Back when I used to pick up blacksono from school in Kfar Shmiriyahu, on Tuesdays I never missed the BBC world service's World Music Show presented by Charlie Gillett. The first time I heard, Le Vent Noun Portera by Noir Desir, I was blown away. When I bought the Des Visages des Figures album, I listened to it over and over, even though I had no idea what the lyrics were about. I loved the dark and painful quality to their music that came through in every song. And all this was enhanced by not understand a word. Watch this video. Wow.
It was not beyond belief when I learned in 2003 that Bertrand Cantat (Noir Desir's founder and singer) was found guilt of manslaughter. In a drunken argument in a hotel room in Lituania, "apparently related to infidelity", Cantat hit his girlfriend, Marie Trintignant (I love the Executive Summary on this webpage: "Popular French actress beaten to death") causing a cerebral edema of which she later died. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.
We have listened to this song many times at blackhomeo. Its been a constant on the "four star" playlist. A playlist that is often the soundtrack to any medium to large scale meal preparation. I was happy not knowing anything more than the title means "The Wind Will Carry Us (away?)". I was amazed to find a YouTube version with English Subtitles. I was most disappointed, perhaps its the translation, or perhaps the real lyrics really are a bunch of pretentious bullshit. Don't watch the translation, the quality sucks anyway, sometimes not knowing is the key.
A very long arm
14 hours ago
1 comment:
Not sure if you check comments to old posts - I'm catching up, not being a regular reader (of anything, not just your blog!)
One thing you should know about the French and their language - they have mastered the art of sounding darker and deeper than the emotional truth in reality. I love French films. I left Australia because I was inspired by a French film. I still love them. But I can see the tricks they use. The other thing you should know is that the French are actually pretty screwed up - it's what gives them this emotional greatness.
What actually caught my eye in this blog was the reason that you were attracted to the music - because of its deep painfulness. I mention this because it is the one thing that I find missing in your blog. Clearly you chose the title "80%" because there are so many things that pain you. And yet, precisely because you are not French (you come from the English stock) your pain is expressed in satire. If you were to reach this level of pain and express it without cynicism or sarcasm, I would say that it would be time for you to upgrade from being a blogger to being a good English novelist. I think that you would be up for it.
Marc
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