRzimA  Another Alizée song, and my favorite of hers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4l-OxIqU0tY&feature=list_related&playnext=1&list=MLGxdCwVVULXclF_mgsQ0VbKsv7J92KenE  Though I really like Calogero, this song is not my style at all. It's sort of half-rap, and I'm not thrilled with it, but in my experience, any French person will be able to at least sing you the chorus, which I'll admit is super-catchy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLg6uTT5izo&feature=related  I couldn't find my favorite Calogero song (Which is "La Bourgeoisie Des Sensations" if you want to try and find it) but I did find my second favorite. This is another "look up the lyrics" song, it's incredibly deep. If you're looking for songs that are obviously French, where the lyrics are clear and you can practice translating-on-the-go, go for Calogero. He is, by far, my favorite French singer. (The music video for this one kind of make no sense, though. Skip it.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E72zd1FQhQs  Normally, Superbus is a little too superficial and obnoxious for me, but this song, despite being kind of loud for my tastes, has a pretty good story line and is catchy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ig3g7U8wDM&feature=related  Another Superbus. I'm adding this one to the list because it was the first song I ever really listened to in French. Super easy to understand, if you cheat a little by reading the lyrics, you could probably understand the whole thing with only a year or two of french and a few word look-ups.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=satMi-rws1A  Speaking of super-easy, let's get this one out of the way. The woman who sings this isn't French, she has a bit of an accent, either American (most likely) or British. However the song is cute and catchy, and you're almost guaranteed to understand the chorus the first time through if you speak any French at all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvyMG0z0FZY  This one is actually sort of nice. Fast, but soft. It's about a woman who wonders if her lover is still in love with her. Side note, the woman who is singing this is actually the wife of the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOru9ITtVIg  Gregoire is a pretty well-known singer in France. This is one of his more popular songs, though personally I can't listen to it for more than a few verses before it starts to grate on my ears. The tune doesn't really change enough.



Sublist: Songs That I'm Embarrassed To Like


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoISXWbRpZA&feature=fvst  Oh, man. I really shouldn't like this song, it's soooooo bad, but there's just something about hearing it on the radio five thousand times and dancing to it with a bunch of French teenagers for lack of anything else to do that makes you sort of tolerate it until you end up thinking of it fondly. I'm so sorry to have inflicted this on you. Listen to it anyway. (The music video is incredibly obnoxious, though: Watch at your own risk.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuDDC6i84fo  I was at a New Years party the first time I heard this. It was really quite a sight: Every SINGLE person in the room started singing along, even the kids. It's an 80s song, and it's so cheesy, but it's one of those "dancing-around-you-room-singing-into-a-hairbrush" type of songs. It stays in your head until you go crazy and start singing it under your breath just to try and get rid of it. Then it brainwashes you, and you start to like it.  (By the way, some south Korean ladies did a cover of this song, and the music video made me laugh so hard I accidentally fell out of my chair. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZOjFcqH_Jk They really are trying to sing it in French, bless them.)



SONGS IN ENGLISH:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Na85fPGYCM&feature=related  This has been playing on the radio non-stop. It's so catchy you can't help but remember it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-0Qx8HwlW4  I LOVE LOVE LOVE this song. I could listen to it all day. Go and listen to it NOW. Also, the music video isn't half bad, kind of elegant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRpeEdMmmQ0  Well, hopefully you've seen this. Just about every French teenager I've met could both sing it to you and do the dance, so there's that. Plus, it's catchy. And maybe it's just me, but I feel sort of vaguely patriotic when I sing it.

(Well, THAT was a short list.)



I hope that at least gave you one new song to listen to. French music really isn't bad, I don't know why we refuse to listen to anything international (besides Mexican) in the United States. It's such a shame.

~Jocelyn Harris