French Music

Lately I have been thinking that I should listen to the radio more often, in an effort to listen to more French music. Whilst it is true that most of the music that people seem to listen to over here is actually English spoken (sung) music, there is still of course a substantial amount of French music out there, and it seems only fair that I make an effort to familiarise myself with these songs.

Due to a law passed in 1986, 40% of music broadcast on French radio must be French. Whilst this is a significant amount, it still leaves a massive 60% of 'un-french' music on the radio. This proportion means that whilst my ability to improve my French through listening to the radio is somewhat limited, thankfully I can still keep in touch with the new artists that the rest of the world are listening to. I wonder though whether songs by French bands, that are peformed in English, are included in the French music category, or if this law (which I believe was originally designed to protect the culture and the language) specifies that French music must be sung in French and that the mere origin of the artist is not enough to classify something as 'French'. For there are many French artists who prefer to sing in English, in order to reach a larger audience one would assume. Artists like Phoenix, Air, Daft Punk, Bob Sinclair, and Justice to name but a few.

So over the next few months I'm going to make an effort to listen to some French music and see what pleasant discoveries I can make. To begin with I thought I'd share with you 2 nice examples of French music. I chose these 2 songs because they are totally different in style, the first is in French, the second in English, I really like both of them and the 2 clips are awesome. Just so that I don't misrepresent the French, these songs aren't the latest things to hit the airwaves. The first song 'Ta Douleur' by Camille was released in May 2005, and the second D.A.N.C.E was released in May 2007. You guys may well know D.A.N.C.E as it's a catchy tune in English and since it was released during my time living in Paris I have no idea of it's international release or success - but in case you didn't know, these guys are French. Happy listening and viewing.

Ta Douleur - Camille (May 2005)

D.A.N.C.E - Justice (May 2007)