courir dans les tournesols

There's an earworm I picked up while grocery shopping last night that's been driving me nuts, since I can remember the voice -- Steve Winwood or Peter Cetera, I'm guessing -- and a bit of the refrain, but not any of the lyrics.

So, I figured, why not trying to chase it out with classics from another high-voiced middle-aged singer? Which leads to some of the thises and thatses I've been collecting:

In a comment thread for the video of Je Marche Seul ("I walk alone"), someone from Luxembourg exclaimed, "The woman in this, she's the mom of one of my friends!" The daughter (also from Luxembourg) signed on a month later with "I'm very proud of my mama. :-D"

About the video, Goldman said:

Tu sais, je ne vais presque jamais au cinéma parce que j'ai très peu de temps, alors j'adore regarder les bandes-annonces des films. Tu y trouves presque tout. Ça donne envie d'aller au cinéma, ça va très vite et on voit un peu tous les aspects : l'aventure, le suspens, l'érotisme, la peur… Donc, on avait décidé de faire pour ce clip un film où on puisse imaginer une histoire d'un type, transfuge de l'Est à qui il arrive une aventure dans un train qui passe la frontière… C'était dans cet esprit légèrement humoristique qu'on avait travaillé.

["You know, I almost never go to the movies because I have very little time, so I love to watch the trailers. You find almost everything there. They make you want to go to movies, they do it very quickly and you see a little bit of everything: adventure, suspense, erotica, fear. So, for this video, we decided to make a film where one could imagine a story of a guy, a defector from the East, in which he ends up in an escapade on a train crossing the border... We worked on it with the idea of lightweight fun in mind."]

In a concert clip from 1998, Goldman leaves the main stage and walks to an island out in the audience as he sings "Je Marche Seul." (One of things I'm enjoying about this new hobby is seeing both Goldman c. 1980s and Goldman c. 2000s, and likewise with other singers who've been around that long such as Elsa and Cabrel -- people whose bodies and voices have matured...) ... and he returns to the band at the end of Nos Mains, a song about connections.

Searching "Je marche seul" on YouTube also brings up a handful of "baby's first step" videos, a metal band, a group of grade-school girls auditioning (they don't sound bad, but no, it doesn't fit), a guy on Nouvelle Star, and Mathieu Johann on Star Academy.

The Fame-style choreography of the SA version fills me with glee. So do the original song's goofy synthesizer riffs.

Les Enfoirés came up with a parody in 2004 that ... well, it's wicked, and it makes a lot more sense if you've seen this performance of "Et l'on n'y peut rien."

There's a Dutch cover of the song by a guy named Bart Herman called Ik loop aleen. The lyrics page includes a re-translation of the Dutch version back into French.

When asked to quantify how long it takes him to write a song, Goldman used "Je Marche Seul" as an example of a song that took multiple drafts (ten different versions, alternate choruses).

One more interview excerpt (same link as the one above):

Interviewer: Ce titre, "Je marche seul", n'est-il pas un peu en contradiction avec le succès que tu as ?

Jean-Jacques Goldman: Oui, mais enfin "Je marche seul" est une chanson gaie parce que pour moi, la solitude n'est pas du tout une punition. C'est au contraire une des rares choses dont j'ai physiquement besoin. J'ai besoin d'être seul de temps en temps et c'est vrai qu'un de mes plaisirs, un des moments de grand enthousiasme et de grande joie est de me promener dans les rues tout seul, anonyme, de m'arrêter dans une boutique, de causer avec des gens en étant inconnu. Tout ça est plus facile à présent dans des pays étrangers, mais j'avoue que c'est dans ces moments-là que j'oublie tout et que je me sens vivre, en pouvant faire une connerie, en perdant du temps, en flânant. "Je marche seul" est vraiment une chanson gaie parce que c'est un de mes privilèges, "je suis riche de ça mais ça ne s'achète pas…". C'est une chose luxueuse pour moi.

(Interviewer: The title, "I walk alone," isn't it a bit of a contradiction given the success you've had?

JJG: Yes, but "I walk alone" is ultimately a happy song, because for me, being alone isn't at all a punishment. In fact, it's one of the few things I physically need. I need to be alone from time to time and the fact is that one of my pleasures -- something that fills me with enthusiasm and joy -- is walking on the streets all alone, purchasing something in a shope, chatting with people while anonymous. This is all much easier these days in foreign countries, but I confess that it's in such moments that I can forget about everything and feel that I'm living -- moments in which I can be an idiot, waste time, dawdle. "I walk alone" is really a cheerful song because it's one of my privileges: "I am rich with them, but they're not things that can be bought" [a quote from the song]. It's a luxury for me.)

