Here's the one I was talking about. I listened to a minute of it cuz I couldn't remember which oldies were on it, and the first two are Venus by Shocking Blue and Sugar Sugar by The Archies. And the rest are all familiar too. And I think on the flip side was a Beatles medley. Or that was on the album or something. If I remember they were French or Belgian or something like that. I think.
Here's the one I was talking about. I listened to a minute of it cuz I couldn't remember which oldies were on it, and the first two are Venus by Shocking Blue and Sugar Sugar by The Archies. And the rest are all familiar too. And I think on the flip side was a Beatles medley. Or that was on the album or something. If I remember they were French or Belgian or something like that. I think.
This gentle accoustic ballad was composed by Maxime le Forestier as a thank-you letter to the hippie community that had welcomed him for a few weeks in San Francisco.
The lyrics simply describes the life in the house. Cliché now, sincere at the time.
(translation by lyricstranslate.com)
It's a blue house
Leaning against the hillside
We come there on foot, we don't knock
For those that live there, having thrown away the key
We gather together
After years on the road
And we come there to sit around our meal
Everyone is there, at five o' clock in the evening
When San Francisco gets foggy
When San Francisco lights up
San Francisco, where are you
Lizard and Luc, Psylvia, wait for me
Swimming in the fog
Intertwined, rolling in the grass
We will hear Tom on the guitar
Phil on the quena until the black night
Another one will arrive
For us to talk about any news
Of the one that will come back in a year or two
Since he is happy, we fall asleep
When San Francisco rises
When San Francisco rises
San Francisco! Where are you
Lizard and Luc, Psylvia, wait for me
It's a blue house
Hanging in my memory
We come there on foot, we don't impose
Those that live there, having thrown away the key
Inhabited by long hair
Big beds and music
Populated by light and crazy people
She will be the last to stay standing
If San Francisco collapses
If San Francisco collapses
San Francisco! Where are you
Lizard and Luc, Psylvia, wait for me
Such a beautiful melody ! (although I always found the first six notes difficult to hum and I’d be interested to know why, from a someone who know solfege !)
This is from an album recorded live in studio in front of a 200-people audience, this song being performed by Sheller alone on piano.
Why are people in love
Always a little bit the same?
When they come by they have
The same look of one craving for two
They’re happy people
Why are people in love
Always a little bit the same?
When they have problems
Well, there’s nothing to say
Nothing you can do for them
They’re people in love
As for me I hardly know you
But how lucky it’d be
If we took off a little bit like them
We could without too much fuss
Make room for the two of us
But if my coming on again isn’t worth it
Let me know from a glint in your eyes
However long it takes
However high the stakes
I want to be a happy man
Why are people in love
Always a little bit rebellious?
They have a world of their own
That nothing compels to look like
Those we’re given as models
Why are people in love
Always a little bit cruel?
When they tell you about themselves
Something keeps you a little further at bay
Something only too human
I wish those recordings of 60’s crooners were engineered with a bit less gloss ! But the singing of Jean Sablon (aged 56 at the time) is clean and simple, as it should be with simple lyrics like these about wishing to see the beautiful places of the world. And a voluptuous melody composed by Henri Salvador.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icgRG2XUrI8
I've always really loved 'Les Champs-Élysées' by Joe Dassin, an apparent favourite of both French football supporters and gilets jaunes protestors. What I only found out recently, however, is that it's a remake of an obscure English song called 'Waterloo Road' by a band called Jason Crest, and that there were already Dutch and Slovenian remakes, replete with specific references to parts of Amsterdam and Ljubljana respectively, which came out before Dassin's version hit big. I've now heard all of these versions, but there's a breezy, summery nonchalance to Dassin's version which places it above all others, for me.
Any thoughts? _________________ 2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.
I've always really loved 'Les Champs-Élysées' by Joe Dassin, an apparent favourite of both French football supporters and gilets jaunes protestors. What I only found out recently, however, is that it's a remake of an obscure English song called 'Waterloo Road' by a band called Jason Crest, and that there were already Dutch and Slovenian remakes, replete with specific references to parts of Amsterdam and Ljubljana respectively, which came out before Dassin's version hit big. I've now heard all of these versions, but there's a breezy, summery nonchalance to Dassin's version which places it above all others, for me.
Any thoughts?
Haha, I didn’t know that. The original sounds more like a pop band, like the Kinks, whereas the Joe Dassin version has the bonhomie of a variety singer which is fine for this kind of song. I also prefer the cover.
His other big hit, L’été indien (number 9 of this list), is also a cover (original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9TuuMo-Adw)
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