By Gabrielle.
A few weeks ago, my friend Kyran asked if I’d write a post about what kind of music the French kids are listening to, and I love that idea! So I asked my two teenagers, Ralph and Maude, for a consultation on the subject. First, they said that mostly, their French friends listen to the same music their American friends listen too. When Adele is popular in America, she’s popular in France too. Phoenix gets lots of play in both places. Dubstep is popular at parties in both places.
That said, they did come up with a bunch of songs that their French friends listen too, but their U.S. friends do not. I had them send me links to 10 of them, so you can get a little glimpse of what might be added to your kids’ playlists if you lived in France. Some are French songs, but many are from other countries.
The links go to videos on Youtube. Be aware, a couple of the videos are sexy — might not be your thing on a random Wednesday. (I did try to create a playlist on Spotify, with just the sound files instead of videos, but I couldn’t find a bunch of the songs. Le sigh.) I hope you enjoy the list. I’m embedding the first video here, because it’s a fun one!
1 Elle Me Dit by Mika.
2 Coups et Blessures by BB Brunes.
3 Dota by Basshunter.
4 On se Connaît by Youssoupha, featuring Ayna.
5 The Night Out by Martin Solveig.
6 Random Access Memories Look by Daft Punk.
7 Vamos a la Playa by Loona.
8 Happy by Ft. D.Martin by C2C.
9 Down the Road by C2C.
10 I’ve Got That Tune by Chinese Man.
Bonus track! The kids aren’t listening to this one anymore — it was popular a few years ago. But I love it and asked Maude to learn to play it on guitar as my Mother’s Day gift last year. It’s so lovely.
11 Quelqu’un m’a dit by Carla Bruni.
One of the things I wonder about since we moved to France, is what it’s like to grow up mostly listening to songs that aren’t in your language. I hear popular songs, in English, everywhere I go here. At the grocery store and in the shopping districts. The French kids know how to sing along, sort of. But many have no idea what the words are saying.
I suppose American kids will experience more and more of that (Gangnam Style anyone?) as the internet continues to shrink the world.
Did any of you grow up mostly listening to songs that weren’t in your native tongue? Do you have any favorites from the list Ralph and Maude made?