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French Bands or French Lyrics

  • 10-09-2016 4:44pm
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,900 ✭✭✭


    I'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.



Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,383 ✭✭✭S.M.B.


    Placebo have both English and French versions of the same song.

    Protege moi /protect me from what I want.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,273 ✭✭✭UsedToWait


    Nada Surf too..


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 338 ✭✭RodVelvet


    Air have songs in French being a French Band, my favourite being Sexy Boy.

    Sexy Boy


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,863 ✭✭✭seachto7


    Noir Desir, Louis Attaque. Chris Cornell, Can't Change Me is in French too.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 413 ✭✭Merowig


    Space in Your face (love their Album Emosphere)
    http://www.sam-music.com/index.php/CD/space_in_your_face_emosphere_3883.html
    e.g. Prier le ciel and Elements essentiels

    Joe Dassin is also old - but he has some good stuff.

    Charles Aznavour - also classic
    e.g.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A314PVRSQIM

    Tonton David - Il marche seul
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlXNeCboE9A


    Fatal Bazooka - Fous ta cagoule
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in81GJebnXc
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud_-AuBmp6Q

    IAM - Je Dans le Mia
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ceNf9qJjgc


    Stromae - Formidable
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_xH7noaqTA

    Le Boudin
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC6-AhOmnCk


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,104 ✭✭✭✭loyatemu


    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"



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,890 ✭✭✭CelticRambler


    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) :confused:


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,863 ✭✭✭seachto7


    I forgot about a band called Malajube from Quebec. Well worth checking out, at toutes en francais.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13 Roger The Alien 1974


    When I was working over there (around 2002), there was a band on the rise, Dionysos.

    Just checked and they're still going strong - they sing between French and English. Guess you'd loosely call them 'alternative rock', or at least they were in 2002!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,900 ✭✭✭InTheTrees


    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.:

    Something I'm learning is that French in particular is very "slurred" which doesn't really lend itself too well to modern music.
    You have to annunciate clearly or it could end up as gibberish.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 766 ✭✭✭ger vallely


    Projet La Faille are a fantastic band, well I think so. Alternative, great vibe and from around Perpignan or Marseilles I think.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,890 ✭✭✭CelticRambler


    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! :D


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 766 ✭✭✭ger vallely


    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! :D

    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..


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 413 ✭✭Merowig


    seachto7 wrote: »
    I forgot about a band called Malajube from Quebec. Well worth checking out, at toutes en francais.

    Speaking about Quebec

    CuréLabel
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHeo14MeNmg&list=PL954540F5E7E32E97
    http://www.curelabel.com


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,900 ✭✭✭InTheTrees


    You tube is your friend here op..

    Found this one...

    Bowie. Heroes. in french. I wish he'd done more.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,405 ✭✭✭Dandelion6


    Autour de Lucie are quite good in that jangly, Sundays sort of way.



  • Registered Users Posts: 66 ✭✭evani1976


    “Refractions In The Plastic Pulse” (from Dots & Loops, 1997) by Stereolab who have a french born singer.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 73,221 ✭✭✭✭Welsh Megaman


    evani1976 wrote: »
    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


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,900 ✭✭✭InTheTrees


    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.

    Thats what I'm finding alright.

    The best for learning seems to be english speaking bands doing songs in french. They try and sing more clearly and its a bit easier to understand.



    Save


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,890 ✭✭✭CelticRambler


    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. :D


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,357 ✭✭✭✭Birneybau




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,900 ✭✭✭InTheTrees


    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. :D

    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.

    Save


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,353 ✭✭✭✭endacl


    Somebody had to....



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,353 ✭✭✭✭endacl


    And the announcer reminded me! :D



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,225 ✭✭✭✭BPKS


    Saw this lot on Jools Holland the other night, not bad


    https://youtu.be/SB_QT2gKmzA


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,890 ✭✭✭CelticRambler


    InTheTrees wrote: »
    I did it for four years at school...er twenty + years ago ...Save

    Same as meself! :D

    ... 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.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 277 ✭✭iomega


    An album I like a lot, April March - Triggers. She's american but sings in french & english. Love the production.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAYpaqNhanc


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,899 ✭✭✭UrbanSprawl




    A translation at 1.07 would be great! There's a test for you.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,104 ✭✭✭✭loyatemu


    bit of French electro-hiphop from Modeselektor (who are German, obviously)



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,273 ✭✭✭UsedToWait


    loyatemu wrote: »
    bit of French electro-hiphop from Modeselektor (who are German, obviously)

    Did the Erasumus year - my French pals' rap went down much better than my German pals'... there's something about being shouted at in German that just doesn't sit right ;)







  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,900 ✭✭✭InTheTrees


    Maybe not Alt-Indie, but I did a double take when I saw this one and wanted to post it, Mumford and Sons en afrique.

    I like it.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,317 ✭✭✭emo72


    i like les rita mitsouko. they have a good song called cest comme ca.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,184 ✭✭✭✭Pighead


    La Fille Danse by Damien Rice and Lisa Hannigan is in French. Short and Sweet.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fBnJEoRPqU


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