You trust me, right? Have I steered you wrong yet? So forget Edith Piaf, Cole Porter, and Maurice Chevalier. They're great, sure. Classics. But perhaps you want to add something a bit more modern to your French-themed soundtrack.
I have so many songs I want to include, I'm going to have to split them up. You'll notice that in today's batch of French-themed songs, none of these singers are, actually, from France.
If you're only going to listen to/watch one, and you like funny, make it the Flight of the Conchords (whose accents are horrible, by the way, but all in the name of good comedy). Here they woo some ladies with the most romantic of the Romance languages in "Foux da Fa Fa":
Forget Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga, by the way. In our house, the god of pop is Mika. He's multi-passported and bilingual, but basically British and normally sings in English. One of his only French songs is "Elle Me Dit," but it's a great one. So catchy!:
My parents will hate this next one, but we love it. If you're watching this with kids, be warned that there's a little booty-shakin' by scantily-clad showgirls in excellent lingerie. We show it to our girls (who think it's a crack up) under the guise of "dance", but you may have different costuming standards. Though it's an American song, in English, by a Vermont-based artist, it's got a great French theme. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals with "If I Was in Paris":
Pink Martini, a band originally from Oregon, has won awards in France with this song of theirs, Sympathique, in the style of Edith Piaf. This video is basically shot in our 'hood in Paris. This song is particularly near and dear to our hearts because when Gigi and Pippa first heard this song at ages 5 and 7, they would walk around singing the chorus. I'm sure it makes me a horrible parent -- even worse than letting them watch sexy booty-shaking dancers in lingerie, but I always thought it was very funny to hear their little baby voices plaintively singing, "I don't want to work. I don't want to eat. I just want to forget. And so, I smoke...."
The lead singer of Coeur de Pirate has one of those cute baby voices that seems like it should annoy me, but I love it, and it's a good thing, as I frequently hear her in Paris. "Adieu" is a very American video, and there's an explanation for this: because it's a Canadian band. So, it's a very North American video.
Other contenders you might want to put in your rotation, though no videos to write home about:
"Summer Paradise" by Simple Plan. If you listen to pop radio, you'll recognize the song, which has a more popular English-language version (and actual video, too!), but since the band is French-Canadian, they've recorded a mixed English-French version.
Isabelle Boulay, another French-Canadian, but one who only sings in French. "Parle-Moi" is one of her many songs, her specialty being melodious and melodramatic music.
I have so many songs I want to include, I'm going to have to split them up. You'll notice that in today's batch of French-themed songs, none of these singers are, actually, from France.
If you're only going to listen to/watch one, and you like funny, make it the Flight of the Conchords (whose accents are horrible, by the way, but all in the name of good comedy). Here they woo some ladies with the most romantic of the Romance languages in "Foux da Fa Fa":
Forget Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga, by the way. In our house, the god of pop is Mika. He's multi-passported and bilingual, but basically British and normally sings in English. One of his only French songs is "Elle Me Dit," but it's a great one. So catchy!:
My parents will hate this next one, but we love it. If you're watching this with kids, be warned that there's a little booty-shakin' by scantily-clad showgirls in excellent lingerie. We show it to our girls (who think it's a crack up) under the guise of "dance", but you may have different costuming standards. Though it's an American song, in English, by a Vermont-based artist, it's got a great French theme. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals with "If I Was in Paris":
Pink Martini, a band originally from Oregon, has won awards in France with this song of theirs, Sympathique, in the style of Edith Piaf. This video is basically shot in our 'hood in Paris. This song is particularly near and dear to our hearts because when Gigi and Pippa first heard this song at ages 5 and 7, they would walk around singing the chorus. I'm sure it makes me a horrible parent -- even worse than letting them watch sexy booty-shaking dancers in lingerie, but I always thought it was very funny to hear their little baby voices plaintively singing, "I don't want to work. I don't want to eat. I just want to forget. And so, I smoke...."
The lead singer of Coeur de Pirate has one of those cute baby voices that seems like it should annoy me, but I love it, and it's a good thing, as I frequently hear her in Paris. "Adieu" is a very American video, and there's an explanation for this: because it's a Canadian band. So, it's a very North American video.
Other contenders you might want to put in your rotation, though no videos to write home about:
"Summer Paradise" by Simple Plan. If you listen to pop radio, you'll recognize the song, which has a more popular English-language version (and actual video, too!), but since the band is French-Canadian, they've recorded a mixed English-French version.
Isabelle Boulay, another French-Canadian, but one who only sings in French. "Parle-Moi" is one of her many songs, her specialty being melodious and melodramatic music.
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