Saturday, October 06, 2007

Summers in Mende

Jube and I were talking about French songs the other day. I have to admit that I enjoy quite a bit of French popular music, mostly on the pop-rock continuum. I really like Anais and Emilie Simon (she's from Montpellier, you know!), plus some other groups. One of my first posts was about Francis Cabrel singing Cat Stevens. That was the first day I heard him sing, and I think I forgot about him for two years. Then Jube, talking about popular French personalities with Southern (French) accents, pulled up his song L'Encre de tes yeux. Wow! I'm not sure if I was feeling sad that day or what, but the song really touched me. It brought tears to my eyes (seriously--and also kind of embarrassingly).

Jube told me how funny it seemed that I was just hearing the song for the first time. "It reminds me of summers in Mende spent at my aunt's house. I was young..." he broke off, reminiscing. Then, as Francis sang "quand meme" in the song, he turned to me, excited, saying, "Hear his Southern accent?" It reminded me of how he played me a song when we first started dating, a song whose singer lingered over the word moquette to show that he was really from the South. Today I can hear the difference, but at the time I heard nothing.

Anyway, whether you can hear a southern French accent or not, here is the song:


4 comments:

Doc said...

Hi Gem! I'm flying back to the states at the end of the month for a visit with friends and family, and since I'll be passing practically in front of your house, I was wondering if there's anything you're missing that I could deliver. Just say the word...

Gem said...

Hi Doc!

I would love it if you came by our place! Feel free to send me an email by hitting "E-mail Me" under Links or send a message to htblckdesiato at gmail dot com.

Anonymous said...

(Sorry top ost this as a commnet... couldn't seem to find an email contact)

Hello there,

We have produced what we feel is the most comprehensive guide to tourist attractions throughout France. I would be grateful if you could take a look and, if you feel it's worthwhile, giving it a mention on your blog.

The website is http://www.afranceattraction.com and gives details on more than 4,000 French attractions.

Thank you for your time,

Paul

N said...

J'adooore Francis Cabrel! :)
When I was studying (standard) French diction at the Conservatory (I'm a classical singer), it was hard for me to hear the difference between the two /o/ sounds that exist in the French language. In southern France we only pronounce one same open /o/.

Kind of hard to explain, but I noticed that Francis makes all this souther "mistakes" when he sings. I'm kind of proud of it too. :-)