Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes, snowflakes that fall on your nose and eyelashes...Sound of Music reference too lame here? I think not!!
Another one of my very favorite things...la musique !! The French music scene is interesting in that it is, well, pretty much American. Everywhere I go I hear American music--my host siblings are obsessed with Taio Cruz (they know ALL the words to "Dynamite." I don't even know all the words to "Dynamite") Their very favorite? Michael Jackson. French people can't get enough of that guy. If you want to make a French person feel at home, all you need to do is pour the wine, slice the bread and cheese, and turn up "Thriller"--it'll work every time.
I've been asking everyone I talk to why American music is so big here. I've gotten several different answers, but one that I find very interesting is that French is not a good language to sing in. A few different people have mentioned that the French style of speech is much choppier when set to music--English just flows better. I don't know how much merit the choppy argument holds, but it is definitely true that French is harder to sing in. I think it's because they don't pronounce the ends of their words when they speak (père = pèhh) but when they sing they elongate them (père = pèrrehh).
Another interesting tidbit is that the music education here is completely different than in the United States. Music is not compulsory in any level of school here--in fact elementary schools, middle schools and high schools don't have music departments. Each arrondissement has its own conservatory, and if a child wants to study music he or she has to register at the conservatory (for a considerable fee) and take lessons on top the rest of their schooling (the schools here go until 4 or 5 pm).
On a side note, people keep trying to tell me that pre-university education is way better here than in the U.S. because they go until 5 pm. But they start at 9, an hour later than most schools in the U.S., and they go home for lunch, which takes a good hour and a half out of the afternoon. Something in their math is fishy, that's all I'm saying.
Anyways, the result of all of this is a very underdeveloped music education system. I spoke with my host uncle about it, and he said that literature replaces music in many schools because it is considered to be more "intellectual" by the government. The French government is very concerned with maintaining a cultivated and intellectual population (L'Académie Française anyone?), and music (according to my host uncle) is too sentimental to be considered necessary for a proper formation. He went as far as to say that that's why French people can't make "le rock," but I had to stop him there--that's just ridiculous.
I'm going to have to keep exploring this issue, so I'll keep you guys posted on other discoveries I make. I'll leave you with a sampling of French music that I've been listening to so far--it's no Michael Jackson, but it's not bad.
Sexion d'Assaut is a rap group made up of 8 Parisians. They rap about a lot of political stuff--very interesting. This is probably their best known song, "Désolé" ("Sorry")
Mylène Farmer is a French pop artist who gets mixed reviews. From what I can tell, French people either love her or really hate her. More of the latter. Interesting none the less (heads up, the video is a liiiiiittle weird)
Noir Désir tries to prove that French people can indeed rock. They're one of the best known French rock groups, and I kinda like 'em
And last but not least, the illustrious Carla Bruni. For those of you who don't know her, she is an Italian-French singer/model/current wife of Nicholas Sarkozy. My feelings on her are mixed, but I really like this song
Bon écoute, mes amis !
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