Celebrating Francophone Music: Stromae & 6 Iconic French Songs

It was Francophonie Week from March 1st to the 21st. Obviously, I'm late, but I wanted to make a little article for the occasion; today, I want to share with you about a great artist in the francophone world: Stromae.

If you have never heard of Stromae before, he is a Belgian artist who sings in French. His music gathers many different influences: Congalese music, house, hip-hop, pop, electro, and rap, among others. Stromae is widely known among Europe and is for many a symbol of Francophonie.

Source: La Croix

Stromae not only has thought-provoking lyrics, but places much thought in his entire image as an artist, such as in his attire and concerts. Talking about concerts, you can view his Racine Carrée concert in its entirety (and with English subtitles) on his official YouTube channel. He released his album Racine Carrée in 2013 and toured from 2013 to 2015.

His concert is truly amazing. There is a great flow from one song to another and the concert shows a great artistry. I had a great time watching it – I would have loved to have seen it in person!

To give you a little glimpse of his Racine Carrée concert, I have made some screenshots from his YouTube video Stromae - Racine Carrée Live (Full Concert) from his channel StromaeVEVO.


Song: Peace or violence

♪ Peace or violence ♫

♫ Peace or violence ♪

Ave cesaria

♫ Avé Césaria  ♪

...

♪ Sacrée Césaria ♫

Quand c'est ? – This song is about cancer, so obviously it's dark; even though, it's quite a catchy song.

♪ Cancer, cancer, dis moi quand c'est ♫

♫ Cancer, cancer, qui est le prochain ? ♪

...

♪ Qui est, qui est, qui est le prochain ? ♫

♫ Qui est, qui est, qui est le prochain ? ♪

Formidable

♫ Formidable, formidable ♪

♪ Tu étais formidable, j'étais fort minable ♫

♫ Nous étions formidables ♪

Alors on danse

♪ Alors on danse ♫

♫ Alors on danse ♪

♪ Alors on danse ♫

Papaoutai

♫ Ou t'es, papaoutai ? ♪

♪ Ou t'es ? ♫

♫ Ou t'es, papaoutai ? ♪

To end this article, I wanted to share a few iconic French songs for those interested in learning about French pop culture.

Note: There are other iconic songs, such as La vie en rose, and singers, such as Johny Hallyday (recognized as the French Elvis Presley). To make this list I've chosen iconic French songs that I've heard since my childhood – mostly from my dad listening to these songs and humming them.

By the way, the song Quoi, sung by Jane Birkin, is gorgeous.

6 Iconic French Songs:

I've chosen to share some beautiful covers by professional singers for some of these songs as I feel that they do a good job at honouring the songs and making them more enjoyable for younger generations.

Les lacs du Connemara (1981) – Michel Sardou

This is a gorgeous cover by a very talented French kids music group called Kids United. This song is about the Connemara lakes in Ireland.

Santiano (1961) – Hugues Aufray

Beautiful cover by the French singing chore Les Marins d'Iroise who is composed of former sailors. This song was actually inspired from the English sea shanty "Santianna".

***Edit: the YouTube video has been made unavailable in Canada (and perhaps other countries) unfortunately; but you can refer to this video for the song: Les Marins D'Iroise - Santiano - YouTube

Comme d'habitude (1967) – Claude François

Cover by the French singer M. Pokora. I personally enjoy this take on it better :)

Je vais t'aimer (1976) – Michel Sardou

This is the ultimate love song. Cover by the singer Louane. I've chosen this video as the choreography goes very beautifully with this song!

La Maladie d'amour (1973) – Michel Sardou

Michel Sardou singing his song La Maladie d'amour.

L'aventurier (1982) – Indochine

This song is a tribute to a Belgian comic book hero called Bob Morane. I remember listening to this song on the radio one summer in France visiting my grandpa and relatives when I was little. I've been listening to this song for many years and I'll probably keep loving it even when I'm old!

If you watch Indochine's YouTube video L'aventurier (Black City Concerts au Stade de France 2014) you'll see how iconic this song is!

As Francophone music encompasses many different countries, I hope to make other articles on Francophone music to share about Francophone songs and artists outside of Europe.

The Francophone music that I listen to is currently limited to Europe (mostly France) and Canada, so I'd love to get know Francophone music outside of these regions as well! If you have any suggestions for me, don't hesitate to mention them in the comment box below!

See you soon!

Mara