courir dans les tournesols Bonjour! Je m'appelle Mechaieh. This is where I dork around about pop songs, slang, and other diversions. I'm neither particularly functional nor fluent in French, other than owning a decent dictionary, so suggestions, corrections, and amplifications are most welcome. The title means "Running Around in the Sunflowers" (song by Marc Lavoine).
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Previous Entry :: Next Entry Read/Post Comments (0) Share on Facebook		2007-08-25 9:43 PM miscellaneous on "Je Marche Seul" There's an earworm I picked up while grocery shopping last night that's been driving me nuts, since I can remember the voice -- Steve Winwood or Peter Cetera, I'm guessing -- and a bit of the refrain, but not any of the lyrics. So, I figured, why not trying to chase it out with classics from another high-voiced middle-aged singer? Which leads to some of the thises and thatses I've been collecting: In a comment thread for the video of Je Marche Seul ("I walk alone"), someone from Luxembourg exclaimed, "The woman in this, she's the mom of one of my friends!" The daughter (also from Luxembourg) signed on a month later with "I'm very proud of my mama. :-D" About the video, Goldman said: Tu sais, je ne vais presque jamais au cinéma parce que j'ai très peu de temps, alors j'adore regarder les bandes-annonces des films. Tu y trouves presque tout. Ça donne envie d'aller au cinéma, ça va très vite et on voit un peu tous les aspects : l'aventure, le suspens, l'érotisme, la peur… Donc, on avait décidé de faire pour ce clip un film où on puisse imaginer une histoire d'un type, transfuge de l'Est à qui il arrive une aventure dans un train qui passe la frontière… C'était dans cet esprit légèrement humoristique qu'on avait travaillé. ["You know, I almost never go to the movies because I have very little time, so I love to watch the trailers. You find almost everything there. They make you want to go to movies, they do it very quickly and you see a little bit of everything: adventure, suspense, erotica, fear. So, for this video, we decided to make a film where one could imagine a story of a guy, a defector from the East, in which he ends up in an escapade on a train crossing the border... We worked on it with the idea of lightweight fun in mind."] In a concert clip from 1998, Goldman leaves the main stage and walks to an island out in the audience as he sings "Je Marche Seul." (One of things I'm enjoying about this new hobby is seeing both Goldman c. 1980s and Goldman c. 2000s, and likewise with other singers who've been around that long such as Elsa and Cabrel -- people whose bodies and voices have matured...) ... and he returns to the band at the end of Nos Mains, a song about connections. Searching "Je marche seul" on YouTube also brings up a handful of "baby's first step" videos, a metal band, a group of grade-school girls auditioning (they don't sound bad, but no, it doesn't fit), a guy on Nouvelle Star, and Mathieu Johann on Star Academy. The Fame-style choreography of the SA version fills me with glee. So do the original song's goofy synthesizer riffs. Les Enfoirés came up with a parody in 2004 that ... well, it's wicked, and it makes a lot more sense if you've seen this performance of "Et l'on n'y peut rien." There's a Dutch cover of the song by a guy named Bart Herman called Ik loop aleen. The lyrics page includes a re-translation of the Dutch version back into French. When asked to quantify how long it takes him to write a song, Goldman used "Je Marche Seul" as an example of a song that took multiple drafts (ten different versions, alternate choruses). One more interview excerpt (same link as the one above): Interviewer: Ce titre, "Je marche seul", n'est-il pas un peu en contradiction avec le succès que tu as ? Jean-Jacques Goldman: Oui, mais enfin "Je marche seul" est une chanson gaie parce que pour moi, la solitude n'est pas du tout une punition. C'est au contraire une des rares choses dont j'ai physiquement besoin. J'ai besoin d'être seul de temps en temps et c'est vrai qu'un de mes plaisirs, un des moments de grand enthousiasme et de grande joie est de me promener dans les rues tout seul, anonyme, de m'arrêter dans une boutique, de causer avec des gens en étant inconnu. Tout ça est plus facile à présent dans des pays étrangers, mais j'avoue que c'est dans ces moments-là que j'oublie tout et que je me sens vivre, en pouvant faire une connerie, en perdant du temps, en flânant. "Je marche seul" est vraiment une chanson gaie parce que c'est un de mes privilèges, "je suis riche de ça mais ça ne s'achète pas…". C'est une chose luxueuse pour moi. (Interviewer: The title, "I walk alone," isn't it a bit of a contradiction given the success you've had? JJG: Yes, but "I walk alone" is ultimately a happy song, because for me, being alone isn't at all a punishment. In fact, it's one of the few things I physically need. I need to be alone from time to time and the fact is that one of my pleasures -- something that fills me with enthusiasm and joy -- is walking on the streets all alone, purchasing something in a shope, chatting with people while anonymous. This is all much easier these days in foreign countries, but I confess that it's in such moments that I can forget about everything and feel that I'm living -- moments in which I can be an idiot, waste time, dawdle. "I walk alone" is really a cheerful song because it's one of my privileges: "I am rich with them, but they're not things that can be bought" [a quote from the song]. It's a luxury for me.) Read/Post Comments (0) Previous Entry :: Next Entry Back to Top