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Hi all, please see this major site announcement: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058427594/boards-ie-2026
French Bands or French Lyrics
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10-09-2016 03:44PM#1I'm learning french... so i'd like to find some bands with lyrics in french whether its english speaking bands that release french versions or actual french alternative/indie bands. And I'd like to find originals rather than french covers.
I've tried using the googles but the best(yike!) I can find are celine dion and edith piaf and thats not going to do it for me.
It was finding a Portishead song in french that inspired me to try looking a bit more.
Any ideas greatly appreciated.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5gTYDV8P1AComments
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Sebastien Tellier - his stuff is in a mix of English and French (famously he entered the Eurovision with an English-language song, much to the chagrin of French activists).
and obviously Serge Gainsbourg, though some of his lyrics are a bit, eh, "fruity"
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The French don't sing in French anymore! :pac: Well, the youngsters don't - they all speak and sing in MTV-ish. :rolleyes:
To get an idea of what's current, tune in to France Bleu - France's local radio network - which is obliged to broadcast a certain minimum of French language music. You can pick out some bands/singers that you like from their playlist, then see if you can find the lyrics on www.paroles.fr , www.paroles.net , www.paroles-musique.com or search for other "paroles" sites.
If it's for language learning, modern bands are pretty useless as their diction is dreadful, their grammar is sh1te, their vocabulary is makey-up, and (as mentioned above) the French content is pretty low. Despite your misgivings, you're better off going with the old crooners like Gainsbourg, Piaf, Aznavour, etc. Or try Georges Brassens - a kind of French Percy French. Otherwise, "lyrical" singers like Emily Loizeau or Angélique Kidjo give a modern twist to the old style.
If none of that works for you, go out on a limb and delve into the world of trad/folk where the songs are made to be listened to and sung along with. Your only problem there will be avoiding the odd French dialect words. By way of example: Julien Barbier/La Machine, or Anne-Lise Foy
(the "bird" theme running through those examples wasn't intentional)
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ger vallely wrote: »Projet La Faille are a fantastic band, well I think so. Alternative, great vibe and from around Perpignan or Marseilles I think.
Yeaaaahhhhh ... but with songs like "Flashback" "Sock it to me" "Celebration" "Moonlight" etc, they're a perfect example of what passes for French music these days, and not much use to the OP!
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CelticRambler wrote: »Yeaaaahhhhh ... but with songs like "Flashback" "Sock it to me" "Celebration" "Moonlight" etc, they're a perfect example of what passes for French music these days, and not much use to the OP!
When I saw them play on Collioure beach a couple of years back they sang purely in French. You tube is your friend here op..0 -
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ger vallely wrote: »You tube is your friend here op..
Found this one...
Bowie. Heroes. in french. I wish he'd done more.
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Autour de Lucie are quite good in that jangly, Sundays sort of way.
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Refractions In The Plastic Pulse (from Dots & Loops, 1997) by Stereolab who have a french born singer.
Letitia Sadler - she also performed on 'To The End' by Blur.
Blur recorded an alternative version, with Damon Albarn singing the song entirely in French - well worth checking out.
EDIT:-
https://youtu.be/EVHx71-fqfo 0 -
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What's your objective, if you don't mind me asking? I get the impression you're past the Leaving Cert stage. Is it just for fun, for holidays, for a new job? I had a girl from Sligo over working for me in the summer, who we got from "no French, at all, ever" to "enough for the job, and a bit of small talk" in three days. We did that with music and dance vocab. 0
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CelticRambler wrote: »What's your objective, if you don't mind me asking? I get the impression you're past the Leaving Cert stage. Is it just for fun, for holidays, for a new job? I had a girl from Sligo over working for me in the summer, who we got from "no French, at all, ever" to "enough for the job, and a bit of small talk" in three days. We did that with music and dance vocab.
I did it for four years at school...er twenty + years ago, but never really understood what I was doing. Lately I got inspired to give it a serious go again. I'm about A2 level only. I can read pretty well, but listening and conversation are still very rough. I'm primarily using duolingo an online course.Save0 -
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InTheTrees wrote: »I did it for four years at school...er twenty + years ago ...Save
Same as meself!
... but I've had a bit more practice since.
The standard courses are grand if you stick with them, but sometimes it can seem like a hard slog for not much return. A commom complaint amongst anglophone immigrants in France is that even the better courses still only teach "tourist" vocab, which isn't much use when you want to buy twenty four sheets of plasterboard, a bag of cement and a drive belt for the lawnmower. :pac:
The girl I referred to above was once of seven youngsters we had over for a week working with the public (see here), who all made a point of saying how much they appreciated being able to actually use the vocab we gave them, talking to real people. On average, they only needed three days before having the confidence to start a conversation.0 -
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A translation at 1.07 would be great! There's a test for you.0 -
bit of French electro-hiphop from Modeselektor (who are German, obviously)
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiD4r38AnyU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3WeNexb2a8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcFIj56KL6g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZKl6Pvh078
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlhkRRmCDJQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4ZUspBCFWc
